Pictured: RapidSOS 9-1-1 Advisory Board member, Wolfgang Kampichler, and RapidSOS Director of Product & 9-1-1,
Reinhard Ekl, at the 2016 NENA Conference
Wow! What a journey it has been, chasing our vision of transforming emergency response and communication: From winning our first $15K in the Harvard Innovation Challenge (it felt life-changing at the time – I remember turning to Nick and asking, “How are we possibly going to spend it all?”) to having two-thirds of our development team quit two days before Christmas when we couldn’t pay them.
Fast forward three and a half years as we head into the launch of our first product, RapidSOS Haven, and I can’t help but reflect on all the people that have made our vision a reality.
To start, we wouldn’t be where we are today without the support of the 9-1-1 community. We are grateful for the opportunity to learn from and work with industry leaders in developing our technology. Their insight, knowledge, and collaboration have been invaluable in the development of our technology.
Last week, at the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) 2016 Conference in Indianapolis, we had the chance to showcase some of our new technology that was developed as a direct result of the feedback and advice we have received from telecommunicators and dispatchers. The result is an unprecedented data flow into PSAPs, including GPS location, type of emergency, contact information, medical & demographic data, text messages, and even multimedia.
Additionally, our Kickstarter supporters have given us more support than we could have ever imagined. They have been with us since day one and we cannot thank them enough for their continued patience and feedback as we work to make Haven available on everyone’s phones across the nation, and eventually around the world.
Looking ahead, we are excited to begin applying the technology platform that we spent the last three years building to fully realize our vision of predicting and preempting emergencies before they occur, warning people in harm’s way, providing universal family security, and ensuring that first responders are one touch away no matter where you travel.
As we dive into these new products and features, we encourage you to share your ideas with us. What additional features do you want to see in Haven? How can we help you feel safer? As a parent, what types of safety features do you value? Email us at info@RapidSOS.com or leave your thoughts below in the comments!
If you aren’t already, make sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for more news as we lead up to launch!