A Short Recap of SFF Podcast’s 2nd episode of our IAFC Technology Council Outreach Mini Series Episode 91: Effectively Navigating the Last Mile with 100 Feet with Vibhu Singh
FRI 2021
Between July 28-30th, 2021, the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) hosted their Fire Rescue International (FRI) Conference and Expo in Charlotte, North Carolina, an annual trade show in which fire service leaders learn about products from the manufacturers themselves. #FRI2021 gathered thousands of participants for three full days of programming, networking and exhibit hall solutions, all of which SFF joined to create our podcast’s IAFC Technology Council Outreach Mini Series via interviewing technology experts.
SFF Guest Vibhu Singh & One Hundred Feet
When Nathan, co-founder of One Hundred Feet, called 911 for his mother, the paramedics took five extra minutes to find his apartment complex after arriving at his address which greatly disturbed him considering everyone has Google Maps in their pockets. Around the same time, co-founder Akash consistently ran into trouble getting pizza delivered to his apartment door. The two - who already knew each other from college - saw the lack of location accuracy as a real issue they needed to solve, so they founded One Hundred Feet.
SFF was joined by One Hundred Feet’s Chief Operating Officer Vibhu Singh who noted that the company is, in essence, a location data company that is trying to solve a critical location data gap. “And by that I mean,” Singh continued, “when you look at high density areas with MD use or any address that has more than one residence, there's not a simple way to find where an exact apartment is...And that's been a big issue on the logistical telecom side - and more so on the public safety side - and that's what we're trying to solve: the last 100 feet of arrival.”
Beans
It is important to understand that One Hundred Feet is the parent company offering their API product called “beans.” To simplify things, think of the product like breadcrumbs or a line of literal beans that One Hundred Feet has varying means of collecting to paint a clear picture that provides first responders with the information they need to get where they have to go.
How It Works
One Hundred Feet utilizes various tactics to create location data at scale and provide seamless backend functionality. Most of their data is actually built from scratch considering “this data does not really exist anywhere” else; unfortunately, there is very little public data since oftentimes building department requirements (like unit approval submissions) go unenforced and leave holes. One Hundred Feet has consequently deployed their own ops teams to survey the grounds then develop maps and has additionally partnered with real estate and property management companies (who also benefit from the data) to acquire their property maps.
Feedback Loop
One Hundred Feet also formed a reliable “feedback loop,” as Singh called it, by working with delivery providers (like InstaCart and FedEx). “To put this in context,” Singh began, “the running average a household will potentially call 911 is once every two years, but you have tens of billions of packages and deliveries being made every year. So because people using our data on a daily basis are visiting all of these places - almost 10 to 20 times more frequently than a 911 emergency incident - we have a leading view of anything changing to see if anything's different. We are the first ones to know and upgrade our data, so the data set is always very current and accurate.”
From Commercial to Public Safety
One Hundred Feet “strived to solve pizza delivery first” by beginning their journey in the commercial market with users like UberEats, InstaCart and FedEx. Singh shared that they aid in identifying where the exact unit is, which helps the apps in:
reducing the time delivery
customer satisfaction
driver satisfaction
reducing the failure rate of delivery
A short while after “beans” spread across the commercial market, One Hundred Feet started receiving thank you notes from first responders - specifically firefighters - which stated comments like, “you helped me save a 6-year-old’s life today.” The company suddenly realized there is endless good they can do with offering first responders access to the supply chain - “and that was a game changer in our minds,” Singh recalled.
The company’s newfound goal became making the data available to all first responders in a format that is as easily consumable as what they are accustomed to. In other words, “beans” integrates with whatever system the first responders are using at the time as to avoid the first responders’ need to switch to an alternate application or platform. “If it's a CAD system that [they’re] used to looking at, we will integrate with that gas system and the data just magically appears as a layer on top. If it's an incident management system, such as tablet command, and [they’re] used to seeing MDCS or MDTS, we integrate with them and it just sits on top of whatever response system that [they’re] using,” Singh explained. Another service One Hundred Feet provides is digitizing paper maps, binders and plans that most emergency responders carry when heading to an incident. Just like “beans,” the digitized copies can be integrated into whatever channels the departments prefer and, unlike “beans,” is offered for free.
Get in Touch
If you are a first responder and / or department and want to integrate “beans,” email sales@beans.ai with your inquiry and be sure to first check out the website! You can also reach Vibhu Singh personally at vibhu@beans.ai
Learn More from Vibhu Singh
If you want to hear more about how to solve the last mile and what One Hundred Feet is looking at next, take a listen to SFF podcast’s IAFC Technology Council Outreach Mini Series Episode 91: Effectively Navigating the Last Mile with100 Feet with Vibhu Singh available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts from.