Interview with Silent Beacon Founder & CEO , Kenny Kelley.
1.How are Silent Beacon’s Enterprise Safety Solutions helping companies comply with new state and city laws requiring panic buttons for certain workers?
Workplace violence is on the rise, and legislation is catching up. Healthcare workers are five times more likely to experience workplace violence compared to other sectors, with 40% of hospital nurses reporting an increase in violent incidents. Retailers have seen a 93% increase in shoplifting incidents since 2019, often accompanied by threats or violence against staff.
In response, several states and cities have enacted laws mandating panic buttons for workers. New York’s Retail Worker Safety Act requires large retailers (500+ employees) to equip staff with wearable silent panic buttons by January 2027. Illinois, Washington, Florida, and cities across California, including Los Angeles, Oakland, and Santa Monica, have passed similar rules, particularly for hospitality and healthcare workers who operate alone.
That’s exactly where Silent Beacon’s Enterprise Safety Solutions (ESS) can make a difference. ESS is a comprehensive, easy-to-deploy workplace safety system designed to help companies meet compliance requirements and strengthen safety protocols.
Silent Beacon equips employees with a Bluetooth®-enabled, wearable panic button that, with just one tap, sends instant alerts to supervisors or emergency contacts, along with GPS location, optional two-way audio, and real-time status updates. The paired Silent Beacon Safety provides another layer of access for added flexibility in activating alerts, as well as visibility into beacon connectivity and battery life.
Employers have access to a cloud-based safety dashboard where they can view live alerts, check device readiness, monitor safety compliance, and download incident reports with a few clicks. If a wider alert is needed, say for a lockdown or building evacuation, the Mass Alert Portal allows companies to send instant messages via text, email, or pre-recorded calls to any group of employees, all from one place.
Silent Beacon makes safety smart, scalable, and simple, helping teams stay protected, proactive, and compliant without disrupting day-to-day operations.
Can you walk us through a typical use case, how a lone healthcare worker or retail employee would use Silent Beacon in a real emergency?
Imagine your employee is checking in on their patients during a home visit. It’s a part of town they’re not familiar with, and when they get there, it’s quieter than expected. The street’s dimly lit, and they’re alone, not unusual, but always something to be aware of.
The employee goes inside, and although everything seems okay at first, something just feels off. Maybe there are people in the home they weren’t told about, or they hear an argument coming from another room. Nothing has happened, but their gut is telling them to be cautious.This is when Silent Beacon makes all the difference.Instead of reaching for their phone, something that could be awkward or obvious, they simply press the wearable panic button discreetly clipped to their scrubs or lanyard. It takes less than a second.
The employee can choose to send a silent alert or enable two-way audio if they want someone to hear what’s happening in real time. That alert instantly goes to their designated emergency contacts, whether that’s a supervisor, internal security team, or another designated responder.At the same time, their GPS location is sent to your company’s cloud-based safety dashboard. Your company’s monitoring personnel can view the location, see the alert status, and listen to any available audio. From there, they can act quickly, checking in, contacting emergency services, or escalating the situation as needed, according to your protocols.
It’s fast, discreet, and gives your employees peace of mind knowing they’re supported, especially in situations where using a phone just isn’t realistic.
What specific feedback have you received from companies in high-risk industries like healthcare, hospitality, or education about the platform’s impact?
The feedback we hear most often is simple but powerful: “I just feel safer knowing it’s there.” Whether it’s a nurse checking on patients during home visits, a teacher staying late after school, or a hotel employee working a night shift, employees report that the Silent Beacon wearable panic button gives them a real sense of comfort while working alone in the field.
In healthcare, especially, lone workers are often walking into unpredictable situations. Just having that discreet device on their wrist or clipped to their badge gives them peace of mind, they know that if something feels off, they can instantly call for help without drawing attention to themselves.
We’ve heard similar things from educators and hospitality staff, too. When you’re dealing with the public, especially in high-stress or high-risk settings, it helps to know backup is just a button press away. It’s not just about emergency response, it’s about your employees knowing someone is looking out for them.That sense of security has a ripple effect. Employees feel more confident, less anxious, and more valued by their employers. And for companies, that translates into higher morale, better retention, and a culture where safety is clearly a priority.
How customizable is Silent Beacon’s technology for businesses with unique safety protocols or compliance needs?
Silent Beacon is built with flexibility and customization in mind, ensuring it can adapt to the unique requirements of any business. ESS is suitable for businesses of all industries, sizes, and locations. Requiring only a computer and a smartphone for That sense of security has a ripple effect. Employees feel more confident, less anxious, and more valued by their employers. And for companies, that translates into higher morale, better retention, and a culture where safety is clearly a priority. functionality, it eliminates the need for building installations or retrofitting. Key customization options include:
Communication Preferences: Employers have full control over the notification and communication protocols for each employee. For example, one user may be programmed to alert 911, while another can be set to contact campus security. Each panic button user can have a unique emergency dispatcher contact, ensuring that alerts are directed to the appropriate response team. Similarly, alert groups can be customized based on your organization's specific needs, allowing for multiple contacts to receive a message with GPS location whenever an employee is in duress.
Silent Mode: Each panic button user can activate Silent Mode to deactivate the speaker, allowing them to discreetly alert authorities without drawing attention. This feature can be pre-programmed for specific alerts or activated/deactivated on a case-by-case basis, giving users flexibility in emergencies.
Alert Messages: Each panic button user can customize pre-programmed alert messages for each mode of activation. Alternatively, employers can establish a standardized message format across the organization, ensuring consistency in communication during emergencies.
Mass Alert Templates: Silent Beacon provides a range of pre-configured mass alert templates for quick deployment. Employers can also create and customize their own templates, enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of emergency notifications.
Can you talk about how your mass alert portal functions during an active threat scenario, such as a lockdown or workplace emergency?
The Mass Alert Portal is a versatile tool for businesses, enabling them to quickly deploy emergency notifications to the entire workforce or specific groups based on department or location. It ensures timely and targeted communication, enhancing preparedness and response during critical situations. With customizable templates and multi-channel delivery options, the mass alert portal streamlines the process of notifying the right individuals effectively.If there is a confirmed workplace emergency, an internal appointed representative of the Company can refer to the ESS Mass Alert Portal, select the groups to notify, select a pre-configured, customizable template, or create a message from scratch, and deploy that message via text, email, and pre-recorded call. Redundancy is key and when there is a need to mass notify the workforce, it is important to select various messaging channels.
What’s the onboarding process like for a company looking to roll out Silent Beacon across hundreds—or thousands—of employees?
We’ve made the onboarding process as smooth and scalable as possible, whether you’re rolling out Silent Beacon for a small team or an entire enterprise workforce. It all starts with a discovery session where we sit down with your team to understand your specific needs, emergency protocols, and who needs to be alerted in different scenarios. From there, we tailor the platform to fit your workflow.Next, we handle system integration through our API to make sure everything works seamlessly with your existing infrastructure, so there’s no disruption to your current operations. Then we move into device provisioning and account setup, where we’ll ship out the wearable panic buttons in bulk and get your employees set up quickly and efficiently.Training is included, and it’s flexible, we offer both virtual and on-site sessions so your administrators and staff feel confident using the dashboard and devices from day one.But it doesn’t stop there. We provide ongoing support that includes compliance monitoring, usage reports, and access to post-incident analytics so you can track trends and make informed safety decisions moving forward.Most companies are fully up and running within a few days to a couple of weeks, depending on the size and structure of the rollout. And once it’s live, everything is managed centrally through our cloud-based dashboard, giving you full visibility and control over your entire safety ecosystem.
What role does data (like GPS, usage analytics, or response times) play in helping companies strengthen their safety operations?
Data plays a huge role in how companies are rethinking safety, not just reacting to emergencies, but actually preventing them. With Silent Beacon’s live dashboard, you get real-time GPS tracking during an incident, so you always know exactly where your team members are and can respond quickly. Whether someone is inside a facility, out on a service call, or moving between locations, you can pinpoint their exact location the moment they need help, eliminating guesswork and saving precious time.But it goes way beyond just live alerts. The platform also gives your safety team access to powerful analytics that help you see the bigger picture. You can monitor how often devices are being used, how quickly teams are responding, whether all devices are charged and ready, and how well different locations are staying compliant with your safety protocols. The system even allows you to check each panic button’s battery level in real time, and if a device’s power is running low, you can send proactive alerts reminding users to charge it. That way, your team is never caught off guard with a dead device when it matters mostT.his kind of data is incredibly valuable. It gives you insights into where things are working and where you might need to make adjustments. Maybe response times are slower at a particular site, or certain teams aren’t using the system as often as they should. These patterns help you be proactive instead of reactive, so you’re not just managing risk, you’re actively reducing it.Over time, this data helps companies fine-tune their protocols, make smarter decisions, and build a stronger culture of safety across the board. And it all starts with knowing exactly where your people are and being ready the moment they need help.
How is Silent Beacon expanding into sectors like logistics, construction, and education—where field teams face unique security challenges?
We’re seeing a lot of momentum in industries like logistics and construction, where workers are constantly on the move and often operating in remote, unpredictable, or high-risk environments. These teams can’t always rely on traditional, stationary safety systems, which is why our wearable panic buttons and mobile-first platform are such a game-changer.With real-time GPS tracking and a battery that lasts up to 42 days on standby, Silent Beacon devices are built for the field. Whether a worker is at a construction site, driving a delivery route, or inspecting infrastructure in a remote area, your employees have instant access to help the moment they need it. The system is smart too; alerts can be routed based on job role or location, ensuring the right team members are notified instantly, no matter how spread out the operation is.We’re also seeing strong growth in the education sector. After a successful presentation at txEDCON 2024, we’ve begun rolling out Silent Beacon’s safety solutions in school districts across Texas. In these settings, fast and discreet communication is critical, especially during high-stress situations like lockdowns or medical emergencies. Our system gives teachers and staff the ability to silently alert security or admin personnel without alarming students, while administrators can view incidents in real time and coordinate a response through our centralized dashboard. It’s helping schools respond faster and more confidently, and most importantly, it’s creating safer environments for both students and staff.
In the healthcare industry, we’re seeing increased demand from hospital groups, mental health professionals, home healthcare providers, and senior living facilities, especially in light of new safety regulations in some states and cities requiring panic buttons for lone workers, particularly in healthcare settings. The risks in these roles are well-documented, and Silent Beacon gives care teams a powerful way to protect staff in real time, respond to threats quickly, and document incidents for compliance and review.
The hospitality and retail sectors are another major focus area. We’re actively expanding into hotel chains, major retailers, and grocery brands, especially in states like New York, California, and Illinois, where panic button laws, either statewide or at the local level, have been passed to protect hotel and retail workers. Whether it's a hotel housekeeper working alone in a guest room or a retail associate closing up late at night, Silent Beacon provides instant backup and peace of mind.
We’re also actively engaging public sector organizations, including municipal governments, social services, and transit agencies. Case workers, child welfare professionals, and outreach teams often enter unpredictable environments alone. For these roles, safety isn’t just a checkbox, it’s essential to doing the job. Our platform ensures that city employees and government contractors can get help quickly, while also meeting public safety mandates and documentation requirements.
On the B2C side, we’re building strong partnerships in the personal safety space, especially among women’s safety advocates, domestic violence nonprofits, and influencers in the self-defense and wellness space. We’re also getting attention from runners, cyclists, hikers, and outdoor enthusiasts, who love the discreet wearable design and the peace of mind it provides when training alone.We’ve even had conversations with rideshare and delivery platforms, where drivers and couriers face unpredictable encounters every day. With Silent Beacon, they don’t need to unlock a phone or explain the situation, they can get help silently and instantly, from anywhere on the road.
Looking ahead, what are your biggest goals for growth—are you focused more on product innovation, market expansion, or strategic partnerships?
Right now, our growth strategy is centered around two key pillars: product innovation and strategic partnerships.On the product side, we just launched Gen 2 of the Silent Beacon panic button, a direct result of listening closely to our users and understanding their evolving needs. We took real feedback from the field, what worked, what could be improved, and used it to refine everything from functionality to durability and user experience. The result is a smarter, more reliable device that’s easier to use and integrates seamlessly with our app.
One of the things we’re most proud of is how frictionless our update process is. Users can now download the latest firmware directly through the Silent Beacon app with just a tap, meaning we can roll out improvements, features, and security updates in real time without interrupting usage. That’s a game-changer for large organizations managing hundreds or thousands of devices across locations.At the same time, we’re investing heavily in strategic partnerships, especially with security providers. We’re exploring integrations with existing systems like video surveillance, access control, and smart door locking technology to create a more comprehensive, connected safety ecosystem. The goal is to move beyond siloed solutions and offer an integrative solution that ties together real-time alerts, situational awareness, and physical response infrastructure.
Ultimately, everything we do is about improving outcomes for the people who rely on us in critical moments, whether that’s a healthcare worker in a high-risk environment, a hotel employee working alone, or a teacher in an emergency. By continuously innovating and expanding our network of partners, we’re working toward a future where fast, effective safety response is built into every workplace from the ground up.
