Amber Connect joins forces with Hawkeye

Amber Connect is now the the sole provider of vehicle-tracking services for Hawkeye, under a new partnership with the security company.

“As of the 1st of September, they’ll be using Amber Connect exclusively. It is a two-way collaboration. All Amber Connect customers will be connected to Hawkeye and all Hawkeye customers will use Amber technology,” said Amber Connect’s founder and CEO, Dushyant Savadia.

“Throughout all these years, Amber Connect has never provided stolen vehicle recovery service or panic button to our customers. This alliance with Hawkeye now allows us to do that,” he said.

Operating from Belmont Road, Kingston, Hawkeye offers security response services from another 14 bases nationally. Competitors include King Alarm, and Guardsman through its Metaverse service.

Amber’s technology offers vehicle tracking, geofencing, and vehicle immobilisation, but any response to an emergency would be entirely up to the actions of the device owner, either by reaching out to the police or activating features such as vehicle immobilisation.

But under the partnership, Executive Chairman of Hawkeye Ricky Mahfood says subscribers to Amber’s system will have access to monitoring from Hawkeye’s national network.

“Without a doubt, Amber’s technology is cutting-edge,” said Mahfood. “They have the technology, but they don’t have the security and that’s where we come in,” he said, while making special note of the feature on the app that allows for payment for services on demand.

Savadia says the range of services available will be rolled out over three phases, starting with stolen vehicle recovery, covered by the fees that Amber charges monthly for using their vehicle tracker system. Customers can also utilise the panic button feature, which will be answered at Hawkeye.

SECURITY ENVIRONMENT

Savadia says that the historical recovery rate for stolen motor vehicles under the Amber system has been 100 per cent, but given the existing security environment it would be better to go with a key provider, such as Hawkeye, using armed response.

For phase two, customers will soon have access to a ‘Follow Me’ feature. This will assist clients with armed security cover on a late-night journey, for example. And the third phase, a ‘Stand By Me’ feature, will allow clients to request security cover should they become stranded on a journey.

“If as a customer, your car is broken down somewhere on the highway or somewhere that it is not safe, the customer can request armed security to stay with them until such time that they can come off the road,” Savadia said.

He says customers need not worry about paying high annual fees for the Follow Me and Stand By Me features as these can be activated on demand and paid for on an ad hoc basis.

“For the first time ever, Jamaicans will be able to get services on demand. They will no longer have to pay these exorbitant fees for a service. All they have to do is to pay for it when they need it, and pay a small fee just as they would do for a wrecker, and so on,” Savadia said, adding that payment can be made through Amber Pay.

For the third phase, Amber Connect is planning to merge all security services on the mobile app. This will expand security solutions beyond vehicle tracking and fleet management, to include comprehensive home and business security services, such as home and office monitoring, on-demand guarding, and personal security escort services, all accessible through the Amber Connect app powered by Hawkeye Security, Amber said in a release.

“Additionally, the collaboration will leverage big data analytics to provide early warnings for customers travelling through accident-prone areas, and real-time notifications when vehicles enter or park in high-crime zones,” the company said.

neville.graham@gleanerjm.com