With the increasing pace of everyday life and persistent risks associated with crime and insecurity in metro cities around the country, personal security has fast become a prime concern for the general public. Whether it’s a child, a parent, a single working woman, or your parents living alone, ordinary people are exposed to vulnerable situations on a daily basis, underscoring the need for individuals to be able to communicate with the loved ones in a fast and easy manner when in such situations.
Indianeye security, a Delhi based company, working towards educating and empowering the society to deal better with the security challenges faced in the country, is in final stages of releasing a crisis communication system which will allow individuals to communicate with their trusted contacts in an easy and decisive manner in times of crisis.
Eyewatch is a mobile phone application which sends critical data from a user’s mobile phone to a secure web server. All this happens in seconds, with the press of a button. This critical data is then sent to pre-designated friends, family members or other trusted contacts the users may choose to inform, to facilitate help in any emergency situation. The application records audio, visuals and captures photographs, of the location of the user and the captured data is sent to a secure server, where the users’ emergency contacts can log in to view the details.
Security matters
Along with the above, the server also displays a map where the user’s location is displayed and movement tracked, with the help of GPS enabled on the user’s phone. The location tracking and the visuals captured by the user’s mobile phone, help the emergency contacts to call for help or even make sure of the safety of the user, and all this can happen with just a click of a button.
Besides this, on activating the alert, all the pre-designated contacts on the user’s list are informed via email and SMS, of the alarm activation and the back office support also gets informed immediately, of the alarm activation. The phone performs all the above functions automatically and cuts down on the time a user may otherwise spend calling contacts or clicking photographs and gathering evidence, in case of an emergency.
Eyewatch uses minimal resources and optimizes the use of these enhanced features like GPRS, GPS, and 3G, to enable a user to pass on critical information in order to facilitate a prompt efficient response to any kind of emergency. Looking ahead, the company plans to set up a control response centre in the coming months which will actively monitor alerts being activated by users and will have the resources and contacts to provide information or tactical a response to assist clients caught in an emergency situation.
Watching out
In addition, the control centre will be responsible for sending out alerts and security briefs to clients in an effort to proactively mitigate risks that users may face. As a part of the company’s corporate social responsibility, this service is currently being offered completely free for any individual user to reassure their safety.
Any user can visit the Eyewatch website (http://www.eye-watch.in/) and easily download and start using the application for free. The group envisions supporting causes like anti-ragging, women protection, senior citizens safety and few others programmes to raise the level of personal safety and security for individuals and empower citizens to create a safer environment for future generations.
—The author heads the Eyewatch Operations and is a senior manager in Indian Eye Security
