K.L. Bala was stumped when he received a call from the police, seeking to find out if he was in trouble.
To the voice at the other end, he replied that he wasn’t and asked why the police personnel thought so.
The personnel told Bala that he had sent them an SOS, and that’s when he realised he had accidentally pressed the SOS button in the Kavalan SOS app installed on his phone.
Impressed by the immediate response, Bala urged his neighbours at Thiruveedhiamman Koil Street, Mandaveli to use the app, especially women.
“This app will be of great help to women and senior citizens in times of distress. It will come in handy for residents to report suspicious activities in their streets or any other emergency. The Thiruveedhiamman Koil Street Residents Association (TAKSRA) has asked all its residents to make use of the app,” he says.
How to get the Kavalan SOS app
* Launched by the Tamil Nadu Police Department, the app is available on Android and iOS platforms.
*Once installed, enter your mobile phone number and home address for registration. Details such as email address, the date of birth, gender, and city are mandatory.
*Enter the contact details of two or three relatives or close friends as emergency contacts, preferably those living in the same city. The mobile number, name and relationship of the emergency contact are mandatory.
*An activation code will be sent to the registered mobile number to complete the sign-up, following which the home screen will be displayed.
*In case of an emergency, press the SOS button which will start a five-second countdown. After five seconds, the app automatically sends the user’s current location on the map along with a video from your back camera to the Kavalan team. Within a minute, a team will contact the user. Simultaneously, the location will be sent to the ‘emergency contacts’ as an SMS alert.
DigiCop to report phone, vehicle thefts
This February, the Tamil Nadu police launched DigiCop to help the public report thefts of mobile phones and two-wheelers and check if they have been recovered.
The app also lets users verify if the second-hand mobile phones they purchase are stolen ones, using the mobile phone’s IMEI number.
