x
By using this website, you agree to our use of cookies to enhance your experience.
Written by rosalind renshaw

Fancy trying out a new lone worker safety measure that looks ideal for agents?

It’s a simple idea.

Agents conducting viewings on their own can set up a message that gets sent to their phones. The message requires an answer, but if the reply does not come, an alert is automatically sent to the agent’s manager, colleague or someone else who is nominated.

The inventor, Alan Hodges, came up with the idea because his wife works out and about and he regularly calls her during the day to check that she is okay.

He now wants to test the product with agents with a view to getting feedback and making improvements.

Testing is free, and you’ll be given 20 free SMS text alerts.

Go to https://www.ifidontreply.com

Click ‘Sign-Up’ and enter your details.

Email iidr@ioworld.com and your account will be credited.

Comments

  • icon

    @ Ray, Oh I cannot wait to suggest that to the guys in the office. I'd even consider buying the shoes for them!

    • 10 March 2011 16:36 PM
  • icon

    Oooh, another lady! Well, obvious lady anyway.

    I always drop hints on my later ones about the appointments I have afterwards. I have a company phone, as well as my own, one stay in my coat/jacket pocket, the other one lives in my boot, just in case I get separated from my handbag.

    I do think common sense is something sadly lacking in most young people, and though I have a tendency to start conversations with random strangers when I'm bored, I'm still careful over what information I give out, and I certainly never leave a public place!

    Maybe they should teach common sense to the 'young' people....

    • 10 March 2011 16:32 PM
  • icon

    @Country Lass,

    Are you recommending that blokes too should have sharp heels & long nails etc?
    Should raise a few eyebrows with viewers ;0)

    • 10 March 2011 16:29 PM
  • icon

    Country Lass

    A good point.

    I've lost count of the number of viewers who ask me if I'm their last appointment but if it's late I always reply that the family are waiting just up the road to go to the Red Lion for dinner.

    We are quite good with calls but any new initiative is always welcome. I'm not a big fan of panic alarms. Mine went off one day outside a police station as I was rummaging in my bag. No-one batted an eye lid.

    • 10 March 2011 16:15 PM
  • icon

    Fair enough, now I understand your concern more!

    Although it isn't a system I can see myself using, I think it does have many good points, and will hopefully save someone's life (etc). I would have no reservations with suggesting this as an idea for people to try, to help them perfect their security arrangements, and I wish you luck with it.

    • 10 March 2011 15:22 PM
  • icon

    @Country Lass

    My wife works for the Early Years CIE department of Ofsted. They're responsible for pre-school care facilities which are run from either commercial premises or by individuals operating as child-minders from their own homes. The CIE department is mainly dealing with problematic situations and her territory is Greater London and surrounding counties.

    I tend to agree that there is no perfect solution for safety but ifIdontReply.com is a really simple, and virtually free solution that, whilst it may not suit everyone, it certainly seems to address many of the problems that exist with other SOS safety systems.

    Thanks to all who have registered and experimented with it so far - your feedback has been helpful.

    @PeeBee - take a look at the site now: our company contact details are published (click on "Legal" tab) :-)

    • 10 March 2011 15:14 PM
  • icon

    I still don't believe any system will take the risk out, an idea like this may work, or it may lull people into a false sense of security, and for Agents, may mean that less information and care is taken when registering applicants and vendors.

    Even if we insisted on photo ID for each prospective viewer, it wouldn't completely eliminate the risks. I think everyone may be focusing on the kidnap and sexual assault risks, but I remember being told that attacks in general were more common for male Agents rather than us ladies. Something about more reasons to attack/intimidate a man.

    @Alan, does your wife work in a particurlarly rough area? I admit I may be slightly ignorant of what Ofsted inspectors do, but I have it in my head it is pretty much just going round schools assessing them. Possibly with visiting home-schooled students as well. With the HS visits I can see the concern, but touching base several times a day if she is visiting a school seems a tad over-zealous to me. I am not suggesting you stop worry by the way, I am just trying to clarify things to myself.

    • 10 March 2011 14:43 PM
  • icon

    Well done Alan,
    I like the cut of your jib

    • 10 March 2011 13:19 PM
  • icon

    @PeeBee: The intention is simply to put the control of safety into the hands of the agent. I developed ifIdontReply.com because my wife (an Ofsted inspector) is often asking me to call her at certain points in the day. I haven't let her down, yet, but I'd never forgive myself if I forgot and something happened to her!

    Also: apologies if the site is not perfected yet - that's why where testing it, now and filling in the gaps as we go. I will add those details today. Meanwhile...

    My company is called ioWorld Ltd. (Co. number: 5698697). Website: www.ioworld.com.

    I'll be happy to provide you with anything else you need to know and modify the site/service if there's anything that will make it work better. Let me know.

    • 10 March 2011 11:52 AM
  • icon

    Alan - forgive me for sounding like I am pooh-poohing your site (which I don't intend to...) - but is your site actually legally okay?

    I cannot see any contact numbers or static address, nor is there mention of the Company No.

    Such information should be easily accessible, and I would suggest that others will be looking for it also - and may decide by its omission that your site is a scam of some sort. I would have expected it to be on the 'about us' or 'legal' pages. The former, I am afraid, is woefully informative.

    Lastly - why the German flag colours on the header? (just interested...)

    • 10 March 2011 10:09 AM
  • icon

    Alan Hodes: Earlier I congratulated you on your decision to offer this service. I still applaud you, however I question the use of this statement: "...puts the control of safety firmly into the hands of the agent and frees-up the resources of the enterprise by alleviating the manager of having to employ more active safety management techniques."

    Are you suggesting that the company are relieved of their duty of care to their employees?

    If so, under what grounds?

    • 10 March 2011 09:57 AM
  • icon

    I invite every reader of EAT to try it out. For FREE!

    The service doesn't require a subscription, emails are free and SMS messages (UK) are charged at a modest 12-15p each! No need for panic buttons, software installation, location-based technologies, expensive emergency call-centres or other infrastructure that in other services, are priced into the "solution".

    I will credit every single person 20 free text messages (just email me after you create an account).

    ifIdontReply.com gives agents more control - rather than depending on their manager.

    ifIdontReply.com puts the control of safety firmly into the hands of the agent and frees-up the resources of the enterprise by alleviating the manager of having to employ more active safety management techniques.

    Give it a go, and judge for yourself.

    • 09 March 2011 23:07 PM
  • icon

    And with the wonders of loudspeaker, there could be a security question eg We are ordering lunch from Mcdonalds, do you want a BigMac? or something similar to that.....

    • 09 March 2011 16:38 PM
  • icon

    All very serious and well done as one has said for the thought of safety! It should be taken much more seriously.......but how many times do we hear.......

    My phone was in my bag
    My phone had ran out of battery
    I had no credit to reply
    I left my phone in the car

    Too many user issues which in fairness is the single reason this would not work any better than a phone call! A GREAT IDEA but it would be as cheap to phone the viewing staff member after a prescribed time scale agreed within a company to ask if the viewing person was okay! If they dont answer same thing, are they okay do we drive straight to the property and check things out? etc etc.........

    Very good idea and I hope it is a success and stops crime where possible BUT it relies on to many other factors than sending a message and its cheaper to call......!

    • 09 March 2011 16:14 PM
  • icon

    Following this thread, it might be of interest that my company Advance IT Group produces a similar system called LoneALERT. It has a range of options to provide security - working on any mobile or with dedicated man down hardware for higher risk individuals.

    Searching LoneALERT in a well-known search engine will find us.

    • 09 March 2011 16:09 PM
  • icon

    Oh hun, trust be, the hair on my head isn't naturally blonde! It was a warning story told when I first started with my current company. There are policemen in my family who have taught me some self defence and basic blinkin' common sense too!

    I did punch a bloke in the the throat for trying to corner me though..

    • 09 March 2011 15:57 PM
  • icon

    Country Lass: "I know of one lady who did that." YEAH, RIGHT! Here we go - 'CT's confessions time'... ;0)

    "He was a policeman trying to prove a point, and doing so very effectively I feel!"

    I sincerely hope that the lady concerned hoofed him heftily in the sweetmeats to prove a similarly valid point - the one that you raised earlier!! And then reported him to his superior for being a complete gripper...

    It might have been "effective" - but it also could have given the lady a heart attack or worse.

    (so...come on - spill the beans. DID YOU cripple him or not?? ;0) )

    • 09 March 2011 15:47 PM
  • icon

    It may not be a perfect system but being reassured that all is well because a serial killer has replied to say so is a lot more dangerous than not having a safety system in place at all.

    At least suspicions may be raised if a person is not heard from for a while, but when the "all is well" reply is sent who's going to be concerned thereafter?

    • 09 March 2011 15:41 PM
  • icon

    It's never going to be a perfect system, but with things like this, and proper, common sense practices we can minimise the risks.

    I have lost count of the amount of times I have lost my temper at people expecting me to go out to appointments with no name, contact number or address or information whatsoever. I always make sure that I ask the person to confirm their name before shaking hands or entering the property. And call the office in between appointments, even if it's just to moan about the weather!

    And for the love of all that's holy, NEVER tell people they are your last appointment! I know of one lady who did that. She told the MA she was going to that he was her last appointment for the week, and he asked her to park her car behind the house. When she had done so, she walked in, he locked the door behind her and asked her what she planned to do now, as no-one would miss her at work til Monday.

    He was a policeman trying to prove a point, and doing so very effectively I feel!

    • 09 March 2011 15:33 PM
  • icon

    So if a text message reply is sent then all is well and panic over????

    This seems to be based on the assumption that serial murderers are unable to work a phone and that when their abductee's phone bleeps with a message they will be unable to send the reply back themselves.

    Not sure if that's going to work.

    • 09 March 2011 15:25 PM
  • icon

    Credit to the guy for his thinking, however... this is a result of presumably no-one else in the organisation gives enough of a shizzle to ring the viewer to check all is well??

    Speaks volumes...

    • 09 March 2011 13:48 PM
  • icon

    Wow, you have an incredibly similar name to the guy who invented this.

    • 09 March 2011 13:46 PM
  • icon

    Actually, MOST people have email on their phones, so essentially it is COMPLETELY FREE! The only charge is for SMS messages - they are optional, but modestly charged at 12-15p each

    • 09 March 2011 12:08 PM
  • icon

    Oh, trust me, it is god awful. somehow managed to set it off by accident and nearly had to go get changed!

    Some of the other ideas I've used are the standard rape alarms (very unflattering and not helpful with building rapport with flourescent plastic hanging round your neck) and a codeword to use with the office. You 'suddenly' realise you will be late to your next appointment and call the office to get them to speak to Mr code-word, and they then call the police.

    All of these have flaws, and NO system is going to be perfect. Hence the sharp heels, long nails and keys held in between the fingers.

    • 09 March 2011 11:21 AM
  • icon

    .......an alert is automatically sent to the agent’s manager, colleague or someone else who is nominated..........
    Just exactly what would they then do, in a time frame that would be effective?

    The .......a god-awful wailing racket.......would probably be more effective?

    Just a thought.

    • 09 March 2011 11:16 AM
  • icon

    Would be brilliant for us as we often have to go to remote places to show to clients. However, there is usually a poor or none existant signal in these areas.

    Ideal for town but not for country I fear

    • 09 March 2011 10:19 AM
  • icon

    As a woman in this industry, it is a very good idea. iPhone have something similar, but a lot more complicated. It's an app where you either shake the phone (whilst running one presumes!) or press the big 'panic' button in the middle of your screen. It sets off a god-awful wailing racket and if not deactivated with a security code within 30 seconds automatically calls the emergency number you have pre-programmed and also records everything.

    Bit of a nuisance, but the idea is sound.

    I agree with Micheal though, especially if you are on a contract, your provider could set it up for free as long as you can prove you fall into a category that needs it.

    • 09 March 2011 10:04 AM
  • icon

    It sounds very good, but would seem to be an offering that should come from the mobile phone/network companies as a cheap/included/free service rather than come out of the fully private sector as a charged for service.
    However if it takes off and if it were patented then even at a miniscule fee Alan Hodges may be able to retire!
    Bring it on, we need something like this for our often exposed staff, as do many other people.

    • 09 March 2011 09:51 AM
  • icon

    Sounds like a great idea!

    • 09 March 2011 09:37 AM
MovePal MovePal MovePal