Tagger, from Australian electronic security developer Mod2, is a wearable personal duress device and is about the size of a Tic Tac container. Like all personal duress devices there is an opportunity cost consideration between location accuracy and battery life (that defines the size of the unit). We believe we have got a good balance for the intended purpose.
Mod-2 has chosen BENS as their preferred monitoring station because it is A1 accredited and more importantly has made available their IT team to facilitate the integration of the Tagger into their alarm monitoring system, AMS. With the integration BENS’ operators require no additional training to be able to handle situations from the Tagger and have at their fingertips map locations and commands that can be used with the Tagger.
Being managed and monitored by a Grade A1 security monitoring centre, the Tagger user can be assured that the service is handled by a professional service provider that is audited, accredited and complies with standards and procedures laid out by the security industry and by police. All signals received, actions taken, Tagger operations and responses are recorded in the history and never erased. All conversations are logged, recorded and stored securely
Unlike other personal duress devices, Tagger does not track continuously. To allow some freedom and privacy, Tagger tags the location periodically (2 hours). The timing can be restarted with a manual tag to allow/extend the period of ‘freedom’. The frequency of the auto tags can be adjusted to suit the user.
Tagger only accepts calls from BENS and one designated person/carer. This prevents the device from receiving crank, malicious or accidental calls that may then eavesdrop the surrounds. BENS can, where required/requested, join third parties to the call made; so during emergencies loved ones can be connected. Only calls involving BENS are recorded.
Tagger has all the functions available in other similar devices like SOS, fall detection, geo-fencing but we have added/improved some functions.
With SOS the user activates it with the button. This will be signalled to BENS who will then call the Tagger to assist the user. We have added a new feature where the user can activate ‘silent SOS’. With this, BENS will act by calling the device but listen in to the situation and will only speak if it is safe to do so. The user can also flag BENS with a prearranged signal/code to send the police immediately. This signal can be non-vocal.
In collaboration with BENS, Mod2 has developed SafeZone, a variation to geo-fence which is fairly difficult to set up and administer. SafeZone can be activated on demand. The user calls BENS to set up a safe zone. The current location is tagged as the centre and giving a radius between 100m to 2500m the safe zone is defined. If the Tagger is located outside the safe zone a ‘SafeZone Breakout Alarm’ is activated and will be actioned by BENS accordingly.
BENS can monitor Tagger offline. This is monitored if the Tagger is switched on and has lost communications (4 hours default). This can happen if the Tagger is out of 4G coverage for a lengthy period (greater than 4 hours) or if the Tagger is (made) inoperable while activated.
If the device has been misplaced or the user is lost, BENS can cause the device to beep periodically and provide an approximate location or provide the location without beeping. Beeping the Tagger provides a means of locating the device and person aurally and providing the GPS map location at BENS.
By working with a local security monitoring centre, Mod-2 says it has made the personal duress work seamlessly with alarm monitoring services providing a more reliable service in line with general alarm systems monitoring.
Contact 61 2 8745 9800 for more information on TAGGER.
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