Project Help and Road Safety
Introduction
On the Arrive Alive website and associated safety portals, we discuss how South Africans can be safe not only from road crashes and crime but also from medical incidents and other emergencies.
Technology has become ever more important to summon fast and effective emergency assistance and we recognize the efforts of all those app developers and emergency response services, doing their utmost to keep our citizens safe.
One such very worthy development has been Project Help! We approached the developers to gain some insights to the App and inquire as to what was the most important requirements to ensure that service delivery is fast, efficient and reliable to those in need:
1. How important do you believe are emergency apps on the roads of South Africa?
This could be the difference between life & death in South Africa. The quicker emergency services are able to respond to a crime scene or accident or breakdown, the greater the chances of survival for the victims and/or injured parties. Most Emergency apps will give the responding service providers your exact GPS location which reduces the response time significantly and removing any margin for error.
2. Do you find they are also growing in popularity among cyclists, mountain bikers and hikers?
Absolutely yes. South Africans are starting to take a stance in making our country safer together and helping each other out in an emergency. Most cases around outdoor activities are of citizens helping out a fellow citizen in need which is really refreshing to see.
3. Is Project Help mostly aimed at road users or also for medical emergencies at the home and at work?
Our offering is based on the principles of getting help at any time anywhere. Being it armed response to a crime scene or medical response to a motor vehicle accident or even an injury on duty.
4. With a recent increase in the availability of rescue apps among a variety of developers - what are the main factors [apart from price] to distinguish between the various apps?
Creating an App is only the starting point of putting together a successful rescue service eco-system. There are teams hard at work creating a world-class network of armed and medical responders that actually works. Teams that build the crisis centre and customer care centres. Sales and onboarding team hard at work with helping new customers download and test the app. All these parts are extremely important building blocks in making the entire ecosystem work.
We strongly suggest looking at apps that give you the ability to test free of charge and actually experience first hand if there is a real responding network behind the app and brand.
5. Some people subscribe to various Apps and it could become rather costly - what would be the best advice?
We would strongly recommend finding an emergency app that has a good track record with actual downloads many reviews.
6. What do you believe may be the reason for users to select Project Help as there App of choice?
• Certainly our track record and our affiliation with top Blue Chip brands.
• Furthermore the Aura network that we are connected too is the largest and most successful network of responding officers in South African making it a formidable partnership.
• Aura gathers and centralises national data from more than 280 private security companies, before applying AI. Predictability fuelled by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and big data has the ability to reduce violent crimes by 25% by 2023. Technology has a vital role to play in establishing a predictable, data-driven approach to improving security measures and curbing crime.
7. If I subscribe to Project Help - who is going to be helped - is it ID specific or can I call to assist another party on the crash scene or scene of an emergency?
You can use it for anybody in need. South Africans generally want to help fellow citizens in need but we are too afraid of putting ourselves in harms way. The Project HELP solution now gives subscribers the ability to help some else at the touch of a button without physically getting involved.
8. How important are partnerships with various providers for an effective emergency app?
Our entire business and the Aura network is built on an aggregated model that only works with strong partners and partnerships. All our service providers have bought into our vision of making South Africa a safer place.
9. South Africa has the 10th largest road network in the world - would this be a challenge to response via emergency activations via the app?
Having such a large road network has actually allowed us the ability to convince service providers to work together as a partnership and not competitors, for the greater good of South Africans. Our network is national with close to 3000 responders across armed guards and medical emergency services.
10. Do you regularly review the responses to emergency activations?
Yes constantly. We are very strict SLA's in place with our various service providers and if they can not meet those standards we will remove them from our network.
11. How important is an effective call centre and do you ensure and monitor proper training of call centre consultants?
The crisis centre is key in monitoring the automated dispatches and is seen as the glue that holds everything together. Constant training is needed to keep our staff motivated and more importantly finding people that a passionate about making a difference and playing a part in making our country safe again.
12. Some say that South Africa may be a destination of choice for many travellers visiting SA from abroad after the Covid-19 pandemic - would Project Help be an important consideration for international travellers as well?
Absolutely yes. Project HELP is a month to month subscription and not term based, making it absolutely perfect for international travellers.
Also view:
Smartphone Apps and Road Safety / Roadside Emergencies
Celular Technology and Road Safety
Emergency Response Time and Response to Road Crashes
How to respond to an emergency
Roadside Assistance and Road Safety
Crime as a Threat to Road Safety
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