By
Telecom Lead Team: Guardly, a developer of mobile applications
that broadcast calls for help and connects people to provide assistance in case
of emergency, announced a free nationwide service for students, faculty
and staff at 67 Canadian universities and colleges across Canada.
By
downloading the Guardly app and registering with a university-issued email
address, campus members can hold their own personal code-blue emergency phones,
providing one-touch mobile access to campus security from virtually any
location on campus.
“It
was a natural evolution of our technology, to enable a service like this for
students. Given the high prevalence of sexual assault against women and
increases in violent acts on some campuses, we feel this innovation should be
something provided to students for free. So we’ve done just that,” said Guardly
CEO, Josh Sookman.
Recently,
Rona Ambrose, the Federal Minister of the Status of Women Canada, had shown
public interest in taking action against violence against women at Canadian
colleges and universities. In November 2011, Ambrose announced a request
for proposals to end violence against women on post-secondary campuses.
The
free mobile emergency phone service empowers each person on campus with a
virtual emergency phone to quickly report crimes and other emergencies.
Guardly is hoping to foster communities on campus that will look out for
one another, boost safety awareness and action against crimes.
Every
student, faculty and staff member at the 67 supported universities and
colleges across Canada will be eligible to use the free mobile emergency
phone service.
Guardly
is available as a free download on iPhone, BlackBerry, Android and
Windows Phone 7 devices. By downloading the Guardly app, students can work
together as a collective group to take a stand against anybody looking to cause
trouble on their campus.