Seeking help if you are a woman in distress can be as simple as shaking your mobile phone. This will set off an alarm that can alert passersby as well as those on the woman’s emergency contact list.
In a market flooded with apps that promise to aid women in danger, issues such as the low reflex time or lack of proof at the judicial stage are often left out.
‘S-Guard’, the new safety and security intervention tool, hopes to eliminate these drawbacks. Developed by Bengaluru-based think-tank Synergia Foundation, the app was launched on International Women’s Day.
A big advantage that the tool boasts of is a control room established in the power centre of the city’s law and order machinery — the City Police Commissioner’s office. Three policemen will man the control room to begin with, said Tobby Simon, founder, Synergia Foundation, at a press conference here on Saturday. Among the primary USPs of the app is that the victim need not unlock her phone to set off an alarm. An automatic video or audio (depending on Internet) connectivity is an added feature, which can be accessed by those receiving the alerts.
A few corporate houses have already agreed to use the tool and set up emergency response centres.
However, the developers admitted that data connection was a must to use the app. Using it in a no-network area or when the phone is off (if not logged in) also is not possible.
