Emergency help for students and elders launched

Added services enhance 2Life value

Venkat Raman –

International students and senior members of the community can access a number of emergency and other services offered by an Auckland based company.

‘2Life Help’ is providing these services, which could be lifesaving on occasions and useful at all times. While international students studying at AUT University can assess these facilities free of cost, others can subscribe to them for a fee.

Details of the launch at AUT appeared in our March 1, 2015 issue.

2Life Executive Director Mike Hutcheson said that the services provided include medical, travel, roadside assistance and security.

Working with ‘Skyhook Wireless,’ ‘2Life’ has scanned New Zealand to combine Wi-Fi with GPS and Cell Towers to provide fast and accurate location positioning, he said.

Help in need

“Our Medical Related Services include (a) Advice from qualified doctors or nurses (b) Referral to local doctor, hospital or other specialist (c) Arrangement of hospital admittance (d) Dispatch taxi and ambulance services (e) Urgent message relay. Travel Related Services involve (a) Travel information and advice (b) Liaison with Embassies and Consulates (c) Assistance with replacement of lost or stolen documentation (d) Assistance with cancelling lost or stolen credit and bankcards,” he said.

Subscribers to ‘2Life Help’ can also seek a number or Roadside Assistance Services including change of tyre, jumpstart, vehicle towage or transport, emergency transport, emergency key replacement, lock out services and repair referral.

Call Centre Service

A round-the-clock Call Centre is at the heart of the system.

According to 2 Life Chief Executive Stephen Katz, the Call Centre accounts for 150 staff, about 75% of who are frontline operators.

“All operators are trained in risk assessment, with ongoing training and operator reviews conducted on a regular basis. Working with ‘First Assistance,’ we provide users Multi-lingual assistance and interpreting services and ‘Security Service’ through ‘First Security,’ a leading security services company with 140 patrol vehicles, over 1800 staff and offices in all major towns and cities throughout New Zealand,” he said.

Two touches for deaf

Deaf and hearing-impaired persons can seek ‘2Life’ assistance with a two-touch button.

Visual prompts assure the user that the service is functioning with the response of the Call Centre displayed on the mobile screen.

There are 9000 ‘culturally deaf’ and 420,000 deaf and hearing-impaired people in New Zealand, Mr Katz said.

Our service offer real time tracking so that all location updates are automatically sent to the Call Centre. The app is designed for ease of use and pressing the 2Life icon arms the service,” Mr Katz said.

Gaining popularity

“Several other universities in New Zealand and other countries have inquired about the service. Currently we are in discussions with universities in Canada and the United Kingdom,” he added.