ADT is focused on securing your home and your loved ones inside, but now it is gearing up to keep your family safe away from home with ADT Anywhere.
Through a partnership with location-tracking service Life360, ADT will offer Anywhere as a "family safety service" accessed through an app. "ADT Anywhere is more than just a family locator; it turns your smartphone into an on-the-go mobile security device with ADT's 20,000 employees standing by to help, 24/7," Jay Darfler, ADT's Senior Vice President, Emerging Markets explains.
With the Anywhere app installed, all family members are viewable on a family map "with always-on location and check-ins," which is sure to appeal to parents. Private messaging is built-in ensuring there's always a way to make contact, and a 30-day location history is stored per person.
The location tracking goes beyond simply giving a location, though. If you are driving or being driven, Anywhere detects and logs it along with the speed. If you use your phone while driving, that's also detected and logged. If an accident happens, an ADT live support agent will be alerted and emergency services sent out if necessary. Alternatively, roadside assistance is offered in the event of a breakdown.
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Safety alerts can be set up to automatically inform other family members when designated places are left or reached, like when a child leaves school grounds and then arrives safely home. There's also local crime alerts and sex offender information available. In the event of an emergency or dangerous situation, a Canopy Panic button invokes an emergency response from ADT 24 hours a day, seven days a week to the person in trouble.
While this level of tracking may be highly appealing to parents who want to keep their kids safe, those kids (especially if they are teenagers) are likely to despise it.
The ADT Anywhere app will be made available in the summer, but pricing has yet to be revealed. Life360 offers a limited free service, or a Premium plan for $4.99 per month or $49.99 yearly. It seems likely ADT will do something similar, as well as offering it as an extension of its home security service