Mobile PERS market welcomes the Brighton Sky LTE 4G solution

UNION, N.J.—The broader trend among consumers toward wearable technology, like exercise trackers and smart watches, is also being felt in the personal emergency response system (PERS) industry. This demand from consumers has been filled by mobile PERS devices that have GPS or other location awareness technology, and communicate to the monitoring center over the cellular network. Increasingly, consumers, including seniors, want the ability to summon help for health or safety reasons while they're on the go.

The impact of this trend becomes clear when PERS industry expert Henry Edmonds shared that now around 50 percent of all systems sold by PERS companies to consumers are mobile PERS devices. This shift in demand toward mobile PERS devices has been responded to by manufacturers with the development of aesthetically-pleasing, reliable, wearable options.

One of the major providers to the industry is Affiliated Monitoring's Brighton Solutions. In 2015, at its Catalyst conference, an annual tradeshow focused on the PERS and connected health industries, Affiliated launched its first-generation Sky mobile PERS device as well as the Brighton platform for managing those devices.

Based on the success of the Sky, Affiliated recently announced the launch of its next generation Sky LTE device, which communicates over the AT&T 4G LTE network. The new device was developed in-house by Affiliated's team of engineers that includes specialists in software, hardware and wireless technology. Affiliated stated that a 4G Verizon device is expected to launch in 2020.

3G to 4G transition

Much like the security industry, PERS dealers are confronted with the forthcoming sunset of the 3G cellular networks in the United States. Brighton's new Sky 4G LTE, launched in November, is one of the recent entrants to the space that gives PERS dealers options to transition to 4G devices.

The Sky LTE is managed by partners on the Brighton platform, which is a totally integrated service offering that combines a user-friendly website to manage devices, alongside Affiliated's professional monitoring.

Feature set based on user feedback

The new Sky LTE packs a whole set of new features that were based on Affiliated's unique position in the industry that allows it to gather partner feedback. Key features of the Sky LTE include:

• Voice prompts: Based on customer feedback, the device walks users through setup and gives clear voice prompts for such statuses as low-battery, powering off and testing. The voice prompts can be customized by the partner.
• Programmable feature button: The device has a dedicated second button, referred to as a “shield” button, that can be programed for many use cases including device testing, canceling a false activation and more.
• Replaceable custom faceplates: Offers partners the opportunity to brand the device with a custom logo or color, as well as quickly refurbish, extending the useful life of their device inventory.
• Real-time software updates: Sky LTE devices out in consumers' hands can be updated over the cellular network. This allows for Brighton to add new features as well as reduce swaps that may be required when a customer needs a configuration change or has a service challenge.

Affiliated touts the new features of the Sky LTE and its seamless integration with the Brighton portal. “We feel that these technology features and integration set Brighton dealers apart from their competition, and also provide them with opportunities for additional RMR opportunities beyond traditional PERS use cases in the senior space,” Daniel Oppenheim, CEO of Affiliated Monitoring, told Security Systems News.

Brighton webinar: Tuesday, December 17th

While it's impossible to identify every detail about Brighton in this article, join the Affiliated Monitoring team on Tuesday, December 17^th at 2 p.m. EST for their webinar, “New Brighton Sky LTE: Key Features & How to Sell It!” by registering here.  The webinar will be available for on-demand viewing after the 17^th.