Over the years, there have been various means of responding to emergencies, and one thing that has remained constant is the impact of communication in a crisis. As the smartphone industry evolved, so did efforts to incorporate smartphones as emergency tools. Incorporating smartphones as emergency tools will help bridge the communication gap during emergencies.
In this guide, you will learn how to turn your Samsung mobile device into a homing beacon that can get you the help you need as a security measure.
Smartphones as an emergency tool
According to Zippia, 86% of the world’s population owns a smartphone, and many smartphone users need to utilise their devices more. In an ingenious effort to solve global insecurity, smartphone companies have begun adding emergency features to their products. This emergency features use audio, visual, and Global Positioning System (GPS) means to communicate with the right source of help. As helpful as these emergency features are, most smartphone users need to be made aware of them or know how to use them.
Samsung emergency feature
Regarding incorporating innovative features into its devices, Samsung, the South Korean smartphone company, is among the leaders. As a result, it is not surprising that Samsung has begun to include the emergency feature in its devices, starting with the Samsung S9 model. Follow the steps below to activate the emergency feature on your Samsung S9:
- Go to the settings on your smartphone.
- Scroll down to the advanced features section.
- Scroll through the options till you see “Send SOS messages,” and click on it.
4. It will be off if this is the first time you have used this emergency feature. Tap on the toggle to turn the feature on.
5. Immediately after you turn on the toggle, a pop-up will request that you select the recipients (a maximum of 4 contacts) of the SOS messages from your contact list. Ensure the contacts you set here care about your well-being and would not hesitate to aid you.
6. Below the toggle is the Power Key set-up section; in this section, you can select the number of times you will need to press your smartphone’s power key to send out the SOS message, either 3 or 4 times.
7. The “Autocall Someone” section follows, and you must choose a priority contact from the four contacts you selected in step 5. You should set it to someone who will most likely pick up a call most of the time.
8. The following section is the “Attach pictures” section, which has a toggle that you can turn on to allow your phone camera to take pictures of your surroundings, which are sent alongside the SOS message so it will be easy to locate you.
9. The last section is Attach audio recording; this allows your phone to eavesdrop on surrounding sounds, record 5 seconds of audio, and send it to your emergency contacts.
10. If your Samsung smartphone is a recent model, you can search “SOS” under settings to locate the emergency feature.
Once you have completed the steps above, you have successfully activated the SOS emergency feature on your Samsung device.
A user pressing the power key | © CNET
Now, when you press your power key 3 or 4 times, this will send an SOS message and the GPS location of your smartphone to your emergency contacts.
Be SOS-oriented
Emergencies are not limited to security threats; life-threatening situations can also be considered emergencies. Therefore, an individual could set up the SOS emergency feature for health purposes or in case of a natural disaster.
It is safe to have a toll-free emergency number in the list of your emergency contacts; the toll-free number can contact local emergency response teams, which are usually the first responders in emergencies.
Most importantly, when you set up an emergency SOS feature, do not go about pranking your emergency contacts because doing that could put your life at risk if they assume a real emergency call from you is a prank.
If this guide has been helpful to you, share it with someone today. You could be saving a life by doing so.
