BANGALORE: After the Nirbhaya incident in 2012, the UPA government had announced the introduction of an electronic personal safety device for women but their promises did not result in anything concrete. However, here is some good news for women, children and old people who are vulnerable to violence not just in the big metros but also in small towns.
A city-based company has developed a dedicated GPS safety device to help women, children and old people in distress.
With this device, you can ascertain the safety of women on the unsafe city streets, track the movement of your children on the school bus, watch over lonely senior citizens and special children and even keep tabs on your chauffeur driven car or a wayward pet.
Unlike other safety apps which are presently available, this unique device can be operated instantaneously and does not take any time to initialise. It uses a GPS to track any individual, animal, asset, vehicle or a fleet of vehicles. The OSS GPS tracking device which hit the market recently, is being sold for `7000 with a monthly subscription of `200.
How does the safety device work?
You just have to press the SOS button to alert your near and dear ones if you are in danger or somebody has attacked you.
The moment you press this button, an SMS alert goes to three registered mobile users giving your location details. Currently, only three numbers can be programmed and the alert is sent in such a way that if the first user does not respond, the SOS goes to the second and subsequently to the third person. The device also initiates phone calls to the registered users who can hear the commotion a person may be caught in.
"The SOS alert gives the location details within five to seven seconds. Not just this, the registered user can also hear all the conversation in the background, once the SOS is sent," says D Deekshith, MD, OSS Technologies. If the network is down, the person on the other end can discern from the last signal the nearest location of the user in distress. The three registered numbers are programmed on the basis of priority.
Senior citizen Arunka Sen who has been using this device since last month says it is very useful.
"My son lives abroad while my daughter who travels a lot has programmed for me three important numbers that can be alerted when I need help. With attacks on women and old people on the rise, such a device is necessary. One can use this device to keep an eye on ailing people too and it is so easy to operate," she adds.
"We are a home grown company where 10 software developers have put in 25,000 manhours to develop this. It is a dedicated device unlike safety apps which take time to load and initiate," says Deekshith.
The company has written to the city police commissioner as the device can benefit citizens in many ways.
"We are also looking for NGOs who can collaborate with us to help the elderly," he concludes, hopefully.