Advanced Welfare Processing

In addition to the standard welfare handling, GDS's welfare system can trigger other events and actions.

Mapping welfare to signals

GDS can generate signals and feed these to the monitoring signal processor when callsigns enter different welfare states.

To activate this, tick 'Generate signals for welfare events' in System Options->Welfare.

Whenever a welfare event occurs (for example, a checkin, panic or overdue), GDS will send a signal to the PDA welfare receiver, which also receives signals from iOS (Apple) and other devices. The signal is sent in the format:

(callsign)|(welfare state)|(welfare action)|comment

... for example:

100|60-CHK|CHECKIN|test

Handling welfare via voice

GDS can process welfare via inbound and outbound phone calls, via a PBX that is available as a part of the GDS Network.

Access to the PBX is included with your GDS support subscription, but you'll need one or more incoming lines (GDS cloud lines) enabled to take your incoming calls. These have an additional per-line cost, and can be arranged for you by Cave Rock Support. You'll need one line for each simultaneous incoming call you want to handle at once; in many cases, only one or two lines will be needed to cover all of your usage.

A basic usage of the incoming voice handling is as a dedicated panic number. You can define a phone number that, when called, triggers a job in GDS that can be handled by your operators or dispatched to field personnel. GDS uses caller ID to identify the source of the panic call.

If you have staff or a customer sitting at the reception desk of a building, you can program a quickdial on their desk phone to dial the panic number. GDS will identify the location based on caller ID and patch the call through to your operators. The GDS cloud PBX also records the panic call audio while the call is in progress, and attaches it to the GDS job for later review once the call is complete. No software, training or special equipment is required at the client site, only a phone.

GDS can also be used for phone audio-based welfare. It can be configured to make voice calls or send text messages to remote users at periodic frequencies. For voice calls, GDS can use IVR to allow the user to press touch tones on their phone to report that they're OK, while for text messages users can respond via TXT to check in.