In the age of “I have an app for that” most technological advances serve little more purpose than entertainment and convenience. There are some app developers, however, who have put their focus on safety – like SafeTrek founder Zach Winkler.

Winkler, and hundreds of reviewers in the App Store and Google Playstore, described SafeTrek as “amazingly simple.” Users open the app when they feel unsafe and hold their thumb on the screen. When they feel safe again, they remove their thumbs and input a personalized four-digit pin. If the pin is not entered within 10 seconds of releasing the button, the app notifies the police of the user’s location, and a SafeTrek employee begins attempts to contact the user to ensure their safety.

“We started SafeTrek at the University of Missouri after seeing the ineffectiveness of the on-campus blue light system and hearing several scary stories from our friends about their walks home at night,” said Winkler in an interview with JTAC News. “The initial use case that we were solving for was the walking scenario, which is how we came up with the “hold until safe” triggering model.”

More than 275, 000 users are currently subscribed to SafeTrek, which charges a $3 monthly fee for use. Though the app was originally designed for use by college students, Winkler said a wide variety of individuals have found it useful and reassuring.

“After launching in October of 2013, tons of stories poured in from people thanking us for creating the application and telling us how they have used it,” said Winkler. “We’ve had realtors, domestic violence victims, elderly, college students, and several other demographics of people flocking to SafeTrek for a simple and affordable way to stay safe.”

Winkler said the company’s primary goal at this point is expanding coverage and improving the system for peak performance.

“Over the past 2 years we’ve been laser focused on optimizing our call center operations to ensure that we’re providing the highest quality protection available,” said Winkler. “Our call center is the heart of SafeTrek and is what enables us to send help to our users in the event that they can’t talk or they don’t know where they are.”

Winkler said the app, on average, can alert the police to a user’s location faster than a phone call could.

“What most people don’t realize is that if you were to call 911 in a scenario where you couldn’t talk, it could take them up to 6 minutes to get a 300-meter accuracy location estimate on you – if they even get a location estimate at all,” said Winkler. “With SafeTrek, we use the latest technologies and can get a user’s location within 10-meter accuracy almost instantly.”

A heat map of usage provided by Winkler showed that several dozen individuals in the Stephenville area have already begun utilizing SafeTrek. The app’s user base is 95 percent female, primarily age 16-24, and Winkler said he has seen use expand beyond women walking to their cars at night to include domestic violence situations and senior citizens in need of medical assistance, among others.

SafeTrek is available in the App Store and Google Playstore. For more information, visit SafeTrekApp.com.