Today, everyone is a call, text or tap away. Yet for how in reach our phones feel when we want them, that's not always the case when we need them.
From car accidents to the dangers found in high-risk sectors like healthcare and tower climbing, a phone call can sometimes be out of the question. This was Silent Beacon founder Kenny Kelley’s reality after a serious motorcycle crash — finding himself fully conscious but unable to move or reach his cell to call for help.
"That was a really scary, eerie thing," he told Broadband Nation. "I kept thinking, if I can’t even call 911 right now, how many other people have been in this position?"
Kelley discovered that not only were there emergencies like his in need of better or quicker responses, but workers across several industries needed an even simpler way to stay safe. Phone calls — whether to a friend or 911 — were not always possible.
An overwhelming number of violence-related workplace injuries occur in healthcare, for instance. Nurses and aides are five times more likely to be assaulted than workers overall.
Many other industries silently struggle as well. In The National Association of Realtors Safety Residential Report, 73% of its members (over 300,000) across the U.S. reported fearing for their safety at work. From rideshare drivers to janitors and overnight hotel staff, many people need a more discreet or automatic means of staying safe.
Silent safety
Kelley formed Silent Beacon in 2013 hoping to create a more effective way to maintain safety for people and their loved ones — be it through their shift at a hospital or climbing a mountain.
The company provides wearable panic buttons, or "beacons," allowing them to instantly alert emergency contacts or first responders with their real-time location through Bluetooth and cellular connectivity. A single beacon connects to the user’s phone and piggybacks off its connection. Currently, nearly 180,000 beacons are connected and over 1.8 million alert messages have been sent.
Using a person’s existing phone network connection has a “huge benefit” compared to a separate network run by Silent Beacon, explained Kelley.
"When you piggyback off the user's phone, like we do, it's what you're already accustomed to, what works, where you already live or work,” Kelley said.
In scenarios with weak signal, when a phone call may not go through, the beacon repeatedly sends out small 4 Kbps blips of data until the signal reaches Silent Beacon servers, which don’t require a cell network.
Once the data reaches their servers, the alert is initiated, he detailed. “It knows who you are, where you've been, who you want contacted."
Connecting techs, high and low
Rather than trying to convince new sectors of Silent Beacon’s benefit, Kelley has leaned toward letting industries tell him what they need.
One particularly interesting use case popped up when SK Telecom, the cell service provider in South Korea, approached Silent Beacon to use its beacons for tower technicians. The telco wanted their climbers to be able to request help without having to reach into their pockets — a likely scenario when climbing hundreds of feet in the air in all types of weather conditions.
Tower techs are indeed part of this invisible workforce. They often reflect on how little people understand their work, or that the job even exists.
“When you tell people you’re a tower climber, they don’t really understand what you mean by that,” said 11-year tower tech veteran Will Stone. “They just know they’re getting this cool device that’s giving them break-neck speeds, and they can watch videos... but I don’t see that people recognize this job of any importance.”
Initially, Silent Beacon turned down the opportunity because it didn't have servers in South Korea, but the company is now planning to "relook" at the possibility, Kelley said.
In addition to protecting the trade-based workforce, Silent Beacon's prospective partnerships may be another avenue for work within the broadband trades.
“We plan on being more than a one-trick-pony,” said Kelley. This year, South Beacon intends to partner with network companies and providers to build out Bluetooth mesh networks for hospitals, hotels and other organizations in larger buildings needing to create a secure infrastructure for their workers.
The expansion could entail technician teams from their partner networks coming in to install, maintain and upgrade the network equipment as needed.
A common thread for those in broadband tech work: it's always something new going into work each day. Bringing quick, secure emergency connectivity to thousands of workers — from healthcare to hospitality — could soon be one more way the job stays dynamic.
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