With the recent, horrible, kidnapping and death of REALTOR® Beverly Carter in Arkansas after showing a vacant home to an unknown person, personal safety is first and foremost on people’s minds today.
As it should be. Every day.
Unfortunately, it can take events like these to take a hard look at how we and our brokerage (and/or our company) handles issues like personal safety for real estate agents. With most agents now carrying mobile devices of some nature, and new technologies being released all the time, there are a number of materials, devices, companies and apps out there for you to choose from when deciding how to protect oneself.
Here are a few that we’ve uncovered:
Office-Wide Safety
When discussing safety devices and avenues to pursue, you can look at it as an individual investment, or on a broader scale.
Guardly
Guardly is a company that is all about safety. It has all kinds of safety solutions for businesses, organizations and individuals. One of the most popular offerings for individuals is the Guardly Safety App. Available for every smart device (yes, even Blackberries and Windows phones), the Guardly App offers automatic connection with emergency services, real-time notification to designated people, real-time location tracking and an emergency beacon. Although download is free, a monthly subscription for most of Guardly’s features is $1.99, with a 1-year subscription of $19.99.