Lone worker alarms share the same mobile technology as mobile panic alarms for older people, in fact, they are often the same device, as with the buddi – just a different market focus. So this item from the UK’s MailOnline is relevant.
Small selection of UK lone worker device links, in alphabetical order:
Lone worker monitoring
Any dependence on SMS (text) for monitoring lone workers is highly risky. SMS gateways do have a tendency to hold up messages from time to time, resulting in the delaying of message delivery. Try sending a text message on New Year’s Eve for example and often the message won’t be delivered for hours.
SMS in lone worker monitoring
At buddi we agree that SMS is unreliable. We use GPRS which is pretty reliable and SMS usually works when GPRS fails. SMS does not have priority on the mobile networks.
More important though is the ability of the device to provide an accurate location when you need it!
UK mobile data services
Any of the data services offered by the mobile carriers in the UK, is variable to say the least. They have large outages on a weekly basis. If you are a private APN user you will recieve outage notices. Private APN are slightly more resilant than public ones.
GPS lone worker devices
I have seen the Identicom (model without a Global Positioning System) and agree it is not fit for purpose proposed. It would be less expensive to use a mobile phone.
The buddi is also very over rated it is expensive not user friendly, poor battery life and from what I hear not reliable. However the size is quite good and compact.
We have tried a number of products now available, and the one that came up tops is a GPS device called SAZO (www.verifyandlocate.com), excellent quality and price. It is currently being used by a number of Local Government agencies.
So far it has not failed on us, it uses both GPRS and SMS.
GPS Loan Worker devices
There are many devices out there, some better than others but its the overall service which is important from device to platform.
SafelinQ offers a wide range of devices and software with a fully intergrated monitoring services and web front end at the right price.
These devices and services are being used by large govt organisations as well as many private sector companies. http://www.safelinq.com and find the best solution available today.