Honeywell announced an investment in RapidSOS, as well as technology integrations between the two companies expected to help digitize the public safety communications process.
According to Honeywell, RapidSOS is the emergency response data platform used by more than 5,200 emergency communications centres worldwide.
The existing communications infrastructure between buildings, alarm monitoring stations, emergency centres and fire stations often uses legacy, manual technology, which slows response times and affects the accuracy of transmitted information.
The company stated that the Honeywell Connected Life Safety System will link to the RapidSOS emergency response data platform to provide faster, accurate communications with emergency centres. When combined with Honeywell’s solutions, RapidSOS technology will securely transmit detailed data about the emergency, such as the type of hazard, severity, and location within the affected building to emergency response centres.
“Time matters in an emergency. If you add up the time that regulations allow for each step in the current emergency communications process, it takes 590 seconds – or nearly 10 minutes – from the time a fire is first detected to when first responders arrive at a building. We’re trying to improve communications processes to cut that time in half,” said Jurgen van Goethem, president of Commercial Fire and Security for Honeywell Building Technologies in a statement.
“This investment in RapidSOS helps to further our efforts to improve both the quality of information shared and the time it takes for first responders to arrive at an emergency, potentially saving more lives. RapidSOS helps to deliver better information to emergency centres while our recent acquisition of US Digital Designs improves communication from the emergency centres to the fire station.”
Honeywell recently acquired US Digital Designs, which delivers alerting and dispatch communications solutions meant to improve first responders’ efficacy and enable faster emergency response times. Honeywell’s public safety communications portfolio also includes Fiplex bi-directional amplifiers that provide continuous and critical in-building radio coverage.
“Honeywell provides critical life safety systems that enable facility managers to harness the power of data to deliver enhanced fire safety service,” said Michael Martin, CEO, RapidSOS in a statement.
“We are excited to work with Honeywell and equip first responders with intelligent, incident-specific connected building data before arriving on-scene to better protect our communities.”
According to a statement from the company, RapidSOS works with public safety agencies to provide an emergency response data platform that integrates across first responder software and operational systems. RapidSOS connects more than 400 million devices to thousands of 911 agencies supporting more than 165 million emergencies annually.
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