New location-aware smartphone app can help businesses and government organisations protect and account for staff during an emergency
Track24 announced today the launch of SearchLight, a smartphone application and notification system, designed for businesses, multinationals and government organisations, to protect and account for staff during an emergency or disruption.
Developed with privacy at the heart of its design, SearchLight allows businesses to deliver a duty of care to their employees by having the ability to accurately locate members of staff during an emergency and inform them of any potential danger.
During an incident, a business is able to draw a ‘SearchLight zone’ around the incident’s location on a map by using the SearchLight web application to find any members of staff who are in close proximity to the emergency. Staff members that have the SearchLight mobile application on their smartphones will be automatically identified and warned about the situation immediately. The mobile application only reveals an employee’s location if they are inside or near a geography of concern, ensuring a balance between duty of care and privacy.
The SearchLight mobile application provides ongoing support to help guide the user to an area of safety via push notifications, SMS or email, or more personalised one-to-one chat support if required. With the application it’s also possible to create dedicated messaging groups for staff to communicate with each individual during an emergency.
Raymond Kenney, MD at Track24, said: “We know that emergencies can happen at any time, without warning, as demonstrated by the Manchester Arena and London Bridge attacks last year. There is the need for a clear and universally recognised means of being able to locate people in the case of an emergency, and provide ongoing communication to ensure they remove themselves from any danger.
“SearchLight is designed to take full advantage of smartphone capabilities, delivering critical notifications, warnings and instruction to the public, using common messaging tools. It can be scaled to suit organisations of all shapes and sizes, from companies with less than ten members of staff, up to large enterprises with tens of thousands of employees. It can also be rolled-out by government bodies in order to alert the wider public to an emergency. Having a tool that can effectively provide communication and instructions to the public during a crisis offers reassurance and peace of mind,” he finished.
SearchLight can offer privacy by design and default for individual staff members, rather than ‘privacy by controls’ at the group level. The software complies with privacy and data protection laws, including GDPR and can be administered by Human Resources with the full consent of the workforce. Designed by a team of experts with experience in defence, risk management and security, the technology is used today by a significant number of FTSE 100 businesses.
