Review of Existing Systems

System One:

• Name: “OnWatchOnCampus”
• Problems It Tries To Solve: OnWatchOnCampus tries to solve the safety concern that parents or guardians have about their children living away at universities on campus or off campus. This system is a mobile application designed primarily to connect students with campus police, emergency friends, parents, and local 911 in an emergency situation. Any user living in a university (on campus or off campus) can download this application and use it when needed. It is designed to keep college students safe by giving them the tools to plan for their safety.
• Solutions It Provides: OnWatchOnCampus helps the user alert emergency friends and authorities during an emergency. It features ”Watch My Back” option which is a timed alert to contact friends and family members in a vulnerable situation. Any user in a vulnerable situation can turn on “Watch My Back” mode. If the user is not able to make it to the intended destination this features sends an alert message which includes time and location to friends and family members. Users can disable this feature by entering their pass-code. OnWatchOnCampus also offers “I’m Here” feature which sends the location notification and a time to let the friends or family members know when the user has arrived to the intended place safely. To make things easier for users, this application offers “Tab Button Twice” interface which users can take advantage of by tapping any feature twice to connect to local 911, campus police, and emergency friends. This application also solves the user frustration by giving them all the needed features in one page.

• Strengths & Weaknesses: One of the strengths for OnWatchOnCampus is that it is simple and straightforward with needed features. OnWatchOnCampus allows users to focus more on the vulnerable situation than to worry about figuring out which feature in where. Its weakness is that it is not free, users get 30 day free trial to check out the application. After 30 days, users have to pay 99 cents per month or $9.99 yearly

System Two:

• Name: “Rave Guardian”
• Problems It Tries to Solve: One of the primary problems Rave Guardian addresses is the growing safety concerns of the millennial generation as they navigate their college years. The company recognizes that young adults have increasingly begun to rely on their mobile devices in times of distress. Although they provide multiple applications for several other kinds of emergency situations, the Rave Guardian/ Campus Safety applications are much more focused on connecting a huge number of people and helping trusted guardians keep tabs on individuals. These features are more tailored to a college environment where a large amount of students spend a great deal of time out on their own.
• Solutions It Provides: The Rave Guardian app website identifies itself as a “two-way critical communications and personal safety app”. It provides an “Emergency Call Button” which instantly puts the user in contact with campus police at the touch of a button, and location tracking services which can send out a GPS location and a personalized profile (with important medical and schedule information) to respondents. It also attempts to account for the densely populated nature of college campuses by including an anonymous “Tip Texting” service to report suspicious activity, and connecting to the “Emergency Alerts” service which can send mass messages out to the entire school. Finally, it implements a “Guardian” system, in which the user can select family, friends, or even the police to be notified if their safety timer is not deactivated.

• Strengths & Weaknesses: While it does attempt to account for every kind of emergency one may encounter, Rave Mobile Safety has a lot of different products. This can be confusing for initial users, who may assume they have downloaded all of the advertised services. This is primarily due to the fact that the products are not strictly intended for individual users, but for organizations who may wish to customize what features they utilize. It’s mass connectivity is a useful aspect if a university decides to provide this service to their students, however many of the features which make this product stand out (such as the campus crime reporting) are not included for those whose organizations do not purchase it.

System 3:

• Name: "LiveSafe"
• Problems It Tries to Solve: LiveSafe is a mobile application focused on the sharing of information regarding safety hazards and threat to human life. With a growing crime rate in the world and the simultaneous growth of technology, application developers are creating ways in which people can report crimes with location based tips that get sent to the local police right away. LiveSafe tries to solve the problem of reporting crimes as many times crimes go unreported due to the lack of resources. Many universities are incorporating this application into their campuses which provides students the platform to report crimes that relating to safety issues directly through this application.
• Solutions It Provides: LifeSave has a two-way platform that delivers location-pinned text messages, phone calls, videos and photos through real-time interaction. A student can pin their location and report a crime to the local safety officials. Students can also share their location with their friends and chat with them on the move while using this application. There is a direct option to call 911 and get help in a situation of direct threat or concern of any reason. This application allows for people to select an organization they are part of (Example: Rutgers University) and then the application provides all of the necessary resources of your organization. There is an option to report which kind of crime needs to be reported, emergency call options tailored to your organization, and maps for people to take the safe route in terms of walking or driving (Safewalk and SafeRide).

• Strengths & Weaknesses: A strength for LiveSave is that a person can report a crime anonymously. In a school setting, many times students are scared of reporting crimes if they are under the influence as well as they do not want to get in trouble or get caught by the law. This puts the life of the person who needs help at risk. With the option to anonymously report a crime, students can get the right help without being afraid of getting in trouble as saving a life matters more than anything else. This is a huge strength for this application. A weakness would be the maps would not load if the user does not have service which could hinder the safety of the user.