AT&T has developed an alert button for hotel staff that uses IoT technology to transmit their exact location to hotel security when the button is pushed.

The operator has developed a "compact, lightweight device" in response to a critical need within the hospitality industry fpr systems that enhance employee safety. One study found that 89% of hospitality workers had experienced sexual harassment at work.

The American Hotel & Lodging Association, along with major hotel brands, have pledged to provide hotel employees across the US with "safety buttons" to help enhance the safety for employees.

The AT&T Staff Alert Service uses a combination of "Bluetooth, ultrasound and 4G LTE connectivity to provide micro-location data," AT&T says. This reduces the risk of a "congested WiFi network" and “enables real-time alerts," the operator states. The service can be customized and is interoperable with other hotel IoT applications such as asset tracking.

"The micro-location data enables the employee’s exact location to be transmitted to hotel security for immediate assistance when they press the button," an AT&T spokesperson tells Light Reading via email. "The device does not track location until that associate requests assistance," the spokesperson says.

AT&T’s IoT Professional Services organization is working with major hotel brands to deploy the solution across the US. "We have a major hotel chain signed with several others in the works," an AT&T spokesperson tells us.

— Dan Jones, Mobile Editor, Light Reading