Bangalore tech firm comes up with gadget to keep eye on call centre cabs

Device sends SMS to a given number in case of deviation from route

Taking the pick-up to work on night shifts and the drop back home will no longer be cause for worry for the thousands of women who staff call centres across India, as bosses in the office will know what is happening throughout the journey if they embrace a technology that's just been introduced.



A city-based tech solutions company has developed a passenger-facing touch screen mobile device called 'Automotive' that will monitor the pick-up vehicle and its passengers. The product is being pitched as a way of preventing repeats of recent rape and murder incidents on the way to work or back, and its creators hope to attract purchases from large call centres where employees are picked up and dropped by taxi services sourced from outside the company.

"Incidents of rape and murder involving call centre employees in contract cabs in the past few years had placed IT companies on tenterhooks. This problem has escalated out of all proportion," said Sundar Soman, head of marketing and sales, Tvara, the tech solutions company that claims to have developed the new gadget in less than two years.

Camera, GPRS, GPS

The device has an in-built camera, GPRS and GPS systems, which are all on at all times. "Administrators will be able to access individual cabs every 30-odd seconds and know what is happening," he said.

Every time a vehicle either exceeds a predetermined speed or takes a deviation, Soman said an SMS alert is sent to a selected number.

"The person on that number will then take necessary action," added Soman.

The in-built camera feature enables pictures of the activity inside a vehicle from time to time and sends the visual data back to the administrator, showing the people in the cab and the time. The device also allows a number of cameras to be fitted inside the cab.

The device is now in the market on a pilot basis and additional features can be incorporated based on requirements. "The modular component-based framework allows us to add features with ease," said Soman.