By Erin Kowtko
Raise a hand if you or someone you know can identify with any of these situations below:
- Gone on a late night walk alone with your dog
- Taken a solo taxi ride
- Held a job where no one else is present (for example, a real estate agent showing a home)
- Gone on a blind date
- Hiked or camped on your own
- Known someone in an abusive relationship
Thanks to Tokn, you do not have to fret about the wellbeing of your friend or family member anymore! This cool app was created after the founders watched the famous movie “127 Hours.” In case you have not seen it, the movie is based on the true story of hiker Aron Ralston who went hiking on his own and did not tell anyone where he was going. On his hike, he tragically fell and was trapped under a rock, which held him immobile for days. The way he escaped was through cutting off his own arm with a knife he carried. Extreme measures, right? Aron would not have been in this circumstance if he had the Tokn app!
Tokn is $1.99 to purchase, and there is no subscription to maintain. 4 text credits come with the initial purchase, and should you need more, they come in packs of 4 for a nominal cost. A text credit is used when you invite a friend to participate. You will need at least 1 friend because the app will need someone to alert. A text credit would be used if an Alert was sent as well. We typically should not need too many Alerts, so that is why it comes with 4 to get us started.
It’s easy to use this app. All you do is enter the location of where you are going, along with any message for your friend. You will select a time that you would like your friend to be alerted if something were to happen to you. For example, say you’re going to go for a run at night around the park and plan to be back by 9:30pm. You will punch that into the app, and once you complete your run, you’ll check in that you’re okay and no alert will be sent.
If by chance you don’t check in at 9:30pm, a message will be sent to your friend alerting them of this. The alert message will have a link to a webpage that shows your location and a message if you included one. The app works hard to preserve the user’s privacy and releases it only when necessary.
One of the major advantages of this program is that it does not matter if your battery dies or your phone is off – the message will still be sent because it goes from the server and not from your actual phone. That is great because your friend won’t incur any cost via texts messages, and you’re not reliant on ensuring that your phone is charged.
The one caveat I see in this program is that it is not completely free. However, the costs are nominal, and I ask – what are a couple dollars for your personal safety and wellbeing? So, the next time you go camping in a remote location or are on a date that turns creepy, have no fear – Tokn will have your back.
Erin Kowtko
Erin has years of experience in the healthcare and non-profit sector. She brings her skills and passion to benefit Network 1’s team, clients, and partners. She strives to provide the best service and solutions to her clients so they can achieve greatness through Worry-Free IT.
ekowtko@network1consulting.com or 404.997.7656
Network 1 Consulting is a 19-year-old IT Support company in Atlanta, GA. We become – or augment – the IT department for law firms and medical practices. Our IT experts can fix computers – but what our clients value most are the industry-specific best practices we bring to their firms. This is especially important with technology, along with regulations and cyber threats, changing so rapidly. We take a proactive approach to helping our clients use technology to gain and keep their competitive advantage.
