Take It To The Board with Donna DiMaggio Berger
Take It To The Board with Donna DiMaggio Berger
Safety at Your Fingertips with Geno Roefaro of SaferWatch
In an emergency, timing is everything. What if a resident collapses on the pickleball court, suspicious activity is spotted near your property, or a crisis unfolds when you least expect it? The traditional safety net of gates, guards, and cameras falls short without one critical element: immediate, reliable communication.
In this week’s episode of Take It To The Board, host Donna DiMaggio Berger talks with Geno Roefaro, the CEO of SaferWatch, a cutting-edge safety app transforming how residential communities respond to emergencies. Developed in the aftermath of national tragedies like the Pulse nightclub and Parkland School shootings, this innovative platform functions as a digital panic button connecting users directly to local law enforcement while simultaneously alerting the entire community as a disaster unfolds. Unlike group texts or emails that might go unnoticed, SaferWatch delivers unmistakable alerts demanding immediate attention.
Donna and Geno discuss the practical, legal and even emotional implications of using technology to enhance safety where it counts most-in our homes. Customizable for each community's needs, SaferWatch addresses everything from severe weather or medical emergencies to suspicious activities, providing not just immediate response capabilities but also valuable data management tools for tracking incidents and improving security measures over time.
If you're a board member, manager or resident concerned about community security, you won't want to miss this conversation
Conversation Highlights:
- Key differences between SaferWatch and consumer security apps like Ring and Nest
- Integrating SaferWatch with existing security infrastructure like cameras, gate systems, and smart building technologies
- What successful SaferWatch implementation looks like in a large residential building (e.g., 300 units)
- Addressing privacy and data protection concerns associated with the platform
- Personal inspiration behind SaferWatch, including the impact of the Parkland shooting
- How the app has evolved from use in large public venues to serving residential communities like condos and HOAs
- SaferWatch’s role beyond safety threats, including medical emergencies like cardiac events and drownings
- Strategies for balancing frequent alerts with preventing notification fatigue among residents
- Advice for associations exploring this type of technology, especially when dealing with skepticism or budget limitations
BONUS: Donna describes alligator sightings in her HOA community
Related Links:
Hi everyone, I'm attorney Donna DiMaggio-Berger and this is Take it to the Board, where we speak condo and HOA. What does safety look like in today's modern residential community? In a world where alerts, emergencies and unexpected incidents unfold in real time, how can community associations stay ahead of the curve and not behind the crime scene tape? On this episode of Take it to the Board, we're speaking with Gino Ruffaro, the CEO of SaferWatch, a cutting-edge safety app already being used by law enforcement, municipalities and now increasingly residential communities. Whether it's suspicious activity, severe weather, a cardiac event on the pickleball court or something as serious as an active shooter, saferwatch is changing how information is shared and how people respond. My guest and I are going to discuss the practical, legal and even emotional implications of using tech to enhance safety where it counts most in our homes. If you're a board member, manager or resident concerned about community security, you won't want to miss this conversation. So, gino, welcome to Take it to the Board.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for having me, Donna. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1:We've never done this topic before. We've done security Gino, but this is something brand new your app. So, for someone who's never used SaferWatch, what does the app actually do? And tell us how it's different from, like, a group text or email blast, because a lot of our boards and management professionals they do use email blasts and group texts for communication.
Speaker 2:Sure, well, I think, first of all, just when you come home right, rather than be a condo or HOA, you want to feel safe.
Speaker 2:You expect to feel safe. As soon as you come into your neighborhood, as soon as you come into your building, you expect to feel safe. That's just one standard of expectation that really all residents expect, and what SaferWatch does is we make that as simple as pressing a button, and our technology was unfortunately born out of tragedy, from different school shootings and, really unfortunately, shootings that we've seen across the country, and our panic buttons started to really take traction in schools, where the panic button connects directly from a school or a teacher can press a panic button and it goes directly to the local 911 center and nearby law enforcement, but it also notifies everyone on that particular campus. So what we're finding with HOAs is this is a tool that's being used obviously not just for active assailant situations, but for medical emergencies, suspicious activity and other incidents that take place on or near HOAs and condo facilities, and it's really ultimately comes down it's a communication tool. It's how do you communicate with everybody? How is everyone being notified when there's a situation that's happening?
Speaker 1:A couple of different things. So right now we get those silver alerts on our phones, right when somebody who's suffering from dementia or other cognitive decline has gone missing, we get those amber alerts. I think, if I'm hearing you correctly, that's also something that obviously there's a tone and we immediately look Unlike a group text. By the way, I don't have my text set up to alert me, to do a little ping every time. So sometimes friends or family will say I texted you and I said I don't know. I don't set it up that way, especially if I'm in meetings or doing what I'm doing right now, which is taping a podcast episode. Is that one of the differentials for SaferWatch, that you're kind of getting that out there where it cannot be overlooked?
Speaker 2:Donna, I think that's a great example of how SaferWatch works. It's essentially your own private Amber Alert system for each community where those boards or the managers or whoever in charge of safety and security can actually utilize the safer watch tool as a mass notification that goes directly to the residents, the visitors and people who are actually nearby. So we actually have the ability to do that on a geo-based level, meaning like in a specific area or to certain homes or certain regions within a certain community. So each organization is able to set that up. And you're right, the alert goes out and we have different types of tones if it's an emergency or non-emergency alert and you can indicate that as it's going out. So our emergency alert does kind of sound like an amber alert and our non-emergency is more just like a standard notification sound.
Speaker 1:I don't remember Gino ever opting in to get amber alerts and sulfur alert, gray alerts I think it's sulfur alerts. Is your system also, if the association signs for SaferWatch, everybody gets the alert, or do individual unit owners and homeowners need to opt in?
Speaker 2:There's different ways of how to do it. There's ways that we can import phone numbers or email addresses that you may already have. There's an invitation to join the app application. Right, like, you can't force someone to download an application, but you can certainly encourage it and provide value in terms of why you would want to download this application. So, yeah, we provide everything from an automated text message, a phone call, an email and an app notification as well, and obviously you'd have to have the app for that phone call and email and an app notification as well, and obviously you'd have to have the app for that.
Speaker 1:Well, so some of our communities are heavily populated by the 70 and over crowd, gina, but those are also the communities where the residents are most interested in safety and security. A lot of those people may have life alerts to help them, but that's not going to help them if they notice suspicious activity or there's an active shooter situation, which I want to talk to you about later in the episode. For those people, let's say, an app on a mobile phone? It's not possible. They're still using a flip phone. What can you do? Are there other modalities you use?
Speaker 2:We do and unfortunately, I guess can't see this, but I'm showing you one of our physical panic buttons. And what's unique about our physical panic button is it has a microphone and a speaker and just one big button that's easy to press. So it's literally pressing a button, holding that for three seconds and then you're actually able to communicate. So and that's something that the organization, the community, can be notified about. But we can also connect that directly to local law enforcement. And that's really what separates us from pretty much any other company is that we have the end-to-end solution to where it's a community-based platform that your organization kind of define the rules of how it works. But there's also the ability in emergencies that you can press a button and that goes directly to 911 and directly to local law enforcement. And that's really been more of the game changer and lifesavers that we've seen.
Speaker 1:So Gino held up for our listening audience a little remote control. It only had one big button on it so you can't get confused like your remote control. Someday I'll tell you about trying to train my parents on how to use their remote controls and how to tape things. That was quite an experience, but what you held up was just so small but also just a button and then like the little holes for the speaker to hear and to speak. You mentioned teachers. Would that be the type of panic button they would have in their classroom, or something different?
Speaker 2:Teachers have a variety of different panic buttons, everything from their phone to the button that you saw, but also ones that we saw where it's a wearable, where it's something that goes around a neck and it's essentially a lanyard style, so something that you would see in a hospital or schools. That's something that we also provide. And that can work indoors and outdoors.
Speaker 1:Let's take a typical 400 unit high-rise, luxury, high-rise front desk personnel. Anybody sitting at that front desk could have a physical panic button there and then employees could be wearing the lanyard in case they see anything I mentioned in the intro. A lot of people think about safety and security and the utility of your product, safer watch, when it comes to somebody trying to get in or a crime or active shooter that we're going to talk about. But this can also be really useful if we have people experiencing medical emergencies. We've seen people drown in community pools, have cardiac events in the fitness rooms or on the pickleball or tennis courts. Have you seen the use of your app for that? For those purposes?
Speaker 2:Absolutely as well as golf courses.
Speaker 2:So one of the most common use cases is medical emergencies, and if you're called 911 before or any of your listeners have, you know that you know this questions that they ask you right who are you, where are you, what's your address, what's the nature of your emergency, what's your phone number?
Speaker 2:Repeat it again, please confirm that you know prior to just even being able to say what the situation is. And that's something that our system does, that's something that safer watch does. Literally with the press of a button, all that information that I just shared goes directly to 911 and they have your GPS location where you are, and they're actually able to have a two way conversation with you. So it's sort of like an express lane, if you will, uh, to 911 into law enforcement, um, and they're able to communicate what's happening. So most of the incidents that do get reported are medical emergencies, and we've had situations where we've installed a panic button and within the next couple of weeks, someone's had a seizure, someone's fell over or someone's having a heart attack, and it has actually helped to save people's lives.
Speaker 1:I mean, that's amazing. Let's talk about that, because sometimes, when the news is covering an event, they will play back those 911 tapes and sometimes you're just so frustrated hearing the panic and fear and frustration on the part of the person who's calling in and they're like, can you just get somebody out there? And they're, you know, yes, I will in a bit. Are you telling me, though, gino, that when that SaferWatch signal goes out to 911, let's say, is the other person who called it in, is the unit owner, also on that call, or is SaferWatch making that call and then circling back to the unit owner?
Speaker 2:It depends on the situation, it depends on the customer.
Speaker 2:We do have a lot of customers where their panic buttons are directly connected to 911 and there's, and SaferWatch is not involved in any way other than providing the software and the hardware.
Speaker 2:There's other scenarios where we do own and operate our own 24-7, 365 monitoring center where there are some cases where SaferWatch will be the one that actually calls in that information for that individual and especially that that use case really comes in around traveling, right, like around the country you're traveling, like it's not that clear as to which agency needs to be alerted in real time and that and that situation more like on the executive protection use cases, that's more coming into our monitoring center. But a lot of times we have like fixed location, right, so as an, it's never going to change, it's the home's address, you know. If it's the front office, the front office address is not going to change. So within the community there's ways that we can structure it to. We know exactly where that's happening and we know exactly what local law enforcement is going to be, that agency that's going to be responding and obviously with the cooperation of that local agency, we can have it directly connect. So depending on, depending on the situation.
Speaker 1:Can you integrate SaferWatch app with pre-existing security measures like cameras, gate systems, other smart building technologies? Jano.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we integrate with over 70 different companies today and we have an entire team that's all they do is custom integrations. So all these pieces work together and you're right. And going back to the school example, when a teacher presses a panic button, we actually open up the cameras, the nearby cameras in the school, to law enforcement to be able to view and see what's happening, because, at the end of the day, they need to get eyes on scene as they're arriving to a situation. Even if it's a medical emergency, it's still helpful to understand what's happening in that area, and so that is something you know, just that we're both based here in Broward County I'll just talk on it very briefly In Broward County, florida, that's where the Parkland tragedy happened. Today we have over 18,000 cameras from the schools and other organizations that are being pumped into the Broward County Real-Time Crime Center, and when a SaferWatch panic button is pressed, we automatically open up eight nearby cameras to give context as to what's happening to those local law enforcement agencies.
Speaker 1:I would really encourage people to look at your YouTube videos on how the app works, whether it's a medical emergency and you're uploading the position of the person who's lying on the floor, any encumbrances that EMS may encounter on the way there, whether it's furniture or stairs or landscaping or anything else. I thought that was really significant that somebody who's using it can take a picture and say here's where we are, here's our surroundings, and I imagine that's super important if the worst happens. So I mentioned in the intro Gino about active shooter situation. To my knowledge, thankfully, there has never been an active shooter inside a vertical condo building or in, let's say, an HOA clubhouse.
Speaker 1:But my firm Becker, we've actually done an active shooter class. We had an officer from BSO come who he responded to the active shooting incident at Fort Lauderdale Airport a few years ago. I don't know if you remember that he was one of his team, was one of the first teams there and you know the typical advice is run, hide or fight. So you know the run okay, run out of there. But it's the hiding part where I imagine using an app which a lot of people did in the school shooting situations where they were calling family but they said don't call me back, walk us through how SaferWatch would work in that situation, in an active shooter situation.
Speaker 2:Sure. So kind of, as mentioned before, when you press the button, first of all it's directly connecting you to local agency right that's responsible for this. So if you go back to what happened in a Parkland shooting, they actually made a phone call to 911, and it actually got sent to the wrong 911 center. That call then had to be transferred. So first of all it's saving time in terms of making sure it goes to the right agency. The second piece is providing all of the information necessary for them to be able to respond, and typically we call that the interview process. And that interview process on a 911 call typically takes about two and a half minutes. So that alone you just save two and a half minutes, and we know with these active assailant situations they're typically over in just a few minutes. So every second counts. It's not just a saying, it truly is the situation in these active shooter situations. The other part is also about notification, right.
Speaker 2:When there's a shooting that's taking place, you'd be surprised Not too far away or not too many buildings away. Everyone in those areas may not be aware that there is an active assailant taking place. So it's not just about connecting with law enforcement, it's about making the proper notifications to everyone in the area and doing that immediately. So, going back to a school example, or even a neighborhood, how would you know that there's an emergency taking place just a few blocks from you or just a few homes from you? You wouldn't know about it until the lights and sirens come and you kind of say, hey, what's going on?
Speaker 2:And that's literally what happened in the Parkland shooting. There were people in different parts of the building who didn't even know there was an active assailant taking place. So what we do at SaferWatch is, when you press that panic button, we have a pre-configured message that your organization creates and defines and it decides who's who's that going to go to in real time. So it's something that is allows people to then take those protocols that you were talking about, like the trainings and the. You know the run hide fights. You can't do, you can't activate a training unless you're aware there's a situation that's happening. And that's really what SaferWatch does. It fills that communication gap.
Speaker 1:Tell us about the little icons on the app. I know there's a gun for anything involving a shooting. What are the other ones.
Speaker 2:So we have active assailant, police, emergency, medical emergency, fire emergency and then the organizations can actually customize up the two more options that they would like to have. But that's really we like to try to standardize it for when our customers in our force agencies they kind of have the role categories in place and they know what types of units that need to be dispatched. And our customers typically have protocols set up for safer watch, panic alerts. So when they're receiving those alerts they have predefined rules in place. When it's an active assailant, here's who we're sending. When it's a medical emergency, here's who we're sending. So a lot of that is predefined. And again, internally you can have other custom notifications that you would like to have set up within your organization, not just emergencies.
Speaker 1:And I'm thinking of customization for a lot of our communities Gino where they are experiencing mental health issues with some of their residents. We've seen it growing. It's certainly increased in occurrence since the pandemic. I don't know that. You know the police button. Some of them are not going to feel comfortable contacting police to come out for a mental health breakdown that a resident is experiencing. Some may, but others will likely, in my opinion, customize that to more a community service officer to come out and assist. Would you agree?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Yeah, the majority of the use cases that we have are around non-emergencies and tips. So I know we talked a lot about panic buttons, but the app is used thousands and thousands of times a week and a lot of those reports are around reporting a non-emergency or reporting a tip or reporting a concern for safety, and you know it's nice to have those documented. It's also nice to have, um, just be aware, right, you know, just be aware of the different types of incidents that are happening, having them all digitally categorized, having case notes right, like what action was taken or what action wasn't taken. Who's who became aware of that. So there's a lot of like management, if you will, incident management that does take place when you report a non-emergency or you report a tip through a platform, and those tips and non-emergencies don't necessarily have to go to law enforcement. That could be something that just goes within your organization or to your local or your security team, right, and making your security teams aware of that.
Speaker 1:Or your friendly community association attorney. Well, I wanted to talk to you about the data, now that you've mentioned the reports. So let's say we have a homeowners association and in any 12-month period, let's say they've had 52 times that they've used SaferWatch, whether it was for medical emergencies, potential crime, suspicious activity. Who gets to see those reports? When are they sent? Are they sent immediately after the incident is closed out? Is there a closing out of the incident?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so every incident gets its own ID number right, report ID number. So there's like a backend web portal, if you will, where an administrator of the system can go into that, see those incidents, add case notes to them, change the status of it, manage that incident and the rules in terms of who can access it are really up to each organization. So each organization can define if they want to have administrative, you know, who are their administrative users on the system and, again, that doesn't necessarily have to be local law enforcement, that can simply be within the organization. In terms of data, it's up to each organization to define their own like data retention policies. Typically we see 365 days is like a standard, like, hey, you know the data will exist for a year, a rolling 365. But we have other organizations that you know will change that policy based on you know, hey, let's have it match whatever policy is for our cameras. Or let's have it match you know XYZ policy. So that's configurable in terms of how long the data lives for.
Speaker 1:So if a client doesn't tell you, do you store the data indefinitely in the cloud or you have an internal purge?
Speaker 2:We store for 365 days. That's sort of our by default.
Speaker 1:Gotcha. Yeah, the reason I'm thinking is because sometimes boards change hands and if a new board comes into place, let's say in a year and a half since the last incident, they may want to see data to say when they're evaluating their security. You know their security measures, yeah.
Speaker 2:And in each organization that's it's. It's sort of something that's defined like upfront, like hey, we want it for three years, we want it for two years, we want it for a year, and then at the end of the day, when there is a significant incident that takes place, the fact that you have up to a year to go and download that or sort that information. It's easy to do.
Speaker 1:If we're talking about association, as the customer for SaferWatch, those people, the board, the management professionals, the employees they are all likely to be trained on the use of the app. But this is a collective effort, which means you're also relying and the association's relying on participation from the residents. How do you teach them not to you know? Hit that little button at the drop of a hat and I'll give you an example. I live in an HOA on a golf course. We have a lot of wildlife and some of that includes alligators that are occasionally spotted. People leave their pets out back. It's funny because my husband is actually like the webmaster who's in charge of sending out an email that you know an alligator has been spotted on the fourth hole, whatever, but email people may not look at that until later that night or tomorrow. What have you? Would that be an emergency? I think it might be an emergency reporting an alligator. What do you think?
Speaker 2:I think it's just that would be maybe something more, that information that you know, you, that you want to share. I don't necessarily know if you would need to notify the entire community, but again, this is where software platforms, so our customers, sort of make their own rules determining how to use it, when to use it. But going back to your original question is this is something that each organization can define to your point training, training, right? Training or policies Like this is our policy around when to use this or when not to use this. Does everyone follow the policies 100%? No, but this is something that does have a greater good and does, overall, create a safer environment.
Speaker 2:And, at the end of the day, you want to feel safe. Right, there's a value in just feeling safe and having residents have additional safety tools in the back of their mind, knowing, hey, I have this button in case I need it, is something that adds a lot of value, adds comfort to them, right, just knowing that that's there. And then the other part is people who don't want to participate. That's fine, you don't have to participate, but you can also subscribe to receive alerts. If you want to be alerted when there's an incident that's taking place you can subscribe and you don't need to have a panic button so different organizations set it up different ways.
Speaker 2:We have found it to be helpful when there is sort of like joint marketing or joint communications that go out from the board. A lot of times we'll have like custom flyers or custom messaging that goes out. And the other piece is you don't have to roll out everything at once. So we sort of encourage, you know, explaining certain features, explaining, hey, here's how this is helpful and it's solving X problem that we may have, and then in the future you can always toggle on additional features, so you don't necessarily have to turn on. You know all the features at once.
Speaker 1:I think it's a fantastic product. You know, we just passed the anniversary of Champlain Towers and that tragedy was just overwhelming, and one of the factors that was a large factor is that the security personnel apparently did not hit the security alarm or the alarm was not working. I'm not I don't know which one it was, but I remember they came out and the fact that the alarm system was not working the way it should was a huge factor. Have you considered that when you were planning the efficacy of an app like SaferWatch?
Speaker 2:Yeah, unfortunately, the common trend in all of these tragedies is a breakdown in communication, rather that be externally or internally and that's really what we're trying to improve and in simply putting all the different parties on a single platform.
Speaker 2:When you have first responders, you have homeowners, you have the heads of organizations all on a single platform, that communication gap closes. So there's also times where local authorities have our system in place and they will send out notifications as well. So SaferWatch is not something that is just an application that your organization has to pay for and you have to have it. There's ways that, as just a general citizen, you can have this application and subscribe to your nearby areas and local law enforcement will actually send out alerts. I don't know, in that exact scenario, if they would have you know in terms of the timing right, because I think law enforcement sort of found out about it. You know afterwards but there's a lot of scenarios that happen in and around communities that law enforcement's really the only one that's knowing that's going on and they have that ability to send out those alerts and that's saved a lot of people's lives and a lot of time and effort as well.
Speaker 1:You're working with a lot of law enforcement.
Speaker 2:You must yes, I mean in the state of Florida alone, we're in over 110 different agencies that utilize our platform in their 911 centers and obviously 911 is typically the first people who know about emergencies that are taking place.
Speaker 1:So my daughter lives out in LA and with the fires a few months back I actually subscribed to the LA emergency services and they would send out alerts. But again, it was kind of a passive system. It would be whenever I went to check an email and then there would be an alert sitting in my inbox. A little bit differently, I mean, it's such an ambitious goal you've undertaken with this app, but there's also so much of such a weighty obligation to get it right. I mean in terms of your quality control, because you are relying on all the steps you've put in place, including the connection with these local agencies. What do you do to ensure that they're doing their?
Speaker 2:part. Listen, it is a difficult business and it's 24-7, 365, right, so you can't control when there's an emergency is going to happen or when it's not going to happen. The good thing is that I like to tell people that we are battle tested. There's thousands and thousands of incidents that get reported and claimed in real time every single week. So we do a combination between us testing the system literally on a daily basis. But we also have so many users at this point that the system is really running itself. But we do have all sorts of teams that are you know, that are on standby and that run 24-7. So, besides having actual our own operation center 24-7, we also have development and support 24-7.
Speaker 2:But I just wanted to show you this Obviously. I know the viewers can't see it, but going back to just receiving an alert, just a 24-7. But I just wanted to show you this Obviously. I know the viewers can't see it, but going back to just receiving an alert, just a text message or an email, is a lot different than receiving an alert on the Safe for Watch application, because what it does is it gives people the ability to mark received. It gives people the ability to receive real-time updates. It gives people the ability to comment and these comments are not comments on like a Facebook post where everyone sees these comments. These comments on like a Facebook post where everyone sees these comments. These comments would go directly to authorities or they would go directly to the organization. So it's really geared up just for these types of situations where there is an emergency or just an incident that's taking place, and obviously photos and videos can also be attached with that particular alert.
Speaker 1:I love what you just held up the app, the instructions are so streamlined and so large. Okay, it's not a lot of text. You've got primary colors red, white and blue. Very, very easy. You're right, it's very different. Again, I would urge people to go to the website, go to YouTube and look at it. But I'm sure that was the goal to make this as simple as possible without having to read a lot of instructions.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and we have users from 13 years old to your point in their 80s or 90s this is literally for the masses have access to this platform and they use it across the country.
Speaker 1:As you said, gina, communication is key, but we have very diverse communities. We've got people listening all over the country actually, in different parts of the world speaking different languages. What about translation?
Speaker 2:different languages? What about translation? So again, I can't see it, but there's a little translate tab.
Speaker 2:We have 15 different languages, which is typically the languages that you see on the voting ballots throughout the country, so we meet those same standards that essentially voting in the United States. We have those in place and we are in different countries around the world, so we have customers in Canada and Mexico, caribbeans and other countries. So it's something that is we like to say wherever there's Google Maps, there's the ability to have this technology work. It runs on Google Maps and GPS, so you can report different incidents really anywhere where there's maps, which is most of the world.
Speaker 1:Which is just about everywhere. So we haven't talked about costs. What does all this great technology cost?
Speaker 2:Well, it is different per industry, right. It's a little bit different for a school versus a hospital, versus a neighborhood, and there's different equipment, right? So if you wanted to just have the software, the most basic level of our software starts at around $2,500 to $3,500 per year and then essentially there's hardware that goes with it and those hardware devices range from $150 a device to $800 a device and that's the per year cost. So it really depends on the organization and it depends on how much that the organization needs. But we'll have organizations like, let's say, as an example of a neighborhood, as inexpensive as around $3,500 just for the software side to be able to run a small community, and obviously there's obviously increases from there. But you know, just having the basic software in place to be able to send notifications and be able to connect it starts at $3,500.
Speaker 1:Is the app subscription based or is it free when you become a client?
Speaker 2:Yeah, the mobile application is free to everybody. You can download the application. Yeah, the mobile application is free to everybody. You can download the application. It's a free application. But the software itself to run and manage the application it does require annual subscription and that's something that the organizations will pay for. Can report tips and crime around your area and receive alerts from local law enforcement. So that's kind of the free version of it. And then having an organization essentially have the same ability as a law enforcement agency to be able to send out alerts and receive information. That's a paid service. And then all the panic alarms are a paid service. So there's no free panic alarm services.
Speaker 1:I totally see the efficacy in places where you've got a lot of people for sure. What about just an individual homeowner who's, I don't want to say highly neurotic, but highly concerned about a variety of different things? Could it just an individual use this like as a substitute for life alert?
Speaker 2:So that's really where our SaferWatch 24-7 operations center comes in. That would start about $2,500 per location and then essentially there's a monitoring fee. So that's something where we would actually have our operators receive those alerts, interact directly with that particular person or that home. But yeah, so there is a market for that and we do have a lot, of, a lot of people that use it for different reasons, right? Some people buy it for their family members who are elderly, as you give an example. Some people believe it or not buy it for their kids because they don't want to give them a cell phone and they just want to give them a panic button, and when they go out to eat they have, they have the. You know, the kids have a panic button when they're at home. So there's a lot of different use cases.
Speaker 1:You mentioned that you could also travel with it, so could somebody take it and use it in the car if they're driving around?
Speaker 2:Well, that's a little bit of a different program. We have an executive protection program that starts at a different price, but that's a service where we provide coverage for the entire United States and the devices that we provide have both AT&T and Verizon cell phone service connection in it and that's how the devices work anywhere in the country. And for that that's the combination of our technology, our monitoring center and then our local connections with local law enforcement, and that is something that we can provide. It's a different type of service.
Speaker 1:It sounds like that's your CEO service, correct?
Speaker 2:Yes, so we actually do have A-list celebrities governors, mayors, judges that do have these services, that we do provide these services for, and other elected officials, and unfortunately, in today's times, this is something that people have to take seriously and not everybody can afford 24-7 around the clock.
Speaker 1:Personal bodyguard.
Speaker 2:Yeah, personal bodyguards yeah.
Speaker 1:I totally get it.
Speaker 2:But at the same time, you know if there is an incident, there is an emergency or there is a concern. You want people to know where you are. You want to simply have just a button to be able to press, have your GPS and then, on top of the unique pieces, we have audio, so then you know. Think about how valuable that is simply just being able to press a button and you know your loved ones, plus a safety team, knows where you are and can hear what's happening and continue to track your location once you press the button anywhere in the country. So that's really something that we're seeing growing very quickly, given, obviously, situations that have happened in New York City, where we're at as a society.
Speaker 1:I agree, listen, our phones are little tracking devices. But the difference, if I'm hearing you correctly first of all you have to have location resources activated. Not everybody does. Sometimes it goes on and off and you don't even know that. But also, just because you know somebody's location doesn't mean you know they're in distress unless they've called you. You just know where they are which means you've avoided that step of just pressing a button, as opposed to having to make a call and have a conversation.
Speaker 2:Exactly and in a true emergency. You know it is difficult to get to your phone, right, and it is something that, again, viewers can't see. But it's a small device that can fit into your pocket or fit into your jacket or fit into your purse, and if you are facing an emergency situation, to take out your phone, people are aware of what you're doing, right? So this is a situation where someone can literally just press the button over their shirt or over their pocket and that's it, and it's now activated.
Speaker 1:How long have you guys been building this thing?
Speaker 2:So we we actually started the started the company after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, florida. That was what gave us the idea. Unfortunately, 49 people were killed and so it's it's been about. It took us about a year, you know, from like the idea point to then start, you know, building the company. So we've been doing this for almost eight years, um, in terms of just coming up with the idea to then building it, building the technology and I have a technology background, so it kind of gave us a little bit of an advantage to to get started and build the technology out, and we just happen to have a lot of law enforcement customers that adopt.
Speaker 1:You're probably well past this point, but you would have been a good entry on Shark Tank. I just interviewed Maurice Hoffman with Stormbag, who went on and gave us the whole inside scoop on how that show works. But it sounds like you're well past that stage. But you would have been an interesting product on Shark Tank.
Speaker 2:Well, I love Shark Tank and we love watching it, but no, I would not be going on Shark Tank.
Speaker 1:Let me just finish because it's been so delightful hearing about this, even though we're talking about very serious situations where you're going to need to let somebody know that something not so great is happening. Not so great is happening. What advice do you have for associations, people living in either the vertical high rises or in the single family homeowners associations what advice do you have if they're considering this kind of tech?
Speaker 2:The number one advice I have is do not wait. You do not need to wait for an incident to happen for everyone to have a wake up call. These wake-up calls happen every single day all over the country. You're not immune to an incident happening in your community or nearby your community or to one of your residents, and this is something that, unfortunately, we still have to say this sometimes to schools as well, where it won't happen here, right, just the thought process of it won't happen here, right, just the thought process of it won't happen here. We have a gate, we have a camera, we have something Okay, great, but how is everyone going to be notified when there's an emergency? How are people able to report when there's an emergency? So it's just kind of just.
Speaker 2:We kind of see this as like a base layer that just should be in place everywhere, of having these communication things in place and and in general, not just about safer watch right, just proactively take steps of how to make your community safer, right, rather, that be what Donna mentioned about training and just being aware, right, just just having that know-how of how to how to take those steps when there is a situation. But at the end of the day. The overall advice is be proactive, don't wait for something to happen. Unfortunately, our phones ring like crazy every time that there's an activist sale and every time there's a horrible situation that happens. It's sad that that's the world that we live in and it's sad that it takes that to get people to take action, and I think you guys being as leaders and heads of your organizations and the boards, I do believe safety should be a top priority, along with everything else.
Speaker 2:Those are great sentiments, by the way, if you're not already talking to FIFA please get on the phone with them before World Cup. We are in conversations. I'll just say that.
Speaker 1:Okay, well, that seems to be smart because there's always something that's going on where people need to know about, especially where the exits are and everything else. So I do want to thank you so much, by the way last question where can people find you?
Speaker 2:So you can find us online at saferwatchappcom or on LinkedIn.
Speaker 1:Where I checked you out, Gino. Thanks so much. Have a great day.
Speaker 2:Thank you, Don. Thanks for the opportunity.
Speaker 1:Thank you for joining us today. Don't forget to follow and rate us on your favorite podcast platform, or visit TakeItToTheBoardcom for more ways to connect.