SSN '20 under 40' winner launches new mPERS company

PHOENIX—Nicole Swartwout, one of SSN's “20 under 40” Class of 2015 award winners, has co-founded CallSafe, an mPERS provider based here.

Previously, Swartwout co-founded CallTeks Security, the sister company to CallSafe.

Swartwout told Security Systems News that she has been looking into the mPERS space for a couple of years. “When I brought it to my company—we are so heavily involved. … I felt that mPERS was going to be muddled down in the offerings, and not something that was highlighted in the company we currently have [CallTeks],” she said.

CallTeks installs residential and commercial security systems, does low-voltage wiring, telecom and access control.

CallSafe currently has four people on staff here and six based in Oakland, Calif. The company will hire more employees as appropriate, Swartwout said. “We're hoping to be a nationwide provider within the next 18 months.” The California branch deals more direct-to-consumer, working with fulfillment and taking phone calls, she said. The Arizona office deals more with the corporate side and larger projects, such as “working with non-profit organizations, schools, assisted living facilities to do more bulk sales.”

CallSafe is launching on April 3. Its core offering is Freeus technology, with the monitoring handled by AvantGuard, Freeus' sister company.

CallSafe will also offer Freeus' new Belle product, a 3G mPERS product with a month-long battery life.

How will the 2G sunset affect CallSafe's 2G offering?

CallSafe plans to offer some 2G devices initially and provide “a free upgrade program when the sunset does come into play,” she said.

CallSafe can mail devices to customers. The devices are ready for use, right out of the box, Swartwout said.

Swartwout has a background in health care, attending medical school prior to entering the security space. Her background helped her see the benefits of mPERS for aging-in-place markets and others, she said.

“The elderly demographic—that's the low-hanging fruit of the industry,” Swartwout said.  CallSafe is pursuing 12 different verticals for its mPERS offerings.

MPERS can also help prevent sexual assaults, protect lone workers and provide GPS tracking for “independent kids that are walking to bus stops for schools, and even hikers,” Swartwout said. She said that an mPERS can better locate injured hikers, helping to conserve the resources of local law enforcement and EMS.