Lone worker protection with emergency button

Emergency button provides safety for lone workers

A mobile emergency button offers people who have to do their work without the supervision of others a way to notify others. Knowing that colleagues or professional care providers are on their way gives your employees the feeling of safety of not being alone.

The MultiBel solution for lone workers contains several options to guarantee the safety of your employees:

In this article we take a closer look at various emergency buttons, how they work and the advantages and disadvantages.

How does the MultiBel emergency button for lone workers work?

MultiBel offers various emergency buttons. First of all, the external Bluetooth emergency button that can be worn on the belt, as a watch or on a neck strap. In addition, we have the emergency button in the MultiBel app, the emergency button on the smartphone and finally a permanently mounted emergency button.

With a simple press of the emergency button, the employee in need starts a silent alarm. Colleagues who are nearby or act as a point of contact are alerted, receive the location of the colleague that needs help and can confirm or reject the alert. An alternative is to send an alarm to an alarm receiving centre that can also notify professional emergency services. The speaking-listening connection allows them to assess what is necessary.

In which situations is the emergency button used for lone workers?

An emergency button gives the lone worker the option to send the alarm whenever the person feels threatened or needs help. You can for example think of a panic button that is used in serious situations such as a threat, intimidation or aggression.

Various situations and locations where an emergency button is used as an alarm can be considered. For example:

“In-house” situation/ location

Consultation room or counter in a town hall
Employee in a store
Reception, waiting room or consultation room in hospital
Employees in psychiatry
Reception in a hotel
Catering employees
Teacher in the classroom
Security guards
Industry employee
External situation/ location

External situations/ locations

Estate agents
Maintenance technicians
Outpatient Nursing
Suppliers
Public transport and taxis

Starting a lone worker emergency button scenario

Starting a MultiBel scenario can be done in different ways. The most common ways are the lone worker app, fixed emergency button or mobile emergency button.

Mobile emergency button (wearables)

Emergency buttons are not always attached to the wall or under a counter. MultiBel can also help you with a personal alarm via a mobile emergency button. This emergency button is worn by the employee, for example around the neck on a cord, on the belt, pocket or wrist. Such wearables give the wearer, without having direct access to a mobile phone, a simple way to initiate an emergency call. This application with a mobile emergency button is used, for example, by employees in psychiatry, by debt collectors or by home health care nurses.

There are mobile emergency buttons that can easily be linked to MultiBel. Some sollutions cost us a little more effort. Of course we have a number of regular suppliers that we like to work with and of whom we know the products in detail. If you already have a solution in use, we can discuss the possibility of linking MultiBel to your mobile emergency button of choose.

There are many different suppliers and brands of mobile emergency buttons/wearables. All the providers have their own characteristics with advantages and disadvantages. In general, we recognize the following elements.

Advantage mobile emergency button:

Location independent / available everywhere

Disadvantage mobile emergency button

Security and reliability of the solution
Do you sometimes forget to bring/wear?
Some hardware is experienced as a nuisance
Additional hardware (investment and installation)
Regularly charge or replace batteries
Not all wearables can set up a speak-listen connection.

Smartphone with lone worker app

MultiBel’s lone worker app contains a button that works just as an external emergency button. If a lone worker starts a personal alarm, a pre-programmed scenario in MultiBel is immediately activated.

The difference with the external bluetooth emergency button is purely the way in which an alarm is triggered. If this is done via the smartphone itself, you do not need an extra emergency button. But every advantage also has its disadvantage, and that is that you have to pick up the smartphone, unlock the phone and press the button. Does that work if someone is yelling at you or worse?

What are the advantages and disadvantages compared to an external Bluetooth emergency button?

Advantage emergency button in lone worker app

Exact location determination of lone worker is available
No additional hardware
Easy to install/deploy
Insight into who has/has not turned on the emergency button
Speak-listen connection with the receiver(s) is started

Disadvantage emergency button in lone worker app:

The emergency button function must be turned on
Some users experience the button in the screen (red button) as “irritating”
Not everyone is allowed and able to carry a smartphone at work

Samsung XCover, Ascom Myco and Spectralink

Some smartphones seems to be built for our lone worker solution. When the button on the side of the phone is pressed, the alarm procedure can be initiated immediately. We notice that many healthcare institutions are interested in using this. This is partly because MultiBel is used there as a silent alarm evacuation system. The purchase of a new smartphone to replace the beeper is often considered. The subject of working alone (including the alarm button) was included in the choice of the specific smartphone.

Advantages of Samsung XCover

No additional hardware needs to be carried
Red emergency button is user-friendly (easy to press by feel, only one action required)
The general Samsung XCover features: super sturdy phone, can be operated with gloves, can get wet, etc.

Disadvantage Samsung XCover

Organizations will often have to purchase new telephones for this.

Do you have another smartphone with a button on the side?
Whether MultiBel can run on the phone depends on the specific model and operating system. If you have a different smartphone model and would like to know whether it can work as an alarm button, please contact us.

Fixed emergency button

The fixed emergency button for personal alarm is often used by bank or municipal counter staff, by hotel reception staff, in the catering industry behind the bar, or at cash registers in shops. If the employee presses the emergency button, the MultiBel system immediately reports to the aggression intervention team (AIT) or colleagues who are nearby. We can of course also help you with a link with an emergency center.

Advantage fixed alarm method:

Exact location determination easy (e.g. reception, cash register, front door, etc)
Is easy to use by everyone
Sometimes connected to a fixed power network (no charging problems)

Disadvantage fixed alarm method:

Additional hardware (investment and installation)
Location dependent (eg when someone walks through the store, the button at the counter cannot always be reached).
Not all fixed emergency buttons can set up a talk-listen connection.

Can you improve the current emergency button alarm solution?

Many organizations have already set up a fixed or mobile emergency button for personal alarms. The only question is: what happens after the employee has pressed the emergency button? Are you indeed capable of sounding the alarm in an easy matter? Is your data handled with care? Are the right (present) people reached quickly? Are alternative channels available if, for example, a telephone call is not answered? Is there a way of escalation? There are many more questions. In all honesty; the market, and with it the possibilities are developing rapidly.

What can MultiBel do for you?

MultiBel offers a easy solution for many situations and locations. After all, adequate follow-up is the key to a good emergency notification system. You can combine MultiBel with existing hardware and in many cases an immediate improvement will be noticed. The security guard is informed more quickly. There is a clear understanding of who can and cannot come to the rescue. Escalation can happen automatically, etc.

An emergency button in the MultiBel lone worker app is sufficient for some organizations. In that case the implementation is simple and fast. After a short instruction you can get started. Most organizations opt for a combination of fixed and mobile emergency buttons combined with our MultiBel lone worker app. This maximizes safety at work.

MultiBel lone worker certification

Kiwa has drawn up the K21023 certification scheme. MultiBel has the first (and as yet the only) lone worker app that has received this certification (scope 2, 3 and 4). In order to obtain this quality mark, a Kiwa auditor checks the organization and the entire system every year.