FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Virtual Halo, LLC Acquires Brussels Belgium-Based Safone Personal Safety App
Brussels Belgium, March 20, 2019 – Safone, the personal safety app, today announced the acquisition of its connected safety suite of technologies designed to protect people by Virtual Halo, LLC, an Illinois USA based personal safety company.
“Our mission from the creation of Safone has been to provide loved ones the knowledge of when their contact has arrived safely at their destination,” said Olivier Beaujean, Co-Founder of Safone. “Stéphane de Biolley (Safone Co-Founder) and I built this application because we believe in personal safety; it’s a necessary component of our extremely mobile and transient world and a good option did not exist in the French-speaking world. Because of our strong belief in the value Safone provides, we feel that the best way to achieve widespread adoption is to merge Safone with an established company within the safety space. After an exhaustive search, we feel that Virtual Halo, LLC is the right partner to align our technology with.”
“Virtual Halo has the digital infrastructure and team in place to build upon the great work that Olivier Beaujean and Stéphane de Biolley have crafted Safone into,” said Josh Swank, CEO of Virtual Halo, LLC. “We aim to provide a lasting legacy to their project while integrating Safone into Virtual Halo’s patented personal safety technology ecosystem, which will provide additional safety features to Safone’s users along with adding unique features to Virtual Halo’s community. Safone’s existing userbase is particularly strong throughout Belgium and the EU and we are excited to be able to provide additional solutions to both French and English-speaking audiences.
Virtual Halo streamlines real-time communications in emergency and potential-emergency situations, providing emergency contacts (or guardians) the knowledge of where a person is and that they are either: safe, in trouble or may need assistance. Alerts are communicated through a combination of push-notifications, in-app messaging, SMS messaging and social media postings, depending on user preference. “Virtual Halo is pioneering modern-day personal safety technology around the world for mobile and wearable devices. The acquisition of Safone to the Virtual Halo family of personal safety apps is a natural fit,” said Swank.
Safone will remain available as a free download with basic SOS / Panic Mode functionality in both French and English for the iOS and Android mobile operating systems and is available in all 139 countries the Google Play Store provides service and the 155 countries that the Apple App Store conducts business. Additional features will be available via an in-app subscription (a seven-day free trial remains standard).
Virtual Halo Features to be integrated into the Safone Application within 2019 will result in the following modules available to users of both apps:
SOS / Panic Button
Mobile-Based Siren (when button is pressed, or headphones removed from phone)
Journey Travel Time (walking, bicycling, driving and bus-transit)
Follow My Journey
Destination Arrival Notification
Going Out
Check-In
Live-Location
About Virtual Halo
Virtual Halo is an advanced technology company based out of Peoria, IL USA focusing on technologies to keep people safe without anyone being able to actively track the user without their knowledge and consent. Privacy is paramount and their entire technology platform is designed to put the user in complete control over who has access to their specific location, path, journey or health related information. The company focusses on building personal safety solutions on mobile and wearable devices for active participants in the journey of life including: individuals, families and business, students and global travelers. From audible alarms on mobile devices, geo-fencing that provides both proactive and reactive alerts and integration with advanced Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Halo’s patented and patent pending technologies weave a halo of safety surrounding the users of their personal safety technology.
# # #
Resources
SAFONE, WHAT IS IT?
Safone is an app that automatically informs your loved ones when you have arrived at your destination. The app also turns your phone into a personal alarm when needed.
SAFONE, HOW DOES IT WORK?
Enter your destination
Select your guardians and go!
once started…
Your guardians immediately receive a message informing them of your departure and your arrival time.
Need reassurance along the way? Just “Check-In”.
Feeling unsafe? Remove your earphones or press the "HELP" button: a strident alarm sounds and your guardians are notified immediately, with your current location.
Arrived at the destination? You no longer have to think about it; Safone automatically informs your guardians that you have arrived safely.
SAFONE, WHO IS IT FOR?
Safone is an application that is intended especially for young people from 12 to 17 years old and their families. We have discovered that the vast majority of parents are worried when their children are traveling alone ... and that only 15% of them remember to send a message when they arrive at their destination! Safone helps its users not to forget and their emergency contacts (or guardians) to be informed while providing trust in the user of Safone.
TO INFORM
Notify your friends that you are on the road, inform your partner of the time you will be at home, let your colleague know that you have arrived at your meeting place, ... Safone avoids you from binding messages by sending them automatically!
TO REASSURE
Reassure your friends that you've came home after an evening, your mom that you've arrived at school, your children that you've arrived where you go... Safone allows you not to forget the "text when you get there", and your loved ones to be sure to be informed and reassured!
TO REASSURE YOURSELF
Walking in a poorly lit street, running alone in the woods, parking in an isolated lot... Safone reassures you thanks to its alarm button that is quickly activated by pressing the “HELP” button or removing the headphones from your phone and allows you to easily ask for help from your loved ones!
