Europolitan Vodafone and SOS Alarm collaborate on personal alarms in mobile telephones

Europolitan Vodafone and SOS Alarm collaborate on personal alarms in mobile telephones Exposed professional groups will now have access to an effective security alarm based on mobile telephony, which functions as both an alarm and an automatic positioning service in the event of danger and emergencies. The alarm will enhance security for people in vulnerable professions, and in time will also be offered to private individuals such victims of domestic violence, elderly people and people with functional impairments. Europolitan Vodafone and SOS Alarm AB have together developed the new mobile alarm service. It will initially only be offered to companies and organisations whose staff work alone in exposed conditions, such as professional drivers, social workers or forestry workers, people who need a simple and efficient mobile alarm service. The service is based on a GSM subscription from Europolitan Vodafone, an alarm subscription from SOS Alarm AB and a mobile telephone with a built-in GPS* function used to locate the individual in trouble. The service has been tested over the summer and is due for launching in November.* "The mobile telephone provides security to many people. Our customers have expressed a great need for a variety of security and alarm services. Our service has been developed in collaboration with both SOS Alarm customers and Europolitan Vodafone customers," says Mårten Holmberg, who is in charge of product management at Europolitan Vodafone. The alarm service was primarily developed for companies and organisations with particularly vulnerable staff. In the future, however, the service will be available to private consumers, such as women exposed to threats of violence. "With our twenty centres that are staffed around the clock, SOS Alarm has a unique organisation capable of receiving alarms from people who need help. We plan to expand our services as soon as possible to include the elderly, people with functional impairments and private consumers," says Thomas Stenbäck, Director of Business Development at SOS Alarm AB. * GPS is a satellite based positioning system with an accuracy of 1 meter. For more information, please call: Mårten Holmberg, Head of Product Development, Europolitan Vodafone Tel: +46 709-61 40 98, e-mail: marten.holmberg@europolitan.se Lena Klingvik, Product Manager, Europolitan Vodafone Tel: +46 709 614036, e-mail: lena.klingvik@europolitan.se Thomas Stenbäck, Director of Business Development, SOS Alarm AB Tel: +46 8-407 30 16, e-mail: thomas.stenback@sosalarm.se Europolitan Vodafone is a mobile operator with a license to build 3G mobile telecoms networks. Our strength lies in our focus on developing international services, service and quality. Europolitan Vodafone employs some 1,400 people and is listed on the Attract 40 list of the Stockholm Stock Exchange through its parent company, Europolitan Holdings AB. The company's majority owner is Vodafone of the UK, with 71 per cent of Europolitan Holdings AB. Private shareholders, investment companies and pension funds own the remaining 29 per cent. The Vodafone Group is represented on 5 continents and has around 93 million customers (proportional number of customers calculated on the basis of ownership). For more information, please visit www.europolitan.se and www.vodafone.com. SOS Alarm AB is a modern company providing services to society. Our experienced SOS operators and our advanced alarm, communication and information technologies are unbeatable competitive assets in the security and safety areas. SOS Alarm is currently one of the leading players in the industry. SOS Alarm employs around 700 people at 20 alarm centres. For more information, please visit our web site at www.sosalarm.se. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2001/09/24/20010924BIT00410/bit0002.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2001/09/24/20010924BIT00410/bit0002.pdf