Launching ‘SHOUT’ – a voice-triggered complete safety feature by VAOO
KAPIL DEV & ASHA DEVI (NIRBHAYA’S MOTHER) TEAM UP AND SUPPORT VAAO APPLICATION’S ‘INITIATIVE TO ENSURE A DRASTIC DROP IN THE CRIME RATE AGAINST WOMEN’.
Post the launch of the sensational VAOO app – taking the online cabs and digital ads a notch higher, Abhineet Pathak (CEO, VAOO) along with Kapil Dev (Brand Ambassador, VAOO) & Asha Devi (brave Nirbhaya’s mother) will be launching a brand new feature ‘SHOUT’.
SHOUT is an in-app feature of VAOO app. It enables users to ask for professional help in an apprehensive situation or an ambush immediately. All one has to do is to SHOUT (loud enough to be detected by the cell-phone) to trigger the rescue response. This is voluntary service from VAOO.
The Inconvenient Truth
1. Presently no applications or services are quipped in tackling crimes in real-time.
2. Most people involved in the crime against women are repeat offenders & fearless from the system. This is mainly due to the fact that 95% of the cases are not reported.
3. Victims are reluctant of approaching the legal/enforcement authorities for embarrassment or harassment.
4. Most instances of minor eve-teasing go un-reported encouraging perpetrators to engage in heinous crimes.
With SHOUT, VAOO takes control and initiative on each case. With a dedicated control room & team with a network of 20k+ cabs, VAOO ensures each case is reported & VAOO team tracks and rescues each victim.
The steps are as below:
ACTIVATE- Shout | Alarm| Notify. User may ask for help from VAOO just by shouting. One may also ring a siren or notify silently by tapping on the SOS button.
ACTION- Track | Co-ordinate| Rescue. VAOO notifies and co-ordinates with the authorities & the user’s family/friends. VAOO ensures the rescue of victim by sending all the nearest VAOO cab(s) to the user’s location.
ASSURE- Drop off | Confirm| Report. Once the user is rescued, VAOO cabs giver him/her a ride home/hospital. All the data of the incidents under VAOO is available for the user.
‘SHOUT’ lists the reason why the feature is the safest for women under dangerous & non-conducive circumstances:
1. Our 20k strong cab network across Mumbai is tactically leveraged
2. Each case is reported. This will generate the fear of getting caught
3. Revealing the identity of the ‘user’ is subject to his/her discretion
4. The equipment (a cell-phone) and activity (to shout) to raise an alarm is accessible and pragmatic for everyone
5. One can avail of this feature even if they are in VAOO cabs or using VAOO services
6. All the pieces of evidence/recordings under VAOO will be freely available to the police/victim for reporting/proving the crime
7. The rescue action is immediate, effective and coordinated by a specially trained operators
8. It’s a voluntary service from VAOO Cabs.Once the user is rescued, VAOO cab gives him/her a ride home/hospital. All the data of the incident under VAOO is available for user’s perusal.
Elaborating about the mission & vision of the feature, Abhineet Pathak, CEO of VAOO said “Safety of Women has become a major issue in India now. When the crime rates against women in the country are on a rise, most of the applications or services available in India are primarily focused on women or precautions to be taken by women. VAOO is taking a different and more effective take by focusing to generate fear in the criminal’s minds by reporting each case with our slogan “AB DARNE KI BARI HAI UNKI”. With each case reported to authorities, criminals will think twice before committing any such crime. We want to give power to women to be fearless. SHOUT is our honest effort to eradicate atrocities against women”.