Show HN: Owlorbit – Disaster Recovery Messaging App for iOS, Android and Web | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: Owlorbit – Disaster Recovery Messaging App for iOS, Android and Web

owlorbit.com

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I am releasing the Owlorbit SDK for both iOS and Android.

https://github.com/owlorbit/owlorbit_ios_sdk

https://github.com/owlorbit/owlorbit_android_sdk

Here is list of all the REST api routes: https://github.com/owlorbit/api

Owlorbit is a platform that you can share your location with the people you trust.

You can create channels, send out polls + messages, add meet-up points, embed live-maps in your sharepoint portal/websites, and now you can program custom applications on top of our API. Think of it as Slack but focused on location business continuity.

Not every business continuity plan is the same, that is why we're empowering companies to create their own location-based solutions by providing this SDK tool-box.

Owlorbit does not keep a history log of locations. It only keeps the very last location stored in the db.

Owlorbit and its API is free for non-commercial users. Don't hesitate to sign-up and test out our full product first before committing for a commercial account!

Hmm, looks useful. What is the "disaster recovery" part of the title? SDK or website doesn't seem to mention it...

Thanks! This tool was specifically made to help coordinate employees when a disaster happens.

So for example, places that I had previously worked at would have a back-up location that employees would have to navigate to if the main office was closed. This information was all stored in some sharepoint document and employees would have to edit a spreadsheet document when they arrived. With Owlorbit, you can easily place a meet-up point on a map and users in your specific channel can view it. They can also respond to a poll (that gets pushed out to smart-phones) if they are safe.

This tool can be used for other purposes, but I have been gearing all the features towards the business continuity space.

What sort of disaster? Internet is usually the first to go down in such cases; is Bluetooth sufficiently long-range for mesh networking? (In my experience it drops out beyond ~20 m - in other words, shouting is far simpler than Bluetooth mesh in most cases)

The types of disasters that I've talked to with business continuity managers they are most worried about are:

1). If there's a shooter near the premises, they need to quickly alert people.

2). Earthquakes/natural disasters, and you are absolutely right that internet would be first to go down with this scenario. Right now there aren't that many alternatives to bluetooth if the cell signal is down. Bluetooth is only sufficient for small range, but you never know if someone is trapped in closed space. Having this backup is better than nothing.

It would be really cool if offices equipped themselves with battery-powered bluetooth extenders and in these events, communication would be independent of close range + internet.

3). Carbon monoxide leaks are also common causes of concern.

Okay, #1 and #3 are certainly events without internet disruption, makes sense. Thanks for the explanation.

(For #2, there are mesh wifi solutions; bluetooth extenders sound like more trouble than they're worth)

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