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CONNEXION2'S IDENTICOM AND SOLOPROTECT RANGE EXCEEDS NEW BS8484 STANDARD

The long awaited British Standard BS8484 for Lone Working, published on 22nd September, comes into effect on 30th September and will become a standard in 12-month¡¦s time. It defines Lone Worker Devices (LWD) and alarm-receiving centre (ARC) compliance as well as calling for sound financial grounding, secure data protection, quality training and full audit capability from the supplier of a lone worker solution. The award winning Identicom„¥ range of lone worker devices from Connexion2, not only meet the requirements of BS8484 but also carry the ACPO Secured by Design (SBD) Award. All SoloProtect solutions from Connexion2 also meet the requirements of the new standard.

The stringent security requirements of the coveted ACPO (SBD), an initiative from the Association of Police Officers (ACPO), aims to reduce crime through effective design. In addition, all Connexion2¡¦s ARCs comply with the higher specification (BS5979 Cat II), required by ACPO, and acknowledged in the published BS8484 code of practice.

The introduction of the standard sets a benchmark against which LWDs and services can be measured. It has been driven by ACPO and the security industry to promote best practice for lone workers and to reduce the high number of false alarms being received and responded to by the emergency services.

Now, LWDs are specifically required to possess the functionality to initiate an audio connection to the ARC and to have the capability to automatically retry that connection until an acknowledgement is received. They must also be able to receive a discreet signal from an ARC controller to acknowledge audio connection, have the capacity to be remotely accessed by a controller and contain an automated low battery warning facility. None of these features are available with mobile phones.

When considering the supply of LWDs, the standard also states that the device should, like Identicom, be capable of being discreetly activated so as not to alert an aggressor, and where a man-down sensor is fitted must have the facility to automatically send an activation message to the ARC. Neither function is common on mobile phones.

ARCs must have the ability to locate the lone worker and obtain their position remotely in the event of an incident. The device must also enable the ARC to dial into the LWD, listen discreetly to what is happening and initiate an appropriate response should a previously raised alarm be dropped unexpectedly.

Commenting on the introduction of BS8484, Craig Swallow, CEO of Connexion2 said: ¡§Too often employers have assumed that front line lone workers would be able to use a mobile phone which is totally unsuitable for their protection. Now companies have a minimum standard requirement for LWDs and ARCs, which is fully defined in BS8484. I welcome the new standard and am confident that Connexion2 will be amongst the first to be awarded BS8484 accreditation and be recognised as being fully compliant with this standard¡¨.

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Connexion2 Ltd.
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