[tn_]

Thanks! This tool was specifically made to help coordinate employees when a disaster happens.

So for example, places that I had previously worked at would have a back-up location that employees would have to navigate to if the main office was closed. This information was all stored in some sharepoint document and employees would have to edit a spreadsheet document when they arrived. With Owlorbit, you can easily place a meet-up point on a map and users in your specific channel can view it. They can also respond to a poll (that gets pushed out to smart-phones) if they are safe.

This tool can be used for other purposes, but I have been gearing all the features towards the business continuity space.

[Piskvorrr]

What sort of disaster? Internet is usually the first to go down in such cases; is Bluetooth sufficiently long-range for mesh networking? (In my experience it drops out beyond ~20 m - in other words, shouting is far simpler than Bluetooth mesh in most cases)

[tn_]

The types of disasters that I've talked to with business continuity managers they are most worried about are:

1). If there's a shooter near the premises, they need to quickly alert people.

2). Earthquakes/natural disasters, and you are absolutely right that internet would be first to go down with this scenario. Right now there aren't that many alternatives to bluetooth if the cell signal is down. Bluetooth is only sufficient for small range, but you never know if someone is trapped in closed space. Having this backup is better than nothing.

It would be really cool if offices equipped themselves with battery-powered bluetooth extenders and in these events, communication would be independent of close range + internet.

3). Carbon monoxide leaks are also common causes of concern.

[Piskvorrr]

Okay, #1 and #3 are certainly events without internet disruption, makes sense. Thanks for the explanation.

(For #2, there are mesh wifi solutions; bluetooth extenders sound like more trouble than they're worth)