A lot of us would have seen and heard of instances where in foreign lands, people would call on 911 for any emergency. While we in India have our own 100 number to dial, but we have to agree that this number does not cater to all sorts of emergencies.
With a lot of people living alone or old age couples living on their own, it becomes more important to have a Emergency Response Team. This is the problem statement that Arvind Khanna took up when he founded One Touch Response. OTR is a startup founded in the year 2014 and based out of Gurgaon.
Arvind, is a serial entrepreneur, with diverse business interests, he owns and is actively involved with technology, manufacturing, food and hospitality businesses in the UK and US. After studying in Delhi till the age of 14, Arvind left for England for his higher education. Later, he moved to the US to pursue an undergraduate degree. He then returned to the United Kingdom and worked in his family business.
A hands-on leader, providing advice and overall strategic inputs, Arvind has been the driving force behind OTR. His vision to provide affordable safety and security solutions to everyone was the force behind the conception of OTR.
In his current avatar, Arvind brings to the table a wide network of contacts across sectors, along with insights to doing business in India and overseas. His knowledge of a diverse set of businesses helps find the precise approach that needs to be adopted for success in the emergency services space.
A passionate social activist, he has instituted an NGO Umeed, for empowerment and upliftment of the underprivileged. The areas of work include health, citizens’ rights, livelihoods, women empowerment, skills development, social entrepreneurship, and village development including sanitation and hygiene.
One Touch Response (OTR) is India’s 1st on-demand Safety Service. It is a technology led company that provides on-demand safety and assistance services to users in India. One Touch Response provides First Response and Immediate Assistance Services to its customers whenever they are faced with any real life situation involving personal safety or situations where they require assistance.
The service is accessible via the OTR mobile app which is already available on Android, iOS, and Windows. The service can also be availed on call. It offers a single point of contact for situations such as road rage, stalking, eve teasing, physical assault to name a few.
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 hand-holding the user during the crisis over the phone, OTR’s on ground 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.
The Immediate Assistance Team professionals have undergone in-depth personal verification and are trained in martial arts, self-defense techniques, basic first aid, fire safety, unarmed combat and evacuation techniques on global protocols by Indian and international experts.
OTR provides three types of features in its mobile app:
- TrackME button:On-Demand Live Tracking & Monitoring of Personal Safety while travelling
- HelpME button: Provides On-Ground/Physical Response during an Unsafe Situation
- AssistME button: On-Call Assistance and Coordination with Emergency Service Providers
The venture does charge for its services and offers very affordable subscription plans for individual as well as corporate/institutional customers. Arvind tells Knowstartup:
“We have met good success in providing employee & transport safety solutions to corporate, especially in sectors such as IT/ITES, BFSI, Retail, Pharma, E-commerce and Automobile. We have also been working with the app-based transport aggregators with an integrated services model, providing on demand safety & assistance to their customers.”
The company says that the next important segment for them is student safety and for that they are offering services to Colleges & Universities. OTR currently serves over 35000 subscribers directly in NCR and are growing very fast.
Unlike the conventional safety apps which only let you alert your guardian,One Touch Response offers on-ground Immediate Assistance service through Immediate Assistance Teams (IATs), which reach the subscribers within a few minutes of call.
Arvind adds:
“They (the IATs) are alerted automatically by the inbuilt technology system from their vantage points across NCR. Their deployment and patrolling is strategically done so that they are usually just a few minutes away from almost any location. They can administer CPR, tieup a bleeding, restrain an aggressor and ensure the well-being of our subscribers. They can deal with a wide range of emergencies and in coordination with the Command & Control Centre – make sure that the nearest ambulance, hospital or police station are brought in for support.”
OTR offers a single point of contact for all situations such as personal safety (personal assault, road rage, safe call, managing physical threats etc), on road assistance services (accidents, mechanical breakdown, vehicle recovery, flat tyre change, etc), and medical emergencies (medicines at odd hour, first aid, trauma etc).
It uses globally tested and proven technology, procedures and systems. The company currently has over 35000 families across locations, and are growing in double digits year on year. Their corporate clients include HCL Technologies, Religare, Jindal Steel Limited etc.
OTR is currently providing services in Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Ghaziabad & Faridabad and are shortly introducing our services in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune and Mumbai. The startup has been self-funded so far but are now working to raise external capital to fund their aggressive growth plans across cities.
