Response Idea - Feedback appreciated

B

Beacon

Forum Probie
Messages
11
Reaction score
0
Points
0
I am working on a product idea called the Responder Beacon, which is a light socket adapter for exterior lights that has flashing LEDs and an audible alarm. It is triggered automatically when 911 is dialed from a smart phone in the home. The product's main goal is to guide first responders to the emergency and eliminate the time spent searching for an address (including large apartment complexes).

I would love to get feedback, including ways it could be improved to help cut down response times. The full product description is on Quirky.com

It's just an idea so there's no actual product yet.

Thanks in advance.

Tim
 
Hell no on the audible alarm. 1. We won't hear it from inside emergency vehicles. 2. If you make it loud enough we can hear it from several houses away, then everyone in those several houses will also be able to hear it.

The flashing light bit is a good idea though.
 
I agree with the no alarm bit.
 
I agree with everyone else, yes on the light but no on the alarm. When we are trying to find an address the light would be really helpful but more than likely we would not hear the alarm while inside the ambulance/fire engine.
 
So how would the light help:

1) in bright daylight
2) at Christmas (when everyone has blinking lights)

How would the light be secured to prevent inadvertent activation, and shut off when not needed or after emergency services arrive?
 
holy crap thats brilliant.
 
ffemt8978 said:
So how would the light help:

1) in bright daylight
2) at Christmas (when everyone has blinking lights)

How would the light be secured to prevent inadvertent activation, and shut off when not needed or after emergency services arrive?
Click to expand...

1) How do squad cars, ambulances, fire engines and construction crews get people's attention in bright daylight?

2) What about the other 99.635% of the year? Used in conjunction with current methods I think it could be a great addition.

My questions: How would the signal be transferred to the device from a cell phone?

What if my neighbors have it? If I call 911 in my home, how will you prevent the neighbors beacons from activating?

What if something happens to me in my backyard, someone in the house behind mine finds me and activates 911 from their cell phone?
 
Dialing 911 from a cell phone already makes it much more difficult to dispatch to the specific address, and this would just be an extension of that problem.

If dispatch had some way to remotely activate it would be incredibly useful. I'm picturing activation at dispatcher discretion if from a home phone (in case of PD calls where it should be a silent alarm), and activation by a reverse 911 type system if called in from a cell phone.
 
adamjh3 said:
1) How do squad cars, ambulances, fire engines and construction crews get people's attention in bright daylight?

2) What about the other 99.635% of the year? Used in conjunction with current methods I think it could be a great addition.

My questions: How would the signal be transferred to the device from a cell phone?

What if my neighbors have it? If I call 911 in my home, how will you prevent the neighbors beacons from activating?

What if something happens to me in my backyard, someone in the house behind mine finds me and activates 911 from their cell phone?
Click to expand...
Works in senior homes, but it's a pull cord and it's inside.
 
The idea certainly has merit.

You have been presented with some great advice, heed it and adjust and continue researching this. Products intertwined with smart phones is the future...while your target demographic for this product are not typically daily smart phone users...the people slowly entering this audience are...therefore you have time to make this product right, market the hell out of it and sell a few million units.

I know you will say this application is for all demographics but in reality when it comes to sales/marketing, your focus will be on the seniors. You can always sell them tons of lifesaver products with ease simply due to their own age and fears of being old or alone.

Additional marketing group would be young families as they have the perpetual fear of their child ingesting or harming themselves and you can shave minutes off by having this device installed at same time they are baby proofing their home.

Good on you for thinking of this.
 
DesertEMT66 said:
I agree with everyone else, yes on the light but no on the alarm. When we are trying to find an address the light would be really helpful but more than likely we would not hear the alarm while inside the ambulance/fire engine.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the feedback. The audible part was added because of a discussion I had with a friend of mine who is a police officer in CT. He was responding to a 911 hangup at a large apartment complex and he told me that in cases like that, police have to walk around and just listen for signs of struggle, or knock on doors, etc.

The audible part of this alarm would be able to guide them to the source.

I agree that an audible alarm is not helpful when there are other sirens but when used in conjunction with the light, I think there are use cases where it makes sense.
 
ffemt8978 said:
So how would the light help:

1) in bright daylight
2) at Christmas (when everyone has blinking lights)

How would the light be secured to prevent inadvertent activation, and shut off when not needed or after emergency services arrive?
Click to expand...

Thanks for your response. The light could potentially blend in at Christmas and during the day which is partly why the audible part was added. I would also expect the light portion to be more of a strobe which would hopefully be differentiated from any Christmas lights.

Inadvertent activation would only occur if the the wireless signal was sent. It can be shut off from the app, or a reset switch within the unit could also disable it.
 
Interesting to see someone propose this with a smartphone app. There are similar products out there on the market for land lines, but they're ridiculously expensive. Here are a few thoughts from the dispatch side to both what you've present and what others have said:
-I'm assuming the idea for the app is very simple, and that's a huge plus. Most of these apps are surprisingly complex to integrate. As long as you don't push any additional responsibilities or techs like video onto a PSAP answering the 911 call, you would avoid the biggest pitfalls most NG911 techs have, which is call routing to capable centers.
-Depending on exactly how it was set up, technology would be damn near useless in an apartment complex or other multi-story, unit building. Only way I could realistically see it happening is if the app dialed a specific number assigned to the light, then 911, or vice versa. Any other systems I can immediately think of would trigger other alarms within a set range.
- A system set up in the above style would general not be advisable, while still the best option. When Joe is away from his house and uses the app, it will still at least try and dial out to his beacon, which will slow the overall call and response. That could be avoided by having it all range controlled, but that adds the above mentioned complications to the system.
-Activation by a dispatcher would be a slim to nil reality. NG911 tech is already going to be costing PSAPs more money than they have. I can see it coming through an ASAP system or similar, basically you'd realistically need some sort of separate call center to achieve that feature.
-The product will also not help with the biggest problem we have...People that have no clue where the hell they live or are. I'll still get calls where people are going to give me an incorrect address, or no address at all.

I like the idea, I apologize I haven't had a chance to read more about it on Quirky yet, but it looks promising. Realistically it's not even an NG911 tech, but something you could introduce tomorrow with the right design. That alone can put you ahead of the curve, which is moving a blistering pace right now.
 
Regarding the audible alarm, one aspect of the idea has it as a recording of the address on a loop so that if there is a connected 911 call and the person was unable to speak, a dispatcher may be able to hear it in the background.
 
adamjh3 said:
1) How do squad cars, ambulances, fire engines and construction crews get people's attention in bright daylight?

2) What about the other 99.635% of the year? Used in conjunction with current methods I think it could be a great addition.

My questions: How would the signal be transferred to the device from a cell phone?

What if my neighbors have it? If I call 911 in my home, how will you prevent the neighbors beacons from activating?

What if something happens to me in my backyard, someone in the house behind mine finds me and activates 911 from their cell phone?
Click to expand...

The device would likely have to be "paired" with a phone when first installed so that only a unique signal from your phone would trigger it. A neighbor or visitor's phone wouldn't interfere with it. For the backyard scenario, I'll have to think about that some more but for now, it wouldn't be triggered from their phone.
 
Beacon said:
The device would likely have to be "paired" with a phone when first installed so that only a unique signal from your phone would trigger it. A neighbor or visitor's phone wouldn't interfere with it. For the backyard scenario, I'll have to think about that some more but for now, it wouldn't be triggered from their phone.
Click to expand...

I'm going to miss the legions of shirtless folks at 2am directing us to calls :(

From a practical standpoint a Bluetooth 2.X or the newer LE connection *may* work thru the walls to the lights. Both have favorable energy profiles. Another option is X11 which is pretty ubiquitous when it comes to home-automation.

Other items of interest:

1. In apartment complex situations your concern is the exterior lights are not renter-owned/serviceable. Perhaps an option to purchase a mountable, battery backed, unit/house number sign which lights up instead. In apt complexes this could be placed on the door.

2. Porch lights are often switch controlled, might need some battery backup or be required to be always-on wired with wireless on-off or ambient light detection.

3. Blinking/strobing works well in most areas but can bother neighbors. It would be neat to see this have a blink-on-wail/yelp setting. Lots of computing power available these days.

4. Provide some sort of wired/wireless override to enable/disable it without using the phone.
 
Christopher said:
I'm going to miss the legions of shirtless folks at 2am directing us to calls :(
Click to expand...
This made me laugh out loud.

Christopher said:
From a practical standpoint a Bluetooth 2.X or the newer LE connection *may* work thru the walls to the lights. Both have favorable energy profiles. Another option is X11 which is pretty ubiquitous when it comes to home-automation.
Click to expand...
Radio frequency through a wireless router would give the greatest reach.

Christopher said:
Other items of interest:

1. In apartment complex situations your concern is the exterior lights are not renter-owned/serviceable. Perhaps an option to purchase a mountable, battery backed, unit/house number sign which lights up instead. In apt complexes this could be placed on the door.
Click to expand...
Permission would be needed for exterior light sockets in large complexes, but the consumer could also install this on an interior light nearest the door, or visible in a window.

Christopher said:
2. Porch lights are often switch controlled, might need some battery backup or be required to be always-on wired with wireless on-off or ambient light detection.
Click to expand...
Agreed, battery backup would be critical.

Christopher said:
3. Blinking/strobing works well in most areas but can bother neighbors. It would be neat to see this have a blink-on-wail/yelp setting. Lots of computing power available these days.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure how first responders feel about this but I would want it to annoy neighbors, especially if it's an emergency.

Christopher said:
4. Provide some sort of wired/wireless override to enable/disable it without using the phone.
Click to expand...
This is a great idea, will add this to my list.

Thank you again for all the great feedback.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top