BuddySystem LITE from On Demand Safety, Inc.

How On Demand Safety, Inc. rises to the "Apps Against Abuse" Challenge Vice President Biden and the Department for Human Health and Services have issued the “Apps Against Abuse” technology challenge – described as "a national competition to develop an innovative software application, or “app,” that provides young adults with tools to help prevent sexual assault and dating violence." On Demand Safety, Inc. (ODS) couldn't be happier to see the engagement of American Leadership in this arena.  ODS has worked diligently over the last 6 years with the mantra of developing safer environments through the application of technology, service and response.  In this mindset ODS has developed the patent pending SafeHaven Mobile Safety System.  SafeHaven works as a kind of "OnStar™" for the human being, giving instant and discrete one-button (or "one-swipe") access to help when users need it most. Once activated, SafeHaven sends an alert to our monitor group with your real-time location, information, and audio from your location that allows our team to dispatch help to you in seconds without you ever having to say a word. With SafeHaven, our team of Five Diamond Certified response professionals are available to assist you 24/7. SafeHaven stores your information in a secure private database, including your photo, physical features, important health information (allergies, blood-type, etc.) and can even store useful information like your class schedule, or weekly routine so that in the case of an event, the help we send can be as ready as possible! This profile is set up by you, or if you are under 18, your parent or guardian will help as an administrator. This ensures that your information is as current as possible; with SafeHaven your information is time, and when it really matters, every second counts! On Demand Safety products distinguish themselves through response. One of the most important aspects of the SafeHaven system is the Halo device.  Halo provides a one button, discreet and powerful alert to be sent out and it fits right on your keychain.  Pictured to the side, the Halo is small enough to easily fit in your pocket, purse or wherever you may keep your keys, however it is the only device of its kind developed to connect you to 24/7 emergency response, wherever you are.  We have taken the Halo concept along with the SafeHaven application and introduced it to many students at West Coast universities, and the response was overwhelming. Students want SafeHaven, they want Halo, and they want them now! On Demand Safety built SafeHaven as a tool for mobile safety, but we recognize that the best way to help in an emergency is to provide tools and education to help prevent an emergency in the first place. SafetyFirst from ODS is our safety information portal where we have teamed up with national safety professionals as well as college campus safety groups such as The OASIS Center to provide monthly newsletters, articles, tips, videos and much more to advocate and instill a safety conscious lifestyle and helping to identify dangers in relationships and situations before they become an emergency. "Apps Against Abuse" has challenged America to develop an "app," On Demand Safety has answered that challenge with "BuddySystemLITE," the first Peer Response based safety tool from On Demand Safety. BuddySystemLITE was built to answer the call for a free application and was developed from various features previously built into SafeHaven.  BuddySystemLITE is a powerful and simple way for friends and colleagues to connect with each other in new and innovative ways, such as BuddyCheck, which allows for a group status survey to make sure everyone is doing okay. In a situation where there may be danger, BuddyLink can connect the entire group with each other on a conference call with the touch of a button! BuddyLink may also be used by an individual to create a diversion call to themselves to provide a way out of a situation before it escalates.  On top of all of these tools, we have also included a limited access pass to the benefits of SafetyFirst.  Please take the time to watch our videos to see the app in action and to see student reactions on you tube, you can find them by searching our channel, "OnDemandSafety."   How is BuddySystemLITE different from SafeHaven? BuddySystemLITE relies on an individual's peer group, or friends to be on watch and safety conscious, but also provides tools to instants create a distance or diversion to give the user time to get to a safe place. SafeHaven utilizes a 24/7 monitoring group to make sure that there is always someone waiting on the other line, utilzing the alert and accompanying loaction and personal info direct the necessary emergency help back to the user. Both are powerful tools to get help when the time comes, as well as to encourage a safety conscious lifestyle! There are still many focus groups and iterations to go through as we refine the current state of BuddySystemLITE as we work towards a finished product.  In the next few weeks and months the On Demand Safety team will be working through challenges like whether or not location information is necessary or creates a possible threat of misuse in the peer model, the possible inclusion of 911 Emergency QuickCall buttons and other important facets that need some more consideration and consultation with end users and police/safety professionals. We hope you will continue to check back with us at www.ondemandsafety.com (Servers changing this week, may be down temporarily) and also on our new YouTube Channel! Thank you very much for your time, consideration and for your endorsement of such an incredibly important challenge. On Demand Safety, Inc. is excited to see the outcome of the challenge, and looks forward to stand behind the roll out of BuddySystemLITE and SafeHaven in the Summer of 2012.  Important Note: We will be reloading the demo movie for YouTube, at the last review we realized our demo walkthough was apparently too long and was removed, so we had to cut the last 2 minutes off and are in the process of reloading it. Please see our channel "OnDemandSafety" at http://www.youtube.com/user/OnDemandSafety?feature=mhee for the walkthrough video as well as a wrap up video, which will be uploaded shortly! Thank you for your understanding!