Blog – Page 10

ELERTS EscortMe – protection for students walking near their campus

October 16, 2012

Smartphone app automatically notifies campus police if a student is in distress. EscortMe is a new personal safety service provided by ELERTS Corporation. When a campus subscribes to the ELERTS service, students, staff or others concerned about their personal safety may engage a virtual campus escort via their smartphone. See the 1 minute video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izCxLWz45No How it works EscortMe…

ELERTS-powered MBTA See Say App Now on Android

July 17, 2012

We're excited to announce today that the MBTA See Say app we developed for Boston's Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) is now available on Android. Following a very successful iOS launch of the app in May, it was a natural next step to make this powerful solution accessible to more transit riders - enhancing the ability of riders to say…

The BYOD generation – an emergency responder in every pocket

July 10, 2012

The bring-your-own-device (BYOD) craze has been talked about a lot in terms of IT headaches, security concerns and management complications. But we see it in a more positive light – with every employee who brings their own device to work, companies are in a better position to handle a crisis situation or minimize negative behavior within the organization. Why, you…

ELERTS delivers a Transit System 1st, the MBTA See Say app.

May 21, 2012

It's been an exciting day at ELERTS as we announced another first – the availability of the See Say app, developed by ELERTS for The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). The app is designed to let riders easily and instantly report suspicious activity to Transit authorities with their smartphones - crowdsourcing public safety with thousands of eyes and ears on…

Beyond the Safe Room – Technology’s Growing Role in Workplace Emergency Management

April 27, 2012

This month we’ve had the advantage of exhibiting at a couple of intriguing events on each coast, most notably the ASIS International Security EXPO in Boxborough, MA. The keynote speaker, Felix Nater, who specializes in making organizations safe and developing non-violent workplaces through situational awareness, spoke on “Combating the Threat of Violence in the Workplace through Robust, Agile: and Collaborative…

Beyond the Blue Light

January 25, 2012

Blue Lights are security placebos, not real security. Yet these obsolete systems still occupy college campuses nationwide, and are used as symbols of “campus safety”. Public safety is an important aspect of any campus. College tours emphasize safety to nervous parents, concerned about their high school seniors leaving home. Blue Lights are obsolete and should be removed from campuses. Visiting…

CMAS flub shows the dark side of text alerts

December 14, 2011

CMAS Alert: Civil Emergency in this area until 1:24 PM EST. Take Shelter Now. U.S. Govern popped up on mobile phones in New Jersey yesterday. No need to panic, this was apparently part of a poorly run test of CMAS in the garden state. And the test results were not good. While some blogs and headlines proclaim the alert “freaked…

Our See Something, Say Something World

September 10, 2011

Heading into the 10 year anniversary of the largest terrorist attack on US, we learn there may be another attack planned to explode vehicles during the memorial weekend, in DC or NYC. An informant claims that 2 or more men, reportedly dispatched by Al Qaeda, left Afghanistan and entered the United States with the intent to detonate bombs hidden inside…

Quake Shakes Confidence in Communications

August 23, 2011

Today we experienced a 5.9 quake at the ELERTS office in Massachusetts. Our building swayed and shook for about 20 seconds, as did many east coast buildings. No alarm was sounded. No evacuation orders given. Building management had no way to communicate with tenants, to give instructions. There was a failure to communicate inside a defined structure, our building, which…

Bank Robbery foiled by iPhone user

August 5, 2011

What a great example of a watchful person on the street stopping a crime by taking a photo with his smartphone. As a bank robbery was about to go down, a 23 year old man who was outside on a break, saw the robber dressed in a wig. Ed G. discretely photographed the would-be-robber using his iPhone. It was the…