One Touch Response, an on-demand safety service app
One Touch Response, an on-demand safety service app

On-demand services over the past one year have been successfully able to revolutionise the commercial behaviour of the industry. From taxi bookings to groceries and what not, on-demand has taken every segment with a storm. This is for the fact that many on-demand startups these days are boosting SMEs (small medium enterprise) in order to get more traction around their vicinity.

On-demand models have opened the doors to real-time fulfillment of goods and services which today’s millennial consumers have embrace with both hands. Going a step further, on-demand safety & assistance service app, One Touch Response serves its customers, whenever they are faced with any real life situation involving Personal Safety.

Retailer Media caught up with Arvind Khanna, Founder, One Touch Response to know more about the features and usability of the app. During the chat, he also shared some of the industry prospective and how categorically and unequivocally the industry is expanding at an accelerating pace.

Talk to us about OneTouch Response and its features?
One Touch Response (OTR) is India’s first on-demand Safety Service. The Service is accessible via the OTR mobile app (available on iOS, Microsoft and Windows) or on call. It offers a single point of contact for situations such as road rage, stalking, eve teasing, physical assault, etc. The Company also provides immediate assistance during incidents such as being stranded on the road late at night; having a flat tire; being caught in an accident, fire or a medical situation—at home or on the road.

Immediate on-call assistance is available within seconds of a user raising an alarm via the app. While the Incident Managers at the OTR Command & Control Centre are handholding the user during the crisis over the phone, OTR’s on ground physical support teams called Immediate Assistance Teams (IATs) are alerted to reach the subscriber within minutes. IAT’s then remain with the user till the emergency is resolved.

Depending on the nature of the emergency, OTR coordinates with external agencies such as the police, ambulance, medical services, fire, cab services, mechanics etc. on behalf of the subscriber.

How was the idea of your Start-up conceptualized? What is the need you are addressing in the market?
One Touch Response was started in early 2014, under my holding company ASAS Investments. ASAS Investments, and its predecessor companies, have over 45 years of experience in helping international companies find relevant market linkages in India, while helping Indian companies find markets overseas.

We have seen that there is a major need for safety and assistance services within the middle class and people like us. While the upper classes have connectivity and the money to get personal security guards etc. most of us are left to fend for ourselves and there is no doubting that state agencies are stretched. So our vision is to democratize safety services, make them affordable and put them within the reach of the common man. That apart, studies show that the safety and security industry is USD 5 Billion market, in the country and is likely to grow at 20% year on year.

Put some light on the technology features of OneTouch?
The One Touch Response mobile app offers a single point of contact for situations related to personal safety monitoring, managing physical threats, road accidents, and medical emergencies or on road assistance. It uses globally tested and proven technology, procedures and systems.

Some key technology features are as listed below:
Once a user registers on the website or through the mobile app, he/she receives a username and password on email. This is used to login to the account through the OTR mobile app where subscriber can activate TrackME safe tracking services, which monitor them as they travel through unsafe areas or when travelling at odd hours. On the app dashboard, there are 5 primary buttons:

1. Main SOS button​: to initiate an alert
2. My Location Button​: to update user’s location
3. My Family button​: to send out distress messages to emergency contacts
4. TrackMEbutton:TrackME or Safe call is a service, where OTR team provides regular check in calls to update and ensure the user’s well-being, making it particularly ideal for women, when they are travelling alone at odd hours.
5. Notification button​: to see messages sent by OTR to the user]

How has been the customer response so far?
We have seen encouraging response from our customers. 35000 plus subscribers (corporate as well as individuals) in Delhi & NCR is a testimony to that. We continue to grow in double digits year on year.

How has been the segment wise response? Which segment (personal, corporate, medical etc) has shown high traction?
As stated earlier, we have seen some great response from both corporates as well as individuals.

OTR is increasingly finding acceptance among private subscribes as well as large corporates who wish to provide their employees with a safety service outside the work premises 24X7. Using the One Touch Response app, subscribers can activate safe tracking services, which monitor them as they travel through unsafe areas or when travelling at odd hours.

HCL Technologies, Rio Tinto, Jindal Stainless Steel, Apollo Tyres, Health Care at Home are among early corporate subscribers of OTR. Lately, we have been receiving a lot of queries/interest for our services from retail, telecom, IT/ITES, logistics, cab aggregators, car pooling apps and bike taxi service providers as there is a growing awareness to stay safe all the time by one and all.

Explain the usability of this app?
OTR provides instantaneous support on the phone to anyone of our subscribers who is in trouble. We provide them counsel while they are dealing with the stress and undertake all the coordination required, be it with their loved ones, the police, fire services, repair services, medical services or even something as simple as getting a duplicate key made or a taxi.

Here, would specifically like to talk about TrackME or Safe Call Service, which is very useful across segment and age groups during any hour of the day. TrackME or Safe Call is a monitoring service that provides an added assurance needed while travelling through unknown/rough neighbourhood, commuting during wee hours or otherwise or when on a long journey.

What has been your biggest challenge so far in scaling -up? How are you addressing it?
Like any new business category, there are challenges to explain the concept to our customer groups. We are relevant to everyone, and therein is our challenge. As with any business, we are trying hard to scale up and want to grow rapidly across the country.  Technology keeps growing, while we are constantly changing and growing with it, we race to stay ahead. 

What growth potential do you see for such a business in tier I and II cities of the country?
While our full services are available across Delhi & NCR, we are gearing-up to expand our reach to Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune and Mumbai in 2016.  The need for safety is across the country, it is not region specific. Hence, we will be looking at the bigger tier 1 cities, later at tier II cities, and finally build a network across the country.

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