From the monthly archives: April 2011
We are taught early in life to call 911 (substitute your country’s emergency contact number) during an emergency. It’s simple and easy to remember. But with the advent of sophisticated mobile devices that support multitasking and location-tracking, is this emergency response system in need of a technology makeover?
Newly launched startup Guardly and its CEO Josh Sookman believe so. Guardly is a mobile personal safety service that works on the iPhone, and soon Android and BlackBerry, to give the mobile user a one-tap way to contact 911 and friends and family, as well as transmit the user’s location, simultaneously.
“It takes eight taps to dial 911 on the iPhone,” Sookman says. Should the Guardly user place the app in the device’s dock, that process is reduced to three taps, he says.
Here’s how Guardly’s more intricate response system works: When a user clicks “Send Alert” in the app, he or she puts Guardly’s personal safety service into motion. First comes a five-second countdown timer that vibrates with every second that passes. When the countdown hits zero, the user’s default group is notified and, depending on the user’s preferences, a call is placed to 911.
Everyone in the user’s selected safety network is then sent a link to an Emergency Response Page — accessible via web or mobile — which serves as a home base and a group collaboration hub that supports location updates for all participants, photos and messages. There’s also an option for safety network members to join a conference call and connect through voice.
Guardly’s emergency alert system includes one more key additive. Normally, an individual unable to make an outgoing call on a mobile device would need to retry the call until he or she finds an adequate signal. Once the user initiates an alert via Guardly, however, the service continues to check the device’s connection and automatically dials 911 or the user’s contacts upon locating a signal.
Reducing Response Time & Group Response
Sookman, since getting his first cellphone more than 10 years ago because his parents were concerned about his safety, has been thinking about the way in the which mobile and location technologies could be coupled and applied to personal safety.
His early thoughts took shape during his tenure with BlackBerry Partners Fund where he worked as an investment analyst for the mobile sector. “The notion [for Guardly] arose when I was thinking about how to apply the evolution of mobile phones to reducing the response time in emergencies,” he says.
Sookman found there to be a huge gap in the personal safety market. There are applications that allow the user to notify people, he says, but they’re all one dimensional. He felt there was an opportunity to engineer a group response experience to facilitate communication after the notification.
Platform for Emergency Response
Guardly’s bigger picture vision extends beyond mobile. The startup aims to be the emergency alert and real-time collaboration platform integrated into other hardware devices. Think glucose monitors, heart rate monitors and any other piece of equipment that has the capacity to detect and measure, but not alert.
It’s a vision that will first need to find support from users. Guardly’s iPhone app [iTunes link] has been live for just under three weeks. In its first week, the app saw roughly 5,000 downloads and continues to see significant traction, Sookman says, though he admits that the startup needs to introduce new ways to engage users during non-emergencies. We can expect application updates in the weeks and months ahead that address these shortcomings, he says.
Still, Guardly has its work out for it. Convincing users to adopt the startup’s more complex, albeit more modern, emergency alert system will not be an easy task. After all, what’s simpler than dialing 911?
Read this article on Mashable.
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Mia Pearson – April 14, 2011
We sometimes forget how powerful the emotional connection to brands can be.
A great example is a company with a product designed to keep people safe, which is something everyone can relate in its most simple form.
On the surface, Guardly is a location-based mobile application. It allows users to alert, connect, and then collaborate with family, friends and authorities with one tap. In case of an emergency, users and first responders can communicate through voice, SMS, e-mail, and web conferencing. But the emotional connection, and the ultimate selling point, has nothing to do with the technology or the innovation, but the benefit to a potential loved one.
Add the viral loop. Viral loop companies such as Guardly spread their message in a number of unique ways. The first is organic and occurs when a Guardly user, without much prompting, shares the app with friends and family. Guardly even helps by pre-writing a suggested message for each delivery channel.
Viral loops have been around since the early days of Tupperware and its infamous home parties that my mother loved to attend. Perhaps the earliest example of viral loops in the tech space was during the 1996 launch of Windows Live Hotmail. The company’s webmail service had explosive growth on the back of one simple message at the bottom of every e-mail sent: “P.S. I love you get your free e-mail at Hotmail.”
Hotmail’s approach is often described as an invitation or referral loop. Guardly uses a similar tact by encouraging users to create networks of trusted friends and family that are contacted during an emergency. In addition to receiving an e-mail confirming their willingness to be an emergency contact, Guardly invites you to become a user of the service and so the viral loop grows.
Like most great apps, Guardly is initially available for iPhone but it will soon be coming to BlackBerry, Android and Windows smart phones. As companies like this one expand across multiple platforms, the power of viral marketing explodes. The test will be their ability to keep their messages simple and relevant to their many audiences.
At the end of the day, as small-business owners, we can never underestimate the power of word-of-mouth marketing. Keep the message simple and highly emotional. I have always made a strong differentiation between branding and reputation. Branding is what you say about yourself, and reputation is what others say about you.
The most powerful message to prospects will always come from your customer base. In the social media and mobile world we live in, viral marketing should move from a tactic to an important strategy for your business.
Read this on The Globe and Mail.
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Darrel Etherington – April 7, 2011
A new app launching today provides a single-tap, multi-target alert system for your iPhone or iPod touch. Guardly automatically alerts contacts of your choosing if you feel you’re in danger or have reason to quickly and easily alert a group of people to your location and current situation.
With the free version, you’ll be limited to just creating groups and assigning contacts to them. These could include friends in your immediate geographical area, for instance, or maybe a special selection of friends and relatives who know your medical history and allergies.
You can send alerts (phone, email and SMS text) to these groups of contacts with one click from within the app, but in order to get the full Guardly experience you have to pay up for either a monthly ($9.99) or a yearly subscription ($99.99), which you can do through in-app purchase. Remember that Apple sees 30 percent of that revenue, but Guardly seems more than willing to pay in order to use iOS as a platform for distributing its subscription-based, software-as-a-service offering, something I anticipated as a possible trend following Apple’s introductions of in-app subscriptions.
Subscribing also adds the ability to call 911 with a single tap of the app’s icon from the homescreen (after a brief countdown in case of accidental presses). Auto-alerts can also be set to send to any other emergency contact of your choosing, too. Other premium features include in-app conference calling with your group of responders, the ability share map views and instant messages with your contacts in real time, real-time location tracking and the ability to share photos you take with your device with your emergency contacts.
Guardly is also smart about how and when it calls emergency numbers. It will detect any network failures and automatically call once a signal is reestablished, and it detects your current country using location services and automatically dials the correct emergency number based on that info. The app also offers a loud siren that can be activated in case of emergency.
This is an incredibly sophisticated app that makes amazing use of the iPhone’s built-in capabilities to provide as comprehensive a personal safety solution as you can find in an app. It even sets up your Guardly app’s outgoing caller ID to be that of your iPhone, making it much easier for emergency services and contacts to track you down should you fail to actually get through.
Guardly doesn’t offer much in the free version of its app, but it provides such a polished, thorough experience from beginning to end in terms of app functionality that I won’t be surprised to see people eager to sign up for paid Guardly subscriptions. A SaaS model will also help ensure that the app has a consistent, sustainable revenue stream, which should go a long way towards ensuring the lights don’t go out at a company that many may come to depend on as a personal security resource.
I’m reminded of the emergency call buttons posted at lamposts around campus at colleges and universities when I think of Guardly, only the app model works better because it’s available everywhere and seldom leaves your person. I’m actually surprised more smartphones don’t offer more of this sort of thing as a built-in option, but I expect to see more similar solutions pop up from all sources now that Guardly is making waves.
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From The Financial Post: http://bit.ly/hV7mmQ
James Berkow – April 7, 2011
Ever find yourself in a dangerous situation and wish you could instantly alert law enforcement or a group of trusted confidants?
Now, thanks to a mobile application launched on Apple Inc.’s iOS platform by Guardly Corp. on Thursday, you can.
Founded last year, the Toronto-based company designed the app to function as a mobile personal safety system; a virtual bodyguard if you will. By selecting the Guardly icon, users can simultaneously call an emergency number (default is 911) and notify a preselected group of contacts via SMS or email if they are in distress.
Potential uses range widely and not all of them necessarily involve potentially violent situations such as being pursued down a dark alley. Someone with a deadly peanut allergy, for example, might appreciate having a service such as Guardly to notify everyone they know who is familiar with their medical condition in case they accidentally take a bite of a Snickers bar.
The free version will allow users to create groups and send alerts via phone, email or SMS messaging. But for $10 per month or $100 per year, users can also set Guardly to automatically send photos and location updates from their phone’s embedded GPS as well as activate a loud siren to attract attention when in danger.
Premium users can also activate one-tap dialing to contact emergency services such as 9-1-1, campus or corporate security, with an auto-delay of a few seconds to avoid accidental dials. While there are other apps out there — such as SOS Link — that offer similar features, Guardly’s collaboration features and ability to integrate directly with security agencies and police services helps it to rise above the rest.
“Not every incident or situation require 9-1-1 escalation and sometimes friends, family members, or neighbours who are nearby can respond to a call for assistance even faster,” Josh Sookman, Guardly’s founding Chief Executive, said in a blog post on Thursday.
“We’ve created a mobile app that provides a simple way to bring your personal safety network together instantly, and escalate an emergency to 9-1-1 at any point during an incident.”
The Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) has already partnered with Guardly to provide the downtown Toronto University’s students with a direct link to campus security. Post-secondary students are one of Guardly’s key target demographics.
Also on Thursday, the company announced the completion of its seed round of funding from a group of Canadian investors. Those providing early funds — which Guardly intends to use for expansion of its partner ecosystem and to grow its business and technology development teams — were Toronto-based Extreme Venture Partners and Bryker Capital in addition to several angel investors.
Initially available only for Canada and U.S.-based owners of an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, versions for Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry OS platform and Google Inc.’s Android platform are in development and are expected to be announced shortly.
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CBC Toronto’s Muhammad Lila reports on the launch of Guardly, a mobile personal safety service, with Lead Engineer, Mark Pavlidis, and gets reaction from the streets of Toronto.
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Jon Evans – April 7, 2011
I can’t help but be amused that the personal-security platform Guardly, which launches today, was born in virtually-crime-free Toronto, where I live, and where I’ve never encountered anything more fearsome than bad weather. (Q: How do you get 20 Canadians out of a pool? A: “C’mon, guys, get out of the pool.”)
Security is a big market, though: there are a lot of people out there who do have reason to feel unsafe. For instance, a few years ago I visited a friend who had to vary her routes to and from work every day, and check in with security by radio every night, for fear of kidnapping—because she worked for UNICEF in troubled Port-au-Prince, Haiti. A personal-security app that integrated into UNICEF’s systems would have been a big help. I expect NGOs and multinational corporations would be eager to deploy such a system for staff in crime-ridden cities like Nairobi, Port Moresby, and (God help them) Oakland.
Guardly is both platform and app. The platform will let authorities and a person’s “personal security network”—maybe friends and family, maybe corporate security—collaborate with them in real-time during an emergency situation; the app lets you alert both groups with the push of a button when something goes wrong. You can also use it to message your emergency contacts, and share photos or other media with them. (Yes, that’s right, it’s both YAGMA (Yet Another Group Messaging App) and YAPSA (Yet Another Photo Sharing App). Would someone please write some common protocols for the YAGMAs and YAPSAs? This is getting ridiculous.) The iPhone version is available now, and Android and Blackberry are on tap shortly.
The platform is more interesting than the app: it makes sense not just for personal security, but for medical crises, natural disasters, and the like. (The vast majority of those rescued from the terrible earthquake that hit Haiti in 2010 were saved by friends, family, and neighbors, not emergency responders.) Their freemium app model probably won’t sell like hotcakes in Toronto… but Guardly are wisely planning to internationalize to places like Mexico and Venezuela. Personal security networks—and apps—suddenly make a lot of sense in nations where the wealthiest 10-15% of the population have First World income and Third World security concerns, including corrupt and/or incompetent police.
Guardly are funded by a seed round raised from made-in-Canada consortion of Extreme Venture Partners and seven angel investors. Competitors: SOS Link (created in response to Vancouver’s nonstop random violence), Rave Mobile (spawned from the brutal gunplay of Framingham, Massachussetts), and JTrek (born of the bloody suburban horrors of Barrington, Illinois) all play in this space too. Guardly seems to be working hardest to integrate their app with security agencies, police services, the National Emergency Number Association, and corporate/university operations around the world, though — and for a security/emergency-management app, that integration is the killer feature. So to speak.
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We’re pleased to announce today that the Guardly app is now available for download for iPhone and iPod Touch devices through the Apple App Store in Canada and the US. You can get the app by visiting our App Store page: http://itunes.apple.com/app/guardly/id400742014?mt=8
Guardly is a location-based mobile personal safety application that allows users to alert, connect, and then collaborate with family, friends, and authorities in one tap. In the case of an emergency, users and responders can communicate via voice, sms, email, and web conferencing. Our mission is to improve the emergency response process and help save lives!
Guardly is ideal for young females, such as university/college students and busy young professionals, as well as mothers with teenage and university/college-aged children. The app can also be used by travelers, sports enthusiasts, and active daters. Guardly can help in such minor cases as providing peace of mind when walking alone at night, or in more serious cases such as heart attack or domestic abuse incidents.
Our team has been hard at work pushing out our initial release on the iPhone platform, however we’re now shifting gears and moving forward with the development of our app for Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone operating systems. Apps for these platforms should be available within the next few months.
We’re excited about introducing our product to the world and encourage you to find out more about our app by visiting the Guardly Overview Page. We look forward to continuing to deliver state-of-the-art personal safety products and helping our users stay safe and secure.
We value customer service and would like to get your feedback on our product. Please leave a comment and will respond as soon as we can. Stay safe!
Don’t forget to stay connected to us by:
Visiting our Website
Following us on Twitter
Liking us on Facebook
Reading the Guardblog
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TORONTO – April 7, 2011 – Guardly, a new mobile personal safety application and service, is now available for download from the App Store for iPhone and iPod Touch users in the United States and Canada. Guardly enables smartphone users in distress to alert, connect, and collaborate with their personal safety network and authorities with only a single tap on their device.
Recognizing that proactive actions taken during the first moments of an emergency can often help reduce potentially negative outcomes to an incident, OCAD University has partnered with Guardly to provide local response by campus security for OCAD U students using the Guardly service to broadcast emergencies arising on campus. “Our partnership with Guardly enables the University to extend the reach of its emergency phones on campus by putting a virtual emergency phone onto smartphones carried by students,” said Vicki Brown, Director, Campus Services & Security at OCAD University. “It also enables us to track changes to the location of an emergency in real-time and communicate with the victim and his/her responding safety network throughout the incident until resolved.”
Guardly was created to dramatically decrease the amount of time it takes for help to arrive at an emergency. The app, which was announced and previewed at the DEMO conference in February, is a prime example of how technology can be used to help save lives.
Guardly differs from other personal safety apps on the market in that it enables a user’s personal safety network to collaborate with them and amongst each other through mobile web and web incident pages, SMS and voice conferencing for the duration of the emergency event. “Not every incident or situation requires 9-1-1 escalation and sometimes friends, family members or neighbours who are nearby can respond to a call for assistance even faster,” said Josh Sookman, Guardly Founder and CEO. “We’ve created a mobile app that provides a simple way to bring your personal safety network together instantly, and escalate an emergency to 9-1-1 at any point during an incident.”
Guardly is ideal for students, young professionals, travelers, sports enthusiasts, or anyone who frequently walks alone at night, is concerned about dating safety, is responsible for children, may find themselves in abusive relationships or is faced with medical conditions. Guardly is also ideal for families and friends who agree to look out for one another in the event of disasters such as earthquakes, fires and floods.
Guardly Premium and Guardly Alerts
Guardly Premium (priced at $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year) is a subscription service that includes the following key features and services:
- One-tap activation: Guardly alerts two safety networks simultaneously: (1) a user’s personal safety network by voice, SMS and email, and (2) 9-1-1 or any other emergency phone number;
- Contact collaboration: Users can collaborate with emergency contacts in real-time by conference call, instant messaging and map-view showing nearby locations of responders;
- LocationAssure™: Guardly uses GPS, cell-tower triangulation and WiFi hotspots to find a user’s real-time location for the entire duration of an emergency incident, even if the user is on the phone with 9-1-1. By combining this data with places frequented by a user, Guardly helps ensure a user is easy to find by responders in case of emergency;
- NetworkAssure™: Built-in intelligence to detect network failures and wait until a signal is present to transmit data and make calls to 9-1-1 to ensure users are connected to their safety network;
- Auto-dial emergency services including 9-1-1: It takes at least 8 taps to dial 9-1-1 on an iPhone (Home, Swipe, Phone, Keypad, 9, 1, 1, Send). It only takes 3 taps to launch Guardly (Home, Swipe, Guardly);
- Photo sharing: Users can share photos with their personal safety network instantly and securely.
Guardly Alerts is a free service that includes the following features:
- Emergency alerts: Send location-based emergency alerts via voice call, SMS and email to pre-configured safety groups;
- Contact groups: Add up to 15 contacts per emergency group (unlimited groups).
Users can also run emergency simulations of Guardly Premium to learn the benefits of upgrading to the premium version.
Seed Funding
In conjunction with the launch announcement, Guardly has also closed a seed round of financing that includes investments from Extreme Venture Partners, Bryker Capital and several angel investors. The company will be using the funding to add to its technology development and business development teams to build out its partner ecosystem.
Availability on other Smartphone Platforms
Guardly’s mobile application for iPhone is available immediately from the Apple App Store at http://itunes.com/apps/guardly. BlackBerry and Android versions are in development and will be announced shortly.
About Guardly
Guardly is a platform for emergency communication that changes the way mobile personal safety is delivered. Smartphone users that find themselves in an emergency situation can alert, connect and collaborate with local authorities as well as their own personal safety networks in a single tap. Guardly is committed to dramatically decreasing the amount of time it takes responders to arrive at an emergency. The company is a member of the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) and is based in Toronto, Canada. For more information visit: http://guardly.com.
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Media Contact:
Jodi Echakowitz
Echo Communications
jodi@echo-communications.com
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There are several diseases and conditions that afflict seniors and the elderly. The most common are Alzheimer‘s, Parkinson’s, diabetes, osteoporosis and arthritis. Symptoms experienced with some of these conditions are blurred vision, loss of memory, and unexplained tremors.
Special attention should be given to those who have a senior-related disease. Some illnesses may affect seniors to the point where they need assistance or special care. For example, someone with dementia or Alzheimer’s may need to be guided through activities that were once familiar to them. Or severe arthritis (gout) can cause mobility problems for seniors and they may need assistance. Some seniors limit their movements due to arthritis pain but others practice rehabilitation exercises to help relieve stiffness in their joints.
Some of the most common illnesses can require close supervision. Someone who is diabetic (type I or type II diabetes) may need help with medications and tracking their blood glucose levels. It is important for diabetics to take control of their disease as it may lead to a stroke. A stroke occurs when the blood supply to the brain is interrupted, which may cause irreversible brain damage and even death. Symptoms of a stroke include numbness, loss of consciousness or balance, inability to speak, and blurred vision. Many elderly stroke patients are not familiar with these symptoms and usually delay calling an ambulance. Occasionally, the symptoms are so severe that they are unable or don’t have time to reach a phone to call for help. In such cases, Guardly may be of assistance.
Guardly is a mobile location-based app that allows you to alert, connect, and then collaborate with your personal safety network in an emergency situation. It allows you to communicate with friends, family, and authorities in real-time via voice, sms, email, and web conferencing. In cases where seniors suffer a stroke or require immediate attention Guardly can help emergency services locate and assist them. Our mission is to improve the emergency response process and help save lives.
To learn more about how Guardly can be a part of senior safety, visit the product overview page. The Guardly app will be available in April 2011 through the Apple App Store, and on Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone platforms within the next few months. Stay safe!
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Being a mother is a full-time job in itself. Running around to ensure kids are fed, at school, or at practice can be quite demanding. There are tons of products designed to help these busy ladies but many moms have traded their diaper bags and bottles for laptop cases and smartphones.
Over the last few years we have seen the emergence of digital moms. These mothers don’t shy away from technology but instead, they use it to stay on top of their families’ schedules. Smartphones help the online mom keep track of her messages, emails, and even her social network. It also helps a few momma bloggers follow their favourite authors or share their own thoughts.
The geeky mom persona is on the rise and so are related “mother” apps. These mother technologies are designed to help the online mom find new ways to make life more fun and manageable. Digital savvy moms with apps are also looking for ways and tips for protecting their kids. Guardly may be able to help these tech savvy women and their families stay safe.
Guardly is a mobile location-based app that allows you to alert, connect, and then collaborate with your personal safety network in an emergency situation. It allows you to communicate with friends, family, and authorities in real-time via voice, sms, email, and web conferencing. In cases where mothers or their children feel endangered, Guardly can help emergency services locate and assist them. Our mission is to improve the emergency response process and help save lives.
To learn more about how Guardly can be a part of your digital lifestyle, visit the product overview page. The Guardly app will be available in April 2011 through the Apple App Store, and on Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone platforms within the next few months. Stay safe!
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