Have you ever needed to get in touch with someone whose phone was on silent? A new app and service called UrgentCall will help get you connected. UrgentCall is a service created to make sure you are available to your loved ones when they need you most. Designed to notify call recipients of an emergency situation, regardless of their phone’s setting, UrgentCall lets users receive emergency calls from anywhere in the world, regardless of a “do not disturb” or “silent” setting, from any type of phone: mobile, landline or VOIP.
Available as a free download with a 24 hour trial period, UrgentCall costs $2 a month for 10 minutes of yearly UrgentCall time. After downloading the app, you’re asked to record your name, enter your phone number and choose which emergency ring tone you’d like to have on your device. You’re able to select up to ten contacts who you would like to be able to reach you when there’s an emergency. You can change or remove the contacts at any time, and there is no limit to the amount of phone numbers associated with each contact. The contacts you choose will receive an automatic text message stating that if they have an emergency, they can call you on your special UrgentCall number, which is also included in the text message.
UrgentCall verifies that the call is urgent via an Interactive Voice Response server that asks the caller if this is in fact an emergency call before patching the call through. UrgentCall then ensures you receive the call by causing your phone to ring endlessly in an escalating volume until the call is answered. If your phone has no reception or the battery is dead, as soon as the phone is back in a service area or turned back on it will ring endlessly.
UrgentCall is aimed at parents with young kids or new teen drivers, people with elderly parents, busy lawyers or doctors. Never wonder “What if…” again with UrgentCall.
The app is currently available for Android phones, but due to popular demand by iPhone users eager to get their hands on UrgentCall™, the iOS version is expected to be released near the end of February.