Product Concept
Social alarms make use of the telephone system to call for help in an emergency. A button is pressed on a special telephone which initiates an automatic telephone call to a control centre, where staff can establish the problem and send appropriate help.
In most people's minds it would seem a simple step to develop a mobile social alarm. In terms of building a phone that will do the job, it is relatively simple. However, the control centre and systems behind the social alarm call have to be much more sophisticated. With a social alarm fixed in the home, control centre staff know the exact location of the person who has called for help. With a mobile phone the person calling for help could be anywhere, perhaps in a completely different area. The system needs to be able to show the location of the caller and be able to call on local assistance.
How it works
When the call is answered at the control centre, the phone sends its GPS location, which calls up the relevant area map on the control centre screen. A duplex speech channel is opened and control centre staff can speak to the caller.
To refine the accuracy of the location data, the phone uses the short message service (SMS) to correspond with one of a series of differential processors located around the country, which work out more accurately the location. The corrected data are sent back to the phone, which forwards the data to the control centre, providing a location which is accurate to 5 metres.
The new data allows the mapping system to zoom in on the exact location of the caller.
This emergency mobile phone has many other uses too. Care staff will value the protection it offers them if they, in turn, need help. Other people who work alone, such as caretakers in schools and offices, or maintenance staff on factory sites, will also appreciate the protection.
The mobile social alarm goes into trials in late 1998.
Safe 21 will demonstrate how the existing social alarm infrastructure can be used to deliver a much broader range of services for people who are living alone. The project runs 1997-1999 with trials of equipment from late 1998.