ARGYLL, the UK’s leading provider of safeguarding
services, today announced the launch of Companion, one of a new range of
personal safety applications for Smartphones.
The app, which is the first of its kind on the
market, converts compatible smartphones into a fully functioning personal
safety solution with a dedicated SOS button.
Companion is complemented by SmartClip, a body
worn clip-on accessory that looks like a simple hands-free or MP3 device but is
in actual fact a discreet SOS button, connected to the smartphone using
wireless technology.
A user can trigger their Companion alarm by
pressing a concealed button on the SmartClip hands-free device, which will
automatically connect their smartphone to Argyll’s alarm receiving centre
(ARC).
Glasgow City Mission, which runs a Winter Night
Shelter for vulnerable and homeless adults, is one of the early adopters of the
solution. Mitchum Bock, night shelter manager, said: “The app and device has to
be simple, reliable and easy to use since it was used every night over the past
two months by our staff, who must be prepared when confronted by violence,
aggression and other emergency situations.”
Mitchum continued: “The operator within the ARC
can listen to the situation and is able to speak discreetly, and without the
aggressor’s knowledge, with our staff using the hands-free capability. The user
is guaranteed police assistance if it is required and Companion will pinpoint
the person using the app to within metres of their location.”
Tom Morton, founder and CEO of Argyll, which is
based in Dunoon, Scotland, said he hoped the app would enable businesses to
integrate vital lone worker safety services within mainstream business
equipment and processes.
He said: “I’m delighted that the workers at
Glasgow City Mission’s Winter Night Shelter chose to place their faith in our
safeguarding solution.
“Traditional lone worker devices can be an
expensive option to deploy and operate; by contrast the more cost-effective
mobile phone options can become unsuitable for some business processes,
Companion fills the current gap in the delivery of safeguarding solutions.
“Most businesses are already using or considering
the deployment of smartphones; using the Companion app gives employers the
chance to sweat their existing mobile assets, so all that is required is for
that smartphone to be configured with the app and they are well on their way to
satisfying their duty of care and without the need to purchase expensive lone
worker devices and duplicate costs using associated sim cards. And
fundamentally, the app will not drain battery life on your smartphone.”
Companion is the first in a new series of cost
effective and modular apps for the smartphone market. It delivers tangible
benefits and the use of an existing smartphone means that employers can save
money without compromising on employee safety.
The app can be used independently of the SmartClip device, and will elicit the same response as the clip by pressing the power button on your handset three times. The SmartClip device operates in conjunction with your Companion smartphone application, over a range of up to 30m. It provides end users with discreet reassurance and a method for summoning assistance; opening a 2-way communications link to the nominated response centre.
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