A Rotorua based Software Company Edutech has developed an app called ‘Please Help!’ to help people send out a distress signal to their emergency contacts if they are ever in danger.
The owner of the company, Paramdip Singh said that the recent increase in crime against local shop owners, patrol stations and generally in the community prompted them to develop this app.
Paramdip Singh is also the director of International Students Department at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology. He said that the international code of practice also mentions that the security of international students is the responsibility of the institutions.
Please Help app Source: Supplied
“We have a code of practice for international students and it dictates that the responsibility for the security of international students falls on the institutes” he said.
Due to these reasons, many people started their own initiatives and Edutech decided to use technology as a protection tool against crime and violence. They came up with a logo/phrase, ‘Crime protection through technology’.
The idea of ‘Please help’ was conceptualized in New Zealand itself and the software team based in India put the app together. It took the company two weeks to develop the app and it was tested for one week before it was launched.
The research done by the company found that 70% of people in NZ were Android users and the remaining 30% were apple users. So, the app for now has been developed for Android only.
So how does the app work?
Please Help app screen shot Source: Supplied
Well, for starters, the app is absolutely free and does not ask users for their email address or phone number which eliminates the risk of spamming. Once the app is downloaded, a ‘Help’ button will appear on the home screen. The app in total has six buttons and you have the option to make the app live or turn it off.
The app gives you an option to enter up to 30 emergency contacts that will get a notification in case of danger.
Other features of the app include voice recording and GPS tracking.
“The moment you press the ‘help’ button, voice recording starts immediately. All the emergency contacts in your list will be sent a text ten seconds later. The delay is to give people an opportunity to cancel the command in case they press the button accidently. This message will also tell your contact about your GPS location”
‘Please Help’ app has an automatic message already installed which will always remain there but people have an option to record their personalized emergency messages as well. Along with this, there is an alarm or beep sound attached to the message so that it is audible to people receiving the message. 
The company has given demonstrations to police as well and the initial response has been positive.
Launch of Please Help app Source: Supplied
“They have passed on this app to their technical team and they are testing it at the moment and we are hopeful that they will approve it as well”
“People can see that it is a free initiative that has been started to help the community. No one has any personal vested interest in it.”
This app was initially created for the local shops and business owners. The dairy shops, liquor shops and petrol pumps etc were being increasingly targeted and there was recently an increase in robberies, especially for cigarettes, in the area. The local shop owners also have a sticker that they can put in their window that reads, “I’m protected through the ‘Please help’ app”.
Please Help app sticker Source: Supplied
There is a Facebook page for this app where people can get all the help they need and instructions to download this app. The company is also trying to organize information sessions in university campuses to make international students aware of this app.
Paramjit Singh has had a lot of positive feedback from the community and international students regarding this app and many have already downloaded his app for their protection. He was recently approached by a health and safety coordinator from North Island as well who expresses her desire to encourage her colleagues to download this app for their protection as they visit different people in different areas all the time and are never sure what situation they will be confronted with. 
As the app is fairly new, there are still many suggestions that are coming in to make it better in the future.
Please Help app Source: Facebook
Paramjit Singh said that in the near future, they will try to make different categories of contacts in the app so that people can contact different friends according to where they are at that moment. They are also trying to add police contacts to the app so that the police get the notification at the same time as the emergency contacts.
One big improvement they are working on is to notify people of the nearest exists in case of emergency.
The app, for now is available for android users through Google play but as its use increases, they are hopeful that they will be able to launch an iOS app in the near future.
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