The Hindu Business Line : 'I'm watching!'

Manufacturers are showcasing new safety devices for vehicles that feature tracking and alert systems. Companies can now keep an eye on the pick-up and drop schedules of staff every minute of the ride. And for employees, it means the late night drive back home isn't a nightmare.

FOR years now, the mobile phone has been hailed as the ultimate communication device that can serve as a critical security tool in the event of an emergency while on the road.

Women feel safer travelling late in the night because they have the phone. Calling for help for something as basic as a flat tyre or missing the last local train has become so common that nobody even thinks about the wonders of that small communication device.

But an unfortunate incident on December 13 in Bangalore has highlighted how the same device was used to commit a crime. A BPO worker on a night shift was called by a driver claiming to be her regular cab's substitute. The unsuspecting woman boarded the vehicle, only to be raped and murdered by the driver.

The incident has forced all companies that have late night shifts to review their security measures and find ways to further strengthen them. With the Bangalore incident still fresh in the minds of industry, several manufacturers have started showcasing new safety devices that promise to make vehicles more safe.

Micro Technologies, a Mumbai-based products company, has come up with a vehicle security product `Micro VBB Marshal' as an offshoot of its Internet security software. "When we started out, we were not a hardware company. We had initially developed an Internet security product that helps a user to control his Internet account using SMS. But later, we extended the concept to vehicle and home security," says Micro Technologies' Chairman, Dr P. Sekhar.

The working of the product is rather simple. At the heart of the system is a `black box' that controls the vehicle. By one SMS, the system can be activated. The system can be configured in any manner as the user decides and the black box can immobilise the engine, send the vehicle lights flashing or even send warnings to pre-determined telephone numbers so that someone tracking the vehicle comes to know instantly that something has gone wrong.

"If any person is caught in any emergency, the vehicle will get armed on its own and its lights will start flashing. As per the pre-determined settings, people concerned will get a message saying the vehicle is in trouble," says Dr Sekhar.

At the point of boarding, every passenger swipes a card, by which the control room instantly gets a message that the particular employee has boarded.

"It is not just a safety device. It can also help in shift planning, because as soon as someone boards the company bus, an alert goes out. If 40 individuals are expected in the new shift and one does not board the bus, the control room knows in advance that it has to cater for that employee who is absent," Dr Sekhar says.

For home and personal vehicle security, the product can be configured to send messages to people concerned, or even the police, in case of any tampering or forcible entry.

Dr Shekhar says Micro Technologies has orders for about 4,00,000 units, each costing Rs 14,000-16,000 and the company is in talks with organisations that require mass transport of their employees, especially in variable shifts.

The Bangalore-based Proficio Geo Technologies has come up with a product that uses a combination of technologies for effective routing and tracking of a company's fleet of vehicles.

"We have designed the product in such a way that a company's vehicles are optimally deployed while adhering to timing schedules.

Routes in most companies are generated manually and put on a notice board, which can lead to information leaks. Our product does it on computer, making it more secure and less tedious for the logistics manager," says the Proficio Geo Vice-President (Corporate Development), Shashidhar Joshi.

After the route is generated using modern Geographic Information System (GIS) charts, the system sends out SMS messages to all the employees with details of the cab number and driver's name.

The next aspect is tracking the vehicle. That is when Global Positioning System (GPS) comes into the picture. The moment the vehicle strays from its pre-determined route, the control desk gets a warning beep and can call the driver to understand why he is deviating.

If there is a genuine problem such as a traffic jam or diversion, the control desk can alert all the other vehicles following the same route, says Joshi.

"The product makes the whole system more accountable. Till now, the kind of responses it generated was that yes, it is useful. But after the Bangalore incident, there is a sense of urgency," says Joshi.

Each unit of the system costs about Rs 16,000 and Proficio Geo has already roped in four clients in Hyderabad and Bangalore for the product.

Another Bangalore-based company, EI Labs India, too has announced a product called TD007 that is undergoing final trials.

Says Krishnamurthy Vaidyanathan of EI Labs: TD007 creates an employee database and the driver gets a simple mobile phone through which he can contact the passenger without getting to know what number is being called.

TD007 also uses the GPS technology for vehicle tracking and the control room can constantly monitor the vehicles in the fleet.

The Mumbai-based Mercury Infocomm is another company that is in real-time testing phase for Auto Vigil, a security device for vehicles travelling at odd hours.

According the company, Auto Vigil consists of two components - the mother unit that is fixed in the car and a remote unit that is with the passenger.

The mother unit has a programmable GSM trans-receiver with a loud speaker while the remote unit is a small unit the size of a key-chain.

Using the system, the passenger can confirm that the car is indeed the cab sent by her company to pick her up even before she boards it. If the driver misbehaves with the passenger, she can immediately immobilise the car. She can even send the car's lights flashing and a siren hooting so that help can reach instantly.

But what are the security measures that are already in place? Most companies rely on a very vigorous background check on their cab drivers. Radio devices installed in the cabs help the drivers stay in touch with their control rooms on a real time basis.

Most BPO companies have their own set of norms that include that a lady cannot be the first pick-up or the last drop. Security guards are provided if any exceptions are to be made. Drivers have to sport identity cards and produce them if any passenger demands.

The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), on its part, is working with the industry to avoid a repeat of the Bangalore incident.

Nasscom has launched a nation-wide registry to serve as a database of BPO employees and has got requests from some companies to extend the data bank to security guards, canteen workers, drivers and other employees of BPO companies.

"We must understand that this is not an industry issue. It is a law and order issue and BPO companies are as vulnerable to such security threats as other industries such as airlines and media companies," says the Nasscom Vice-President, Sunil Mehta.

Queried on the slew of product launches, a senior executive of a leading Delhi-based cab service says: "If someone wants to market his wares using the Bangalore incident, it is in very bad taste. As for us, we have been evaluating such products and it depends on whether the users really see value and want to invest in such gizmos."

The cab operator says that the Bangalore incident was an unfortunate one-off case and the existing systems, such as vigorous background checks of staff, mobile phones and radio, have served the purpose well.

"No machine can act as the perfect substitute for a human being. A man with a criminal mind may find a loophole even in the most secure system. The Bangalore incident only means that we have to be more careful while recruiting our drivers," he says.

The growing numbers of late-night workers only hope he is right.

eworld@thehindu.co.in

Picture by A. Roy Chowdhury