New Feature Feedback: SOS Support Alert - Mocks

[Michael]

Hey all, we are developing our Support Alert system for the app. The Support Alert system leverages the global community to assist travelers. When a SOS is created, the system will:

• Notify Members in the area via push note.
• Create an icon on the map.
• Send a direct message to members in the area
• Create an "Event" similar to Rally Point, and a forum thread to exchange information.

This is the Create screen. It is intended to only provide essential information, and be easy to use in the field in the heat of the moment. Any feedback appreciated!



@Neal A. Tew @M Rose

 

[Akicita]

In my experience, surviving under extreme stress and duress during life-or-death situations, communication is the first thing to fail. Not that this app is designed for those situations but I feel this is perfect from the perspective of only concise information needed initially. Where things get "FUBAR" is when too much communication gets convoluted and confusing. . . Quick, concise, and consistent communication is vital to managing any critical incident where help from others is needed. I think this fits that criteria with no other recommendations from me. . . for what it's worth

 

[Michael]

In my experience, surviving under extreme stress and duress during life-or-death situations, communication is the first thing to fail. Not that this app is designed for those situations but I feel this is perfect from the perspective of only concise information needed initially. Where things get "FUBAR" is when too much communication gets convoluted and confusing. . . Quick, concise, and consistent communication is vital to managing any critical incident where help from others is needed. I think this fits that criteria with no other recommendations from me. . . for what it's worth

I really appreciate that, thank you.

When the SOS is created, a forum post is auto-generated, and all comms traffic past the initial posting will be directed there.

 

[Shahn]

I can't see the "Type of Support Needed" drop down so not sure if it covers this, but in times of stress I find it's easier to check/select boxes versus writing out what is needed.

Maybe outline most common scenarios with check boxes, then a spot to put more details or other. This may help simplify or make it easier in an emergency. You could also put some logic possibly behind what is checked to help create a 'urgency level'...

 

[OTH Overland]

I like @Shahn idea of check boxes or radio buttons to simplify things, perhaps add a category to select the urgency of the situation, perhaps red/yellow/green coded to let people know how urgent the request is i.e. green: I have lots of gear and won't freeze if it takes a couple of days to get organized and come help, to red: rig is upside down, its raining and I have run out of cheez-its. Since it takes an internet connection to post the help request one would hope a really critical situation involved a call to emergency services or a press of an inreach button. ( a side wishlist item would be a way to text a help request into the OB system from an Inreach for non critical situations where you do not have any cell service)

 

[Michael]

Right - the drop down in this special Rally Point type becomes the Title. So this is what most people would see first. We were going to include:

• Mechanical Breakdown
• Recovery Needed
• Seeking Shelter
• Other

In the case of “Other”, a single line text will be provided.

All "Titles" are prepended with SOS. So the "type of support" aka "title" might be:

SOS: Mechanical Breakdown

or

SOS: Lost. I can see mountains and a big sand dune

 

[Michael]

I like @Shahn idea of check boxes or radio buttons to simplify things, perhaps add a category to select the urgency of the situation, perhaps red/yellow/green coded to let people know how urgent the request is i.e. green: I have lots of gear and won't freeze if it takes a couple of days to get organized and come help, to red: rig is upside down, its raining and I have run out of cheez-its. Since it takes an internet connection to post the help request one would hope a really critical situation involved a call to emergency services or a press of an inreach button. ( a side wishlist item would be a way to text a help request into the OB system from an Inreach for non critical situations where you do not have any cell service)

This is a good reminder to tell folks to call 911 in the case of an emergency.

 

[oldsoldier181]

This is a good reminder to tell folks to call 911 in the case of an emergency.

as a 911 dispatcher, this only kinda works. Sadly, if you are out of cell phone service, it may only ping at the closest tower. Have seen that happen a few times. I am not discouraging anyone from calling, for sure, but, set the expectations. Of course, we now have text to 911 (not sure if its national, but it is active here in MA), and this method would probably work better. Again, the issue with that is, it will not ping a location. But, if you know where you are, even roughly, and can send a text, due to lack of cell service, which sometimes happens-put everything you can, and send TEXT ONLY. What happened, where you are, what you need, what you have, etc.
Just food for thought here.

 

[oldsoldier181]

Hey all, we are developing our Support Alert system for the app. The Support Alert system leverages the global community to assist travelers. When a SOS is created, the system will:

• Notify Members in the area via push note.
• Create an icon on the map.
• Send a direct message to members in the area
• Create an "Event" similar to Rally Point, and a forum thread to exchange information.

This is the Create screen. It is intended to only provide essential information, and be easy to use in the field in the heat of the moment. Any feedback appreciated!

View attachment 246077

@Neal A. Tew @M Rose

So, my thoughts on this, is keep it simple, similar to a 9 line medevac, which we used to use. That way, everything is there, you just need to plug and play. Something like:
1. Location-pretty self explanatory. And, the app should pin your location (or, if possible, last known location, if there is no service? Dont know if thats possible)
2. Method of comms-this should feed their phone # and email address
3. IF there are injuries/medical emergencies, put how many, and what. have the option for none, of course
4. What equipment for recovery is needed. A tow? A rollover? Stuck in a swamp?
5. Redundant with #3, going off the 9 line protocols
6. through 9 arent really needed.

With your app, you nail 1 & 2.
Instead of a narratiive for the others, I would create a dropdown list as follows:
-Injuries (yes or no). If yes, prompt to select how many, and what kind (A few simple selections: cardiac, respiratory, amputation, severe bleeding, unknown). Make this a selection for each injured party
-Equipment needed. A simple dropdown, again, for a couple things:
Type of vehicle-side by side, SUV, truck, full sized truck, etc
Type of recovery-tow, rollover, stuck in mud/swamp/water

LAST, I would add the narrative.

As others stated, under stress, selecting presets may be preferable to writing a narrative. Thats why I would leave it last, so that, if the message needs to go out immediately, the important info is already there.

As an aside, I do like this idea. Another bonus to belonging to this community!

 

[Michael]

as a 911 dispatcher, this only kinda works. Sadly, if you are out of cell phone service, it may only ping at the closest tower. Have seen that happen a few times. I am not discouraging anyone from calling, for sure, but, set the expectations. Of course, we now have text to 911 (not sure if its national, but it is active here in MA), and this method would probably work better. Again, the issue with that is, it will not ping a location. But, if you know where you are, even roughly, and can send a text, due to lack of cell service, which sometimes happens-put everything you can, and send TEXT ONLY. What happened, where you are, what you need, what you have, etc.
Just food for thought here.

Thank you for the feedback here! I'd like to understand the mechanics you are referring when you say, "only kind of works". Do you mean 911 in general, or the SOS mechanism we are developing? I would agree by the way - just wanting to drill down a bit. Thank you!

 

[Michael]

So, my thoughts on this, is keep it simple, similar to a 9 line medevac, which we used to use. That way, everything is there, you just need to plug and play. Something like:
1. Location-pretty self explanatory. And, the app should pin your location (or, if possible, last known location, if there is no service? Dont know if thats possible)
2. Method of comms-this should feed their phone # and email address
3. IF there are injuries/medical emergencies, put how many, and what. have the option for none, of course
4. What equipment for recovery is needed. A tow? A rollover? Stuck in a swamp?
5. Redundant with #3, going off the 9 line protocols
6. through 9 arent really needed.

With your app, you nail 1 & 2.
Instead of a narratiive for the others, I would create a dropdown list as follows:
-Injuries (yes or no). If yes, prompt to select how many, and what kind (A few simple selections: cardiac, respiratory, amputation, severe bleeding, unknown). Make this a selection for each injured party
-Equipment needed. A simple dropdown, again, for a couple things:
Type of vehicle-side by side, SUV, truck, full sized truck, etc
Type of recovery-tow, rollover, stuck in mud/swamp/water

LAST, I would add the narrative.

As others stated, under stress, selecting presets may be preferable to writing a narrative. Thats why I would leave it last, so that, if the message needs to go out immediately, the important info is already there.

As an aside, I do like this idea. Another bonus to belonging to this community!

Thank you very much for this feedback. Let me paste a version of the output from the support Alert for further feedback if you have the time. I will do that in the next post. The Support Alert funnels all comms to the forum thread it creates.

 

[Michael]

At 02:20 PM (GMT -8:00) on 12/07/2022 Steve (@travel4x4.tv) created a Support Alert.

Original Message included in the Support Alert:

I am stuck. Slid off the road and I have a blown tire. No spare. I think I could repair if I had a good tire repair kit.

Primary contact phone: 5551212

Important links:

• View Support Alert on the map.
• View Support Alert announcement.

Locations included in the Support Alert:

Location 1:

Coordinates: 36.00001868329569, -121.12938741233305 (lat/lng)​

Address: 63500 Argyle Rd, Lockwood, California 93932, United States​

Location note: Please send AAA van here.​

Communications Channels included in the Support Alert:

Channel 1:

Type: HAM​

Channel: 15​

Notes: Only use if you have a ham radio​

View Support Alert

 

[Michael]

This it work in progress. Ignore those links - they will go to our development environment. The support does provide the ability to add multiple comms channels and multiple waypoints with individual notes. We are definitely going for simplicity. One thing we do not cover explicitly (except for notes) are injuries. Might be something to add from the 9 line.

 

[oldsoldier181]

Thank you for the feedback here! I'd like to understand the mechanics you are referring when you say, "only kind of works". Do you mean 911 in general, or the SOS mechanism we are developing? I would agree by the way - just wanting to drill down a bit. Thank you!

I was referring to the 911 signals. Sometimes, if the call gets dropped-bad signal, quick disconnect, etc-the only location we get is the closest cell tower that was pinged. Generally, this isnt very helpful, as there can be several miles between towers.
As to texting, I can confirm it DOES give a GPS location, but this can be spotty. The location via 911 systems (and, to be fair, I have NO IDEA how this would tie in, if at all, with your app), will give a very general approximation. Roughly 100m circle.
As an aside, something to think about regarding cell phone technology, and 4G, 5G, etc. Again, I am no expert, but I do play around as a ham, and this is my understanding of how it works. The more progressive the band width gets (4g to 5g, etc), the more information you can pump through a transmission (this is why 5G gets better speeds), but the less penetration it has through material objects. The next iterations are going to require towers that have to, literally, be line of sight, to get the correct coverage. While you can get a huge amount of data through the use of 5G and beyond (current estimates are that, ideally, 5G is 10x faster than 4G), you are going to run into the issue of something as simple as tree cover blocking cell coverage, because thats the nature of radio waves.
Sorry, geeked out a little. It has no relevance to your app, as you are beholden to the FCC, as we all are. Just an interesting tidbit :)

 

[oldsoldier181]

This it work in progress. Ignore those links - they will go to our development environment. The support does provide the ability to add multiple comms channels and multiple waypoints with individual notes. We are definitely going for simplicity. One thing we do not cover explicitly (except for notes) are injuries. Might be something to add from the 9 line.

I know this is a work in progress, and I think its a fantastic feature. As you are soliciting feedback from your community, can I make a small suggestion?
When WE get the alert, it is possible to configure the information in the alert so that it in a line item format, with a map/pin at the bottom? Something like (using your info in your previous post):
1. Location-63500 Argyle Rd, Lockwood, California 93932, United States
2. Method of comms: Cell: 555-1212. HAM channel: 145.200 GMRS channel: 17 FRS channel: 3
3. Inured: none
4. Tire repair
Next, a narrative box with the info you provided:

I am stuck. Slid off the road and I have a blown tire. No spare. I think I could repair if I had a good tire repair kit.

Last, a map, with the pin/event (or however its created) showing the location (with possibly lat/long, UTM, or whatever is used, so that we may be able to copy it into other mapping software as needed)

Hope that makes sense. I really think that, as OTH Overland suggested, drop downs are a great idea to select in a quick manner.

As an aside, and I am gaming this through-once someone sends out on of these, would they be able to update/cancel this, as needed? Say, in your scenario, the person had someone randomly come by and assist, and they were good to go. Could they cancel the request? Or, lets say, they were stuck, and they had a dead battery too-could they update it?

 

[DintDobbs]

This is a great idea, and the format suggestions are progressing nicely.

However, since nobody has mentioned this, I must remind you of the potential for abuse. App users are not bound by any contract to abide by any operational standard. This means that potential predators could lurk on the app, waiting for local "SOS" alerts, and then go out and rob or otherwise harm the person whose vehicle is incapacitated.

The risk of this may be low at present, but the more popular the app & its services get, the more likely it is to attract bad people who will exploit it.

 

[Michael]

I know this is a work in progress, and I think its a fantastic feature. As you are soliciting feedback from your community, can I make a small suggestion?
When WE get the alert, it is possible to configure the information in the alert so that it in a line item format, with a map/pin at the bottom? Something like (using your info in your previous post):
1. Location-63500 Argyle Rd, Lockwood, California 93932, United States
2. Method of comms: Cell: 555-1212. HAM channel: 145.200 GMRS channel: 17 FRS channel: 3
3. Inured: none
4. Tire repair
Next, a narrative box with the info you provided:

I am stuck. Slid off the road and I have a blown tire. No spare. I think I could repair if I had a good tire repair kit.

Last, a map, with the pin/event (or however its created) showing the location (with possibly lat/long, UTM, or whatever is used, so that we may be able to copy it into other mapping software as needed)

Hope that makes sense. I really think that, as OTH Overland suggested, drop downs are a great idea to select in a quick manner.

As an aside, and I am gaming this through-once someone sends out on of these, would they be able to update/cancel this, as needed? Say, in your scenario, the person had someone randomly come by and assist, and they were good to go. Could they cancel the request? Or, lets say, they were stuck, and they had a dead battery too-could they update it?

OK, cool. Noted on the formatting - more line-item style, with narrative last. OK noted.

For the map, we are going to rely on the app map as apposed to embedding the map in the forum thread. Reason is, all map-type coordinates are available there - GPS, Address, and 3 word address. You can copy/paste/share easily. If you are on web, you can copy the GPS coords. There is a rub - it is not easy to copy coordinates out of the thread in the app so we use links to open the map. Sub optimal>

Cancelling. Yes, both the author and admis can cancel the alert. That is done through the Announcement interface, which you have not seen yet.

 

[oldsoldier181]

OK, cool. Noted on the formatting - more line-item style, with narrative last. OK noted.

For the map, we are going to rely on the app map as apposed to embedding the map in the forum thread. Reason is, all map-type coordinates are available there - GPS, Address, and 3 word address. You can copy/paste/share easily. If you are on web, you can copy the GPS coords. There is a rub - it is not easy to copy coordinates out of the thread in the app so we use links to open the map. Sub optimal>

Cancelling. Yes, both the author and admis can cancel the alert. That is done through the Announcement interface, which you have not seen yet.

Excellent!!! I totally get using the embedded map. Its organic to the app itself, and can translate over for those of us using it. I only recently discovered what3words, and really like that as a quick locator.
Again, Michael, this is fantastic, and although its a feature we all hope to never use, is certainly something that will be extremely handy if its ever needed!! Thanks for including us in the feedback for this.

When it gets closer to production, I assume you will be beta testing it externally? Would be interesting to see how this works, live, when its all rolled out and ready to go

 

[Michael]

This is a great idea, and the format suggestions are progressing nicely.

However, since nobody has mentioned this, I must remind you of the potential for abuse. App users are not bound by any contract to abide by any operational standard. This means that potential predators could lurk on the app, waiting for local "SOS" alerts, and then go out and rob or otherwise harm the person whose vehicle is incapacitated.

The risk of this may be low at present, but the more popular the app & its services get, the more likely it is to attract bad people who will exploit it.

This is a very good point and open to suggestions. The responder should verify the identity and credibility of the person requesting assistance. Similar to our Rally Points, Member status and Rating of the sender is a first indication of the persons legitimacy. It should be verified. Glad to dive into this topic for the best feature outcome.

 

[Michael]

I was referring to the 911 signals. Sometimes, if the call gets dropped-bad signal, quick disconnect, etc-the only location we get is the closest cell tower that was pinged. Generally, this isnt very helpful, as there can be several miles between towers.
As to texting, I can confirm it DOES give a GPS location, but this can be spotty. The location via 911 systems (and, to be fair, I have NO IDEA how this would tie in, if at all, with your app), will give a very general approximation. Roughly 100m circle.
As an aside, something to think about regarding cell phone technology, and 4G, 5G, etc. Again, I am no expert, but I do play around as a ham, and this is my understanding of how it works. The more progressive the band width gets (4g to 5g, etc), the more information you can pump through a transmission (this is why 5G gets better speeds), but the less penetration it has through material objects. The next iterations are going to require towers that have to, literally, be line of sight, to get the correct coverage. While you can get a huge amount of data through the use of 5G and beyond (current estimates are that, ideally, 5G is 10x faster than 4G), you are going to run into the issue of something as simple as tree cover blocking cell coverage, because thats the nature of radio waves.
Sorry, geeked out a little. It has no relevance to your app, as you are beholden to the FCC, as we all are. Just an interesting tidbit :)

OK thank you. Got it. If there is enough signal to send the Support Alert, the information included should be within 3 meters.