Skyguard are fully certified to BS 8484

BS 8484

The code of practice for the provision of lone worker device (LWD) services

Skyguard are fully certified to BS 8484 – Code of practice for the provision of lone worker device (LWD) services

We are accredited with the three parts of BS 8484:

  • The company, its stability, insurance, premises, staff and financial backing
  • The products and their fitness for purpose
  • The Alarm Receiving Centre and its capability to monitor lone working alarms

Full certification enables the highest level of police response

We have Unique Reference Numbers (URNs) for all the UK’s Police forces, giving us direct access to Police control rooms and bypassing the 999 service.

This guarantees a faster response in the event of an emergency.

Most other solutions are only BS 8484 compliant. Thus cannot guarantee the same level of Police response.

Isn’t it better to dial 999?

It is an efficient service, but there are several reasons as to why we believe Skyguard’s service is often better:

999 operators don’t know who is calling, where they are or why they have called. When answering an alarm, we immediately know who it is, where they are, and precisely what they want done in the event of an incident (because you have provided us with instructions to follow in an emergency). It’s like having your very own emergency service.

Read more reasons why we believe Skyguard's service is better

No need to explain your situation to the 999 operator first. We can call Police control rooms directly, where we avoid having to explain the situation to the 999 operator first and waiting for the call to be transferred to the local police operator.

Pressing an alarm button is quicker. Dialling 999 and speaking to an emergency service operator requires more time and effort than simply activating an alarm button on your phone or personal safety device.

Callers to 999 often cannot convey accurate information about their situation; either as a result of panic, fear, pain or distress. The Skyguard service ensures the emergency services have all the details about an incident and can also be made aware of special circumstances including existing medical conditions.

You cannot dial 999 in advance. Skyguard allows users to notify us in advance if they are entering a dangerous or threatening situation. This can be done in several different ways: - by leaving a voice memo message giving details of who you are meeting and where you are going… by raising an alarm and asking the controller to stay on the line until you are safe, or summon help should an incident arise.

999 operators will only report details of an incident to the emergency services. With Skyguard, not only will our controller contact the emergency services, but they can also call colleagues and follow instructions according to the requirements you have given us. Details can be updated by the user in real-time 24/7, and changed as often as necessary.

With 135,491 hoax calls to emergency services in 2008-09*, hoax calls are a real problem for 999 operators. Skyguard helps take some of the pressure off the service; our experience from working with our police customers over many years has allowed us to develop our controller training and procedures in order to minimise false alarms.

(*as defined within the national incident category list (NICL) for 2008-09 and confirmed by Alan Johnson, Home Secretary in response to a question from Chris Grayling MP on 10th March 2010).