Summary: Guardian 24, the Belfast based market leader in Lone Working solutions has announce that its US subsidiary, Guardian MPS, has won an order from the City of Philadelphia. Following a full working trial, the City of Philadelphia (Department of Human Services) has signed a contract to roll out the first phase of Guardian MPS services to its social workers. Guardian MPS is the market leading ‘Mobile Personal Safety’ solution that helps protect mobile workers, by transforming their mobile phone or smartphone into a fully functioning personal panic/alarm device.
Guardian MPS – has signed a contract with the City of Philadelphia. The City’s Department of Human Services (DHS) has become the first US organisation to adopt its award winning Mobile Personal Safety solution. In addition, Guardian MPS has achieved vendor approval for the entire State of Pennsylvania. At the same time Guardian MPS has announced plans to establish its US Headquarters in Philadelphia.
“Guardian MPS is the latest in a long line of innovative, technology companies that are choosing Philadelphia as their home,” said City of Philadelphia Mayor Michael A Nutter. “By working with a city government that is open to new ideas and approaches, Guardian MPS discovered that Philadelphia was the natural choice for their U.S. operation. I am excited to welcome yet another British-owned company to the Philadelphia marketplace.”
The City of Philadelphia takes staff safety and well-being seriously. Social Workers, in particular, operate daily in stressful situations throughout the greater city area. A US survey* confirmed that 58% of social workers have directly experienced violence at work. Philadelphia’s social workers want to deliver a high quality service to clients and the City of Philadelphia wants to protect them as they provide this vital support in the community.
A full trial of 27 DHS users has been conducted for 3 months and was highly successful. As a result of this DHS has now confirmed the first phase of a contract with Guardian MPS.
The Guardian MPS solution effectively transforms a broad range of mobile and smart phones into dedicated Mobile Personal Safety devices that go far beyond mere ‘app’ technology. With Guardian MPS the user can schedule their activities and timings. If the social worker ‘overstays’ their current appointment, Guardian MPS will contact them to confirm all is well. If they can’t enter a PIN or enter a duress code then the system moves to ‘alarm status’. Guardian MPS dials into the phone (while the phone appears to be off) and listens live to what is happening. Central Station Monitoring, working on behalf of the City, can listen in and advise the police or relevant responders. Guardian MPS also accurately details the device location at the same time to aid in that response
Anne Marie Ambrose, Commissioner, Philadelphia Department of Human Resources said: “Our social workers do a great job for the City. Their services and dedication are of enormous value to everyone in the community. But they do work in challenging situations so I am excited that we can now help them become safer as they deliver care and support for the people of Philadelphia. We have rigorously tested the Guardian MPS system and the Central Station Monitoring service. We now know that Guardian MPS can measurably increase the safety of our social worker field staff. This is the reason for our investment and commitment and we look forward to a continuing and developing partnership with Guardian MPS.”