Support

The staff at SoloProtect are ready to help you with any question you may have, call us on 01909 550387 or email us at info@soloprotect.com

 Listed below are the more commonly asked questions we get from customers seeking to implement better protection for their lone workers.

Question: I employ a number of people that work alone but what legislation is there that forces me to do anything?

There is no single answer; it will depend on the findings of risk assessments but often the answer will be yes. The HSE leaflet ‘Working Alone in Safety’ will help anyone who employs or engages lone workers. It gives general guidance on working alone. It offers advice on how to comply with duties towards lone workers under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSW Act) and the Management of Health and Safety at Work (MHSW) Regulations 1999.

Employers have responsibilities for the health, safety and welfare at work of their employees and the health and safety of those affected by the work, eg visitors, such as contractors and self-employed people who employers may engage. These responsibilities cannot be transferred to people who work alone. It is the employer’s duty to assess risks to lone workers and take steps to avoid or control risk where necessary.

Employees have responsibilities to take reasonable care of themselves and other people affected by their work and to co-operate with their employers in meeting their legal obligations.

Secondly, the increasing trend for US style litigation is forcing many employers to rethink the way in which they protect themselves against such a possibility. As the Identicom devcie used by SoloProtect allows incidents to be listened to and captured, recordings can be used to support action needing to be taken against an aggressor and therefore acts as a deterrent and helps reduce high staff turnover, time off work and litigation & insurance costs.

Question: Why can’t my staff just use a mobile phone?

Mobile phones are not ideal devices for personal protection applications.This is especially the case in applications where the individual is faced with the risk of physical, verbal or racial abuse from those they are interacting with.The key issues associated with the use of mobile phones in these types of applications are:

• Using a mobile to raise an alert is an overt operation. It is proven to actually increase the risks to the user by further enflaming the situation. It can be the trigger for physical contact as the aggressor attempts to stop the user from dialling for assistance.
• Attempting to press the correct keys on a mobile phone during an incident is often difficult.This can be exasperated by functions such as keypad locks and speed dial functions. Ultimately it can also further inflame an already difficult situation.
• It is difficult for employers to manage and control costs in terms of private vs business use, these problems are magnified if mobile phones are used in a pooled environment.
• Providing a worker with a mobile phone increases their risk of attack as a result of becoming a target for theft.
• A mobile phone is rarely within immediate reach when required (typically in a bag or coat pocket, left on a table, etc).
• Current Police (ACPO) guidelines suggest that any device used to raise an alert should be fit for purpose. The guidelines specifically single out mobile phones as unsuitable.

Question: Because it relies on network signals - it’s presumably unreliable?

Utilising the GSM network ensures extensive nationwide coverage, regardless of whether indoors or outdoors.

The Identicom has a ‘stop & check’ facility providing the user with information on both the degree of network coverage and the battery charge level. This function, unlike mobile phones, encourages the user to perform the ‘stop and check’ procedure as part of a dynamic risk assessment prior to entering a potentially hazardous situation, verifying whether the device will function correctly if required. This provides extra reassurance to the user.

Question: I already have a mobile phone, why do I need a second phone contract?

SoloProtect is now also available with Connexion2's Bluetooth Identicom i350.  This device delivers all of the critical safety functionality of Identicom but makes use of the user's Bluetooth mobile phone.  This makes for a solution that is increasingly affordable to every size of organisation.

Question: Can I have alert calls coming directly to my business rather than to a 24/7 Manned Monitoring Centre?

SoloProtect has a state of the art monitoring centre with highly trained operators taking in the alarms raised from Identicoms. Their skills and experience, coupled with the capabilities of the systems they have, immediate location information via Location Based Service technology, and the ability to have direct access into the relevant local emergency services, ensures a fast and appropriate response to any incident.

It is possible for you to utilise a 24/7 monitoring fuction you may already have in your busiess, please contact SoloProtect on 01909 550387 so we may help you assess the best way forward for you.

Question: Surely like a mobile phone the ongoing costs would be quite high?

Unlike mobile phones, the costs of calls and texts from the Identicom are limited to the duration of amber and red alert stages, thus eliminating the risk of misuse and high unnecessary on-going charges. With SoloProtect, all usage costs are included in the ragular monthly fee subject to our fair usage policy. This leaves you with an easy to manage fixed monthly cost for the protection of your workers.

Question: It’s great but I’d prefer a device with two way communication

Identicom is purposely designed for one way communication and not two way communication. It is intended to be used discreetly without alerting any possible assailants to the fact that an alarm has been raised and somebody is listening in to the situation and initiating an appropriate response. Many thousands of workers already benefit from Identicom and this has been proven as the most effective and risk free way of protecting lone workers.

Question: My staff are more at risk from injury than from abuse or attack.

There is a SoloProtect solution designed specifically for those employers whose lone workers are at greater risk from injury and wish to have an automatic alarm raised in case of the incapacity of one of their staff.  SoloProtect with the Identicom i770 with Man-Down delivers an automatic man-down detection function in addition to all of the other lone worker features of the Identicom i750.

Question: Am I stuck if the battery runs out?

Identicom has been designed to operate under conditions of normal usage for 2 – 2.5 days without needing to be recharged. Additionally, the ‘stop and check’ function provides the user with the ability to check battery strength and network coverage signal strength before entering a potentially hazardous situation. This provides extra reassurance to the user but also acts as a prompt to stop and assess the possible the risks in each case.

For additional reassurance the device can send a text message stating low battery when the battery drops below a nominal level of charge.

To aid flexibility for more demanding applications, the unit can also be supplied with an in-car charger.

Question: The tracking isn’t as good or accurate as GPS Technology

GPS technology does indeed provide more accurate information on your location than GSM technology but suffers from one major problem – the fact that it requires line of sight to three satellites. This renders it useless within most buildings and unreliable in built up areas which is where the bulk of lone workers face risk.

The Identicom uses cell ID Location Based Service (LBS) technology and gives a general location fix. Therefore the technology is less accurate but far more reliable than GPS.

The Identicom is not designed as a tracking device but a lone worker protection device, the location obtained via LBS is there as support information on a user’s whereabouts which is often cross referenced with location information left by the user prior to entry.

Question: How do I know if my call has got through?

If the Identicom is out of network coverage and an Amber or Red Alert activation is attempted, the unit will vibrate once to indicate that the call cannot be connected. The user then knows to try and move their location, even if it is to another part of a room and re-try. Remember that poor coverage areas are often identified by the worker BEFORE they enter as a result of them checking coverage and battery as part of their dynamic risk assessment.

If the Identicom is in coverage, the unit will vibrate three times upon activation of the Red or Amber Alert. A ‘heartbeat’ function on the Red Alert generates one vibration repeatedly at pre-defined intervals, such as every 30 seconds, provided the Red Alert call is connected and live.This provides additional reassurance to the user that somebody is listening and escalating an appropriate response.

Question: Could someone harm me with the lanyard?

The device has 2 features to ensure the wearer cannot be harmed with the lanyard. Firstly the device has a rip alarm function. One end of the lanyard is attached directly to the unit, the other end is attached to a small plug that sits inside the unit. If the unit is forcibly removed from the user, the plug detaches from the unit and immediately activates a red alert. This ensures a rapid response even though the user is separated from the device.

There is also a break point in the mid-section of the lanyard.This ensures that if the lanyard is grabbed above the unit (hence eliminating the rip alarm function) and force applied, the lanyard will break at the mid-section.

Question: Surely the unit makes an attractive target for thieves?

The unit has been deliberately designed not to look like a technology device and will not draw attention to itself, unlike mobile phones or other 'gadgets'.

Question: Quality of audio capture from mobile phones is often poor.

The quality of the audio captured via the open voice channel on mobile phones can be poor with high levels of background noise and limited sensitivity. The Identicom has a microphone positioned to capture sound out in front of the device over a broad area and has been proven to provide excellent audio capture in a number of demanding environments.

Question: Is it easy to set off false alarms?

Activation of the Red and Amber Alerts requires a concerted push and hold of the buttons for 1.5 seconds.This greatly reduces the potential to falsely set off alarms.

If a user creates a false Red or Amber Alert then they can easily close it down after stating to the monitoring centre that they are safe and that it was a false alarm. Or, the operator in the monitoring centre will be able to tell the alert is false and close the call without having to escalate it further.

SoloProtect with the Identicom i770 with Man-Down includes additional features to reduce on false alarms generated from man-down situations.  The Identicom will try to notify the user through a number of means, including calling their mobile phone, to see if it is a false alarm.  If there is no response from the user it will call SoloProtect's 24 hour monitoring centre, where trained operators will listen to the situation to assess whether it is false alarm and to follow the appropriate escalation.

Question: What happens if the Police are unable or unwilling to attend an incident?

SoloProtect is also able to offer you the ability to call upon a private mobile response in the event the Police are not able to attend or the severity of the incident doesn't warrant their involvement. A trained and SIA registered security guard is available to you either to accompany workers to known 'high risk' scenarios or they can be called upon in the event of an incident. Click here for further details and pricing.