
24 March 2020
What factors do you consider when deciding between a lone worker smartphone app or a dedicated lone worker device? One thing that drives us all is cost. But without functionality, it’s simply a waste of money and resources.
Dedicated devices
With such a wide range of products available in the market, it’s difficult to choose which will work best for your organisation. These dedicated devices come in the form of a cellular modem, GPS chip, SIM card and a re-chargeable battery, operating in a similar way to a small phone. They allow the lone worker system to identify workers’ current location, make and receive phone calls and permit some programming to meet organisational needs. Devices are not expensive and they typically operate with the press of a button. Simple and effective.
Smartphones
An application operates on a standard smartphone whether this is an Android based phone or an iPhone. There are also applications for legacy phones that run on Windows-based smartphones. These apps provide the same functionality as the dedicated devices but allow the user more personal control.
Here’s a quick comparison of smartphone versus standalone devices: