An Irish company has launched the first electronic lost-and-found tagging service for mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs).
Yougetitback.com unveiled the e-tag, an application for mobiles and PDAs that prevents non-user calls being made and provides a tracking system in the event of a device being lost or stolen. The e-tag service also incorporates a denial of service, remote delete, data backup and recovery and guaranteed replacement functions.
When a mobile or PDA is lost, users visit Yougetitback’s website and activate the e-tag wallpaper on their lost electronic device. Once activated, the wallpaper sits on the phone screen and only allows the Yougetitback’s 24x7call centre to be contacted. Finders of lost devices are incentivised to return the items via a financial reward.
Yougetitback offers a remote backup and delete facility for with mission-critical information. In the event that a phone is not returned, the company can store and transfer contact information to new phones.
The e-tag was launched in the US recently and visitors to the company’s website grew by 500pc in the aftermath, said Yougetitback.com managing director Frank Hannigan. “A lost mobile presents owners with the headache of hours of work keying in lost data. We offer a simple and cost-effective solution to take the pain out of losing electronic items. The service also benefits mobile carriers who face the prospect of losing customers when valuable items are lost.”
According to Yougetitback.com, 75pc of lost items are returned but for items that are not retrieved, the company offers a guaranteed replacement. This works through users receiving a voucher to pick up a replacement, minimising downtime. In this way mobile carriers’ customers are driven back to them if their phones are not found, reducing the potential for customer churn that phone loss can facilitate. E-tags also minimise customer downtime on a carrier’s network due to phone loss.
By Niall Byrne
