OFFICER Labs: LETS Corp. Respond+

Crash phone… throw phone… secure direct line to negotiator… It doesn’t matter how you and your team refer to that communication device you provide in hostage barricade situations. What matters is that it works when you need it to; it’s as convenient as possible to deploy and use; and it empowers not only the negotiator(s) but your team to stay informed, moment to moment, about what’s going on. If you accept that, then let’s add one more fun feature: Wouldn’t it be great if your throw phone also included a remotely activated camera and microphone so you could eavesdrop on the bad guy(s) and see whatever your thrown phone sees?

When our team was contacted by LETS Corporation to field test their Throw Phone solution, we expected to receive a bulky, ruggedized, waterproofed, brick of a phone that burned through a battery charge in under a couple hours and required hours of training to master. Instead, what we got for testing involved one iPhone and two Samsung phones, one of them in an OtterBox® protective case.

After a 30-minute “training call” with the LETS team, our test team was able to operate the phones, and the Respond+ software with ease. So, while we’d been expecting the aforementioned brick throw phone, what we got were conventional cell phones with a software solution installed that empowered everything mentioned as a desirable function in the first paragraph above. There was no brick phone. There were no attached cables. There was no need to carry a hardcase to ship the crash phone and it’s supporting connector hardware. Yes, we’re in the 21st century and most of that should have been behind us in the law enforcement profession, but it might be taking some agencies a little longer to join us in this technological era.

The Respond+ software created by LETS Corp allows for great versatility, convenience and ease of use no matter what the setting is or how fast you need a throw phone in action. Gone are the days of calling for a phone to throw into a scene. Now any officer on the team, with the proper software installed, can activate the software, add the necessary or desired team members and toss the phone. Instant, quick, easy throw phone potentially carried by every member of the team.

Some of the features of the Respond+ software that we wanted to test included: Group and direct messaging, calling and texting, photo and video sharing/posting, voice messaging, location sharing and document management/upload capability. What really impressed our test team was how quickly communications on the platform could be set up to include team members (enter name, email or phone number), and then not only be used for negotiation with the suspect(s) but also record all of the conversations to include both verbal and text. The ability to share information such as photos, videos or other documents is also a very powerful advantage if you’re trying to keep a team informed of necessary intelligence for safe and effective dynamic response if negotiation doesn’t work. With a unique phone number assigned by the application per incident and with the ability to have an assigned/ documented negotiator, the app seamlessly supports a chain of evidence for all chats, texts, calls, etc. Date, time and even location stamps are automatic and, in fact, each team member using the app on their phone and included in the incident can have their location tracked in real time.

There are far more capabilities available through the Respond+ app than we can review individually here due to space. That said, we tested the system thoroughly and made sure that our test team confirmed function of every feature during the process. As a result of 100% performance, the OFFICER Media Group is proud to award our “Tested—Field Rated” seal of approval to the LETS Corporation Respond+ response platform.