Finding yourself in a scary situation as an adult can be nerve wracking enough, so you can just imagine what it would be like for kids.
Many of us can remember a time we got lost at the supermarket, or had a bad day at school, and how isolating and scary those situations were.
That’s why we developed SOS Alerts, a feature that lets kids reach out to you quickly and easily, even if they’re too panicked to make a call the usual way.
Unlike making a phone call, SOS Alerts is a faster way for kids to get in contact with a parent or guardian if they feel unsure or unsafe. All they need to do is activate the SOS feature and the watch will do the rest.
This post will run you through how SOS Alerts can be used, how to set it up and how kids can activate the feature in an emergency.
How SOS Alerts can come in handy
SOS Alerts can be used in any situation where a child needs help or support, with some examples being:
• If they feel unsafe or scared, whether they’re walking to school, out with friends or at another household.
• If they find themselves in a dangerous situation.
• If they get lost or catch the wrong train or bus.
• If they are unsure what to do in any given situation and need urgent advice.
• If they fall off their bike, skateboard or scooter.
SOS Alerts also gives children with special needs or disabilities an easy way to let someone know they need assistance, especially helpful if they have trouble with verbal communication.
So, what exactly happens when a child activates an SOS Alert? Let’s run through how it all works.
Initial set-up
Before SOS Alerts can be used, you’ll need to set up Emergency Contacts in the Spacetalk app.
By going to the app home page and tapping on your child’s device, you’ll bring up a menu. Scroll down until you see General and tap on the SOS Button option.
This will bring up the Emergency Contact List. When a child activates an SOS Alert the watch will start calling the contacts on this list in order until someone answers.
There is no limit to the number of contacts you can have on this list. You can tap Edit Contact List to add or remove numbers, as well as change the calling order by dragging a contact to the desired spot.
Activating the SOS feature
SOS Alerts are available on both Kids and Adventurer models, but they are activated differently.
Spacetalk Adventurer: Swipe up on the screen and slide the toggle to the right.
Spacetalk Kids: Simply press and hold the SOS button on the side of the watch down for about three seconds.
The way SOS Alerts are activated are simple enough to do quickly, but deliberate enough to prevent accidentally setting off an alert.
Once the child presses the SOS button, the watch will call each contact on the Emergency Contact List in order until someone picks up.
Note: Once an alert is activated, it cannot be cancelled. It will only stop if someone picks up or it’s called every contact on the list.
If someone doesn’t answer
The watch will send an SMS message letting the contact know the child activated an alert and will move on to calling the next contact in the list. If none of the contacts on the list picks up, the child will have to send another alert (unless a contact calls the child back of course).
We recommend spending time teaching your child how to send an SOS Alert, letting them know they can activate it whenever they feel scared or unsure about something.
We hope your child never needs to use the SOS Alert feature, but that you feel a little safer knowing it's on hand if it's ever needed.
You can watch a video rundown of SOS Alerts on Spacetalk Adventurer here.