Late in 2013 ADT launched their FindU mobile app which is designed to get you out of tricky situations. Wherever you find yourself, as long as there is cellular coverage FindU has your back.
The FindU app runs on BlackBerry, Android, iPhone and Windows smartphones and utilises your phone’s GPS to track your movements. It is using the same technology as Strava and other sports trackers. Once the FindU app has been activated you can go about your ride as you normally would and if you need help you shake your phone vigorously to set off the alert. It is sent to the ADT FindU monitoring centre and they will then dispatch the necessary response team.
The alert activates your phone’s video camera too, so you can make a ten second video clip of your situation. For example, if you’ve had a fall you can film your injury to help the monitoring centre get you the right sort of help. In addition to being able to summon medical, armed response, mountain or sea rescue teams to your aid, an SMS alert will be sent to contacts you selected. The people closest to you will therefore be able to spring into action too.
Apart from the general lifestyle applications of FindU, as listed on their website www.adtfindu.co.za, the app is a great way to keep you safe while on those solo rides. You can set a timeframe for your ride and if the time elapses without you deactivating the timer the app will send an alert to the monitoring centre. And the developers are working on a function which will harness your phone’s accelerometer to activate an alert should the phone not move for a certain period of time. So if you’ve crashed and are lying prone in the dirt you won’t have to wait for the time frame you allocated for the ride to expire before help is sent. But because it’s using the accelerometer it won’t activate a false alarm should you be taking a breather. You might not be moving enough for the GPS to detect movement but your phone’s sensitive accelerometer will pick up your footfalls as you wander off to grab a coffee.
The FindU app is free to download and the emergency response service is charged at a monthly rate of R49, including VAT and existing ADT customers get a further discount too. Visit www.adtfindu.co.za for all the information and to sign up for the service.
