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How the Safe Hub platform harnesses satellite technology

With the power of satellite technology, the Safe Hub platform can locate lone workers with the help they need when they need it.

GPS location is the heart of Sky Alert lone worker protection
Our lone worker safety system uses GPS to provide pinpoint accuracy in understanding where lone workers are

We all rely on technology in so many aspects of our lives, and it’s getting more sophisticated all the time. On a day-to-day basis, we want technology to be simple to use and powerful, while fitting into our lives seamlessly. The details of how technologies work may be beyond us, or they may be protected by patents and corporate secrecy. Take for instance the Global Positioning System (GPS). We don’t always need to know how it finds us on a map, we just need to know that it will. But in fact, the science behind GPS is remarkably simple – and an insight into these basics underlines just how powerful it is. In this blog, we’re focusing on the satellite technology behind GPS, and the real-world applications for the Safe Hub platform.


Harnessing the power of satellite technology here on the ground


At its heart, GPS is a network of satellites. This network consists of 30 satellites broadcasting radio signals in a permanent near-Earth orbit of approximately 12,500 miles. Now used widely around the globe, GPS was initially set up for US military navigation. The first satellite in the system, Navstar 1, was launched in February 1978.


In the twenty-first century, GPS has exploded into prominence and is now widely used in a variety of settings. It’s used by companies in almost every sector to help with logistics, transport, and security. It’s transformed the way we travel, as satnav means we’re no longer reliant on map-reading when driving. And indeed, many of us have a GPS-enabled device with us all the time in the form of our smartphones.


This is something that the Safe Hub platform can work with. Our lone worker safety system uses GPS to provide pinpoint accuracy in understanding where lone workers are. For many employers, there are certain times when they need to know where their lone workers are in a hurry. And for workers themselves, their wellbeing is enhanced by knowing they can be found – and helped – when they’re in a crisis.


GPS demonstrates the importance of math


It turns out that GPS is a practical application of a school math topic: trigonometry. It would be fair to say that it probably wasn’t a favorite subject for many people at high school. Chances are you haven’t used it actively in your adult life, even if you did understand it at the time. But you don’t have to understand trigonometry to benefit from it. GPS location is founded on some very simple but powerful trigonometric truths.


Four GPS satellites are visible all the time from any point on the globe. At regular intervals, they each transmit the current time and their location to a high degree of accuracy. The signals from all four satellites reach your GPS-enabled device. It then calculates how long the message took to reach you from each satellite, and therefore your distance from each of them. By overlaying the information from three visible satellites, GPS uses the distances and angles between the signals to pinpoint your location. This process is called trilateration.


Satellites give the Safe Hub platform the power to protect lone workers


For Safe Hub, this information on the lone worker's safety device or Safe Hub app can be used to protect them. When using Safe Hub, the lone worker’s GPS location is reported to the system every ten minutes as standard, and whenever a Red Alert, Yellow Alert or Worker Down alert is raised. This GPS information is then immediately available to the operators at our Monitoring & Response Center (MRC), who can take action to help a lone worker in trouble. The GPS Locate function is available on all of our Safe Hub phone apps and dedicated devices. With Safe Hub in their pocket, around their neck or clipped to their belt, lone workers in a crisis know they can be found quickly and receive any help they need.


A key advantage of Safe Hub platform is that it lets us customize the settings for each client. One option is to alter the frequency of regular non-alert GPS reporting. We can also adapt reporting to ensure the use of GPS Locate complies with our clients’ individual policies and procedures around privacy. Clients can choose exactly who can see a worker's GPS location, and how that information can be used. Each activity performed within Safe Hub is tracked to allow for monitoring and compliance. That way, we protect lone workers, and we reassure their employers that technology is on their side.


To find out more about how the Safe Hub platform harnesses the power of satellite technology, contact one of the team today.


About Sky Alert

Safe Hub, from Sky Alert, is an advanced security platform that protects people working alone. With pinpoint accuracy and lightning-fast response, Safe Hub is not just another 911 app. It's all-around protection for lone workers. Using a discreet personal device such as the SOS Fob, our advanced App on a smartphone, or the SPOT X satellite device, Safe Hub connects users with a state-of-the-art Monitoring Response Center (MRC). At the MRC, highly trained operatives can provide immediate assistance directing the police or paramedics to your GPS location in the fastest time possible.

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