User content drives app’s effectiveness

IT SERVICES
IT SERVICES

Ever notice a flooded street, a severe pothole or a tree downed on power lines and not known who to notify about it? It’s not serious enough for 911, and a call to a local city department or utility may take days for a response.
The answer is actually quite simple, according to the makers of a new app: Do what you most likely reflexively do several times a day – pull out your smartphone.
Harnessing the power of the armies of millions of smartphone users, the goal of the new app Vizsafe is to build community and promote safety by providing a platform that allows people to share photos and videos of safety hazards – from simple to potentially serious – with the people around them.
“It’s about being a good neighbor, enabling people to help each other out,” said Peter Mottur, founder and CEO of Vizsafe, which is based in Middletown with four employees. “Sharing that information in real time is a valuable resource to the community.”
Released publicly in April just before the Boston Marathon, the app is available on both iOS and Android platforms, and addresses safety from a broad perspective. Users can upload photos, videos and real-time information on anything from broken street signs and lost pets to accidents or crimes they witnessed.
“Anything that can affect you and your neighbors,” said Mottur.
All content is then geo-located and mapped, and can be sorted based on location, time and category. Users can also create “geo-fences,” or radiuses of interest – whether it’s their neighborhood or the residence hall their son or daughter lives in several states away – and receive alerts when others post in that area. A “near me” feature, meanwhile, essentially follows users wherever they go, providing them with alerts on posts within a 10-kilometer radius.
“Citizens are already capturing these kinds of things – you see it on the news all the time,” said Mottur. The goal is to ultimately aggregate that information and make it valuable and useful, he said.
“It’s the first platform and app that’s focused on 24/7 community awareness and safety,” he said. “It’s something that can work anywhere in the world, it follows you wherever you go.”
Although the company is not yet releasing numbers, Mottur did say that, in the span of a month, its user base tripled, and by mid-August more than 350,000 safety concerns had been posted to the app. Global users include everyday folks, businesses, government organizations, schools and law enforcement.
And while the app is now free, the company will eventually release a premium model, including such features as extended content storage and private, secure communications.
“We’ve received a tremendous amount of response,” said Mottur. “We’re excited about the growth that we’re seeing.”

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