SPOT X with Bluetooth wireless technology offers two-way SMS and email messaging as well as GPS tracking and a one-touch SOS. button that instantly sends the user’s GPS location to the GEOS International Emergency Response Coordination Centre (IERCC) over the Globalstar satellite network. The IERCC then transmits details to local first responders to dispatch help to the user’s precise location. SPOT has played a role in more than 6,900 rescues around the globe, many of which were life-saving.
Users can message directly from the SPOT X device or use the new SPOT X app that also features unlimited use of 14 pre-programmed messages and access to the contacts on a user’s smartphone, making it easy to communicate with family, friends, colleagues or directly with first responders in an emergency.
SPOT X provides users with a permanent phone number, free incoming messages, easy check-in function and a full, backlit QWERTY keypad for intuitive typing and long battery life in both tracking and SOS modes.
SPOT provides affordable satellite communications and SOS notification for outdoor adventurers and remote/solo workers wherever they travel, including locations with unreliable or non-existent mobile coverage, and has hundreds of thousands of users.
SPOT satellite devices have been used to initiate 29 emergency rescues in Europe in 2019 so far, including nine in the UK and eight in France. The remainder were in Norway, Italy, Austria, Spain, Sweden, Greece and Portugal. Hiking and mountain sports were most represented in 2019 – 13 rescues in total – while six rescues were initiated by users taking part in aviation, including paragliding. The average time between SOS initiation and call log close for the 29 rescues was 2hrs 22min, despite the extreme locations and conditions of most rescues.
“The vast majority of our current customers already take their mobile phones on their adventures,” said David Kagan, CEO at Globalstar. “Adding Bluetooth capability to SPOT X allows users to seamlessly connect their smartphone and use an intuitive interface to send and receive messages over the Globalstar satellite network. SPOT X operates for up to 10 days on a single charge, with or without a paired phone.”
