Communications app developer Slack has expanded its utilisation of Cobalt Robotics’ mobile security robot.
While Cobalt robots have been patrolling the hallways at Slack offices for some time now, the company’s says its recent trip to Chicago for GSX came with “some exciting news about the next phase of our relationship with Slack”.
The new integration with Slack’s widely used enterprise communications and collaboration platform “will help keep safety and security a priority for you and your entire office”, says Cobalt.
Accidents and threats to safety and security in a business setting can occur at a moment’s notice – with the Cobalt and Slack integration, workplaces are armed with another tool to keep employees alert, safe and secure in times of emergency.
In a statement, Cobalt says: “With this in mind, we’re proud to announce the launch of a new public alert integration for enterprises to identify and notify employees of safety risks as well as mitigate issues in the workplace in real-time.”
With this new integration, security teams add the Cobalt Security Service to a shared channel within a corporate Slack workspace.
Anomalies identified by Cobalt needing further analysis or review from the company populate the channel in real-time, extending the visibility of the Cobalt Dashboard into a collaborative space.
When Cobalt detects anything that needs escalation or further review – from an unauthorized visitor, to CO2 emissions, to a water leak – it triggers a real-time alert in a designated Slack channel.
Cobalt follows all company post orders to determine which anomalies and detected events require escalation and review.
If the event requires further discussion or action, companies can create new temporary channels in a workspace from the alert.
Onsite security personnel can use the new channel to collaborate with each other and with the Cobalt Specialist Command Center to determine courses of action, including potential new patrol paths or public announcements and broadcasts through the robot.
In the case of an emergency, such as a fire or carbon monoxide leak, security teams can activate Cobalt’s PA system and siren through the Slack integration and send Cobalt on a new patrol to monitor an evacuation.
This integration uniquely brings all of a company’s security assets onto a real-time visibility dashboard and communication service.
Hardware, software, and people – now in one place to help collaboratively monitor issues and mitigate risks onsite or remotely.
“This is an exciting next step on our journey,” says Cobalt Robotics, which has two robots called “Salt” and “Peppa”.
“We look forward to helping keep more company workspaces more safe and secure and furthering our mission of using robotics to be maximally helpful to the benefit of all.”
