Indian develops mobile-based security system for

New Delhi: An Indian software analyst has developed a
mobile phone-based system that may provide better
protection to BPO staff in transit.

“The GPS-based systems here are not adequate as India
has not developed detailed maps for our cities.
However, our system, Webtra, will work everywhere
as it is based on mobile technology,” said
Chennai-based V M Sankaran Nampoothiri.

As soon as an employee gets into a cab, he or she will
log on to the mobile phone and send an SMS to a
centralised number. Five minutes later, a message
automatically goes to the employee.

“If he or she does not respond to the message, a call
will follow after another five minutes. If the person
still fails to respond, the system will declare
a crisis alert. The transport department will call the
family of the person, as well as other employees who
were slotted in the same cab,” he said.

“It is really foolish to expect that a person in
trouble will be able to call any helpline or office.
For us, it’s not communication but break of
communication
that is a good alert,” he added.

“Our system has a database of thousands of hospitals
across the country. This can help employees and
companies rush to a nearby hospital in case of
emergency,”
he said.

When asked about false alerts and subsequent chaos
that it may create, Nampoothiri preferred to err on
the side of caution.

“Since these employees are young... the system may
sound 90 per cent false alerts, but the remaining 10
per cent will be of great help,” he said.

The cost of installing the system could be around Rs
350 per person per month. Nampoothiri said currently
two BPOs in the country were using his system,
while others were in talks with him.

“If a company wants to install the system with speech
detectors, the cost will be more. A speech detector
could translate at least 10 languages and scores
of regional accents into English. This will help in
deciphering the voice and language of a cab driver and
employees,” he said.