Sonim Technologies, maker of “the world’s toughest phones”, exhibited at IFSEC International 2012 at the NEC in Birmingham from 14-17 May.
Indeed, the company occupied a prime position in the new Lone Worker Pavilion in Hall 3 designed specificallt for organisations specialising in products aimed at lone workers.
On Stand E32 directly opposite the Lone Worker Education Theatre, Sonim showcased “the world’s most rugged and functionally-advanced lone worker mobile phone” – the Sonim XP3340 Sentinel – which boasts “unquestionable reliability, automated safety/alert functions and the ability to sense and react to danger”.
Combining reliability with simple colour-coded buttons for automated emergency response calls, GPS tracking requests and enhanced monitoring, the Sentinel has a highly configurable state-of-the-art ‘man down’ sensor based on a three-axis accelerometer. Ultra-rugged well beyond its MIL-810G military specification and based on Sonim’s phone that holds the Guinness World Record for being the toughest phone, it’s also fully water submersible and dust proof (IP-68 rated) and specified to two metre drops onto concrete.
Equipped with high performance GPS, an LED torch, a 2 MP camera and “the longest GPS tracking battery life available” in any mobile phone, it’s something of a perfect fit for the security sector and already used by several of the world’s leading security guarding companies.
Ultra-rugged NFC mobile phone
Also displayed on the company’s stand at IFSEC International 2012 was the Sonim XP1301 CORE NFC GSM mobile phone.
Dubbed “the world’s first ultra-rugged NFC mobile phone” this solutions combines mobile voice and data communications with Near Field Communications (NFC) contactless tag read/write capability for guard tour verification applications which streamline security operations, render security officers more efficient and unlock new revenue/service opportunities through accurate real-time reporting of presence, activity, status and data at specific NFC-tagged checkpoints.
For the first time in Europe, Sonim demonstrated a technology preview of its new generation Push-to-Talk (PTT) solution. InstaPoC(TM) from Sonim partner Kodiak Networks is the next-generation of the Push-to-Talk over Cellular (PoC v2) industry standard which provides sub-second Push-to-Talk call set-up time over HSPA 3.5G mobile networks – faster than any other PoC solution currently available in Europe.
This solution was recently commercially deployed by Bell Canada to security, facilities management and other vertical markets in Canada, and Sonim plans to bring this product to Europe at some point early next year.
Showcase partners at IFSEC International 2012
Sonim presented ‘The Sonim Solutions’ at the NEC, and hosted on its stand two of its leading application partners: Reslink (www.reslink.fi/sonim) focusing on NFC/workforce management applications and TrackaPhone (www.trackaphone.com), the provider of lone worker protection and workforce management solutions to Vodafone.
In addition, Sonim has also recently announced a partnership with mobile phone distribution and supply chain solutions company Brightstar for the UK distribution of Sonim products.
Vince Galvin, Sonim’s new vice-president of sales for Northern Europe, made a presentation in the Lone Worker Education Theatre on the first day of IFSEC International, examining why rugged communications are vital to lone worker safety and exploring how they can improve productivity, security and efficiency.
He looked at three Case Studies in a bid to outline the key issues and risks facing lone workers and how rugged communications can improve their safety, boost performance and reduce costs.
In addition, Galvin described how lone worker solutions are only one part of an integrated workforce management imperative that must also address productivity and efficiency as well as safety.
On the final day of the show, Galvin spoke to Brian Sims (media solutions manager for UBM Live’s Security and Fire Portfolio) in an exclusive video interview covering the Lone Worker Pavilion at the show, Sonim’s key focal points as a company, its technology partnerships and how he sees the lone worker market evolving.
Watch the video (below)
