Global Alert Network Offers Hands-Free Solution
By Allison Pickens, TheBostonChannel.com
Summer’s busiest travel weekend is quickly approaching and the nation’s highways will see more than 39 million travelers this Fourth of July weekend, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).
With so many people on the road, heavy traffic will add unneeded stress for holiday vacationers, but a new mobile phone app can offer help and advice on navigating the roads this weekend.
Hoping to ease travelers’ stress, Global Alert Network, (GAN), a traffic and weather update network that provides hands-free mobile apps, has released a free audio alert app just in time for the holiday.
The app will give users real time local updates on traffic alerts, emergency information and weather. In accordance with GAN’s technology, the app will be hands-free. Once downloaded and activated, the app will automatically provide an audio update on traffic allowing the driver to remain focused on the road.
“GAN has a driver safety mission … the app runs in the background of your phone so you don’t have to interact while driving,” said Global Alert Network President Scott Hughes.
Using the mobile phone’s Global Positioning System (GPS), the app will analyze traffic patterns on nearby major roads and will give only relevant information to the driver with enough time to plan a different route. The app detects when users are traveling at rates associated with driving a vehicle.
“We will give you enough time to reroute. The phone will wake up with a ring tone of sorts,” Hughes said. Depending on the severity of the traffic incident, ranging from extreme to minor, the application software will work to identify surrounding roads.
“We have software to give people a 20 minute warning for an extreme incident and roughly a 5 minute warning for a minor traffic incident,” said Hughes.
If you want traffic updates without the automated audio message. GAN’s traffic app allows users to either turn the sound down or activate the “mute location” option. This allows people to check traffic, weather and other alerts in a setting where audio messages are not an option.
“If you’re at the office or on a conference call and want to go out to lunch you can check traffic silently in your area,” Hughes said.
GAN also offers other various alerts. By downloading the application, users can receive severe weather alerts, tornado warnings, state and federal emergencies, and Amber alerts.
Currently, the app is available for download on Blackberry and Android phones. Hughes said GAN has submitted the app to Apple and is waiting for its approval.