What have Romex done?
Romex have extended its current portfolio and developed a Lone worker Protection application to provide companies with employees that work on their own a solution to help comply with the new rules surrounding employee safety. This is delivered as a Panic alarm on a GPS enabled mobile phone. Additionally we have developed a set of reports that are able to help companies build a necessary audit trail for compliance with the Work Related Road Safety legislation which ensures companies manage employee driving behaviour.
How does this work?
With the recent revision to the Health and safety regulations for Lone working (INDG73 Rev 2), employees are now able to raise an alarm via a mobile phone. Romex has responded to this amendment by developing software that uses accurate GPS information as-well as cell location technology to pinpoint an employee's position in the event of an emergency. The alarm generates positional data and sends its information back to the Romex servers and to a 24/7 alarm receiving centre. Businesses have the choice of managing employee alarms internally or externally via a dedicated 3rd party monitoring facility linked directly to the emergency services.
What do the solutions do?
This software monitors workers in two ways. Firstly for the lone worker situation, the handset software allows an individual to raise either a Red alert in a emergency or a Yellow alert when they require pro-active monitoring in a potentially dangerous environment. Red Alerts will immediately alert other company colleagues that they require assistance via email/sms and voice or an operative at a monitoring centre if that level of service is required. The message from the mobile phone sends accurate positional data as well as automating a voice call from the handset. The combination of the Romex core management solution and the new panic button facility produces all the current and historic information required to deal with a potentially dangerous situation for anyone working alone. Yellow Alerts allow an individual to log their location before entering a building and set an alert for a specific time, if it is not cleared within the set time it will convert to a Red Alert.
‘Driving at Work legislation' as I previously mentioned this means employer's must have an accurate audit trail of an employee's driving behaviour because in the event of a motor accident which results in injury or more seriously a fatality during working hours a employer may be asked to provide such information. Our software is specific to an individual not a vehicle which means that whether the employee is in a company vehicle their own vehicle or any other a clear behaviour audit is retained. The new software will monitor driver behaviour such as, length of journey, speeding and whether or not they have used their mobile phone during the journey.
So what are its U.S.P's?
Quite simply that we have developed an all encompassing employee management and compliance product that can be delivered on a GPS enabled mobile device without the need for additional hardware or complicated IT integration. The system is modular and can be cost effective for small and large companies, it's a subscription based service which means no huge upfront investment or boardroom sign off. The real customer attraction comes when they realise they can be up and running in the time it takes to receive a text message on a phone!
The advantages of this are?
This is an easy way for companies to firstly take control of the mobile workforce and automate a lot of time consuming and expensive employee related reporting. More importantly putting a significant tick in the "We are Compliant" box and protecting it from potential proceedings that may lead to fines and or business failure. It's fair to say a company's most important assets are its employees so this solution enables an employer to make sure lone workers are safe!
How is this working in the marketplace? Do you have an example?
We have been working with 21C for the past 12 months and have had excellent feedback from them recently on how our applications are aiding their mobile connections.
"The mobile arena has changed dramatically over the past 15 years we have been in business," says Richard Hunt, MD of 21C. "Historically the route to market has always been on price, however all companies are very similar on pricing now. It has been difficult to open doors but with Romex's application we have found that companies are keen to talk to us. Because the application ensures that a company is compliant with Health & Safety regulations as well as introducing better working practices and protecting staff and enabling managers and directors to perform their fiscal duties it is a perfect way in to our target sectors."
Take for example the care sector, workers are alone, driving their own cars and generally using their own phones," continues Richard. "Romex can accurately track their mileage, pinpoint their location and record their hours with a patient. It is as if they have a built in timesheet recording their working hours. Companies have found that it has made staff more efficient, going directly from one appointment to another and produces totally accurate mileage claims. With a mobile sales force, reps often use the car as their office, the software can tell if they are using their mobiles on hands free or not, how many hours they are driving with or without a break and again record their locations, duration of meetings and mileage. They can also tell if they have been speeding. A company can prove that they ensure their workers safety.
"We have been offering Romex on a trial, supporting them on a daily basis. We can then deliver the software on a mobile tariff, supply the handsets, offering free calls between each phone, empowering a workforce. For these reasons, Romex has certainly helped increase our sales."
For more information please visit www.romexworld.com
