MyDevices Panic Button for Hotels Said to Eliminate Dead Zones

MyDevices announced technology designed to improve panic buttons used in hotels by eliminating dead zones, it said Tuesday. Its No Dead Zone panic button technology combines cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and LoRaWAN protocols to provide full coverage across a property “no matter how challenging the physical environment,” it said. The company cited a workplace safety initiative announced by the American Hotel & Lodging Association two years ago designed to provide emergency communications and location-based services for employees in the hospitality industry. “While 4G LTE signals from all carriers freely propagate in open areas, inside buildings, it’s severely limited by heavy building material that blocks, absorbs, reflects, and degrades cell and Wi-Fi signals,” said the company. That limits coverage and creates dead zones, which can “lead to catastrophic outcomes if a panic button fails to connect.” Integrating LoRaWAN technology into a panic button makes it possible to send long-range, low-power and low-data bandwidth transmissions from hard-to-reach locations like underground, in concrete or dense urban environments, it said. MyDevices’ said its technology is highly secure, affordable and installs in less than a day. It provides floor- and room-level accuracy plus outdoor GPS tracking on the property, and doesn’t require the use of a mobile phone to request assistance in an emergency, it said. It wasn't clear whether a consumer version would be made available. The company didn't respond to questions.