Sonim, which specialises in tough phones, has introduced its XP3 Sentinel phone to the Australian market.

This phone is designed for workers in the resources, utilities, construction, security, forestry, transportation and logistics sectors. Sonim also has an intrinsically safe version of a standard 3G phone and is working on a lone walker intrinsically safe version.

Together with Safelinq – one of the world’s fastest growing providers of location-based services – Sonim’s XP3 Sentinel solutions include an emergency response call centre.

Like every other phone, the XP3 Sentinel can be dropped from 2 metres onto concrete. The difference is this phone is claimed to survive such an impact while most others will not. It also is designed to remain operational after being submerged in up to 1m of water for up to 30 minutes and can handle temperatures from -20C to 55C.

The phone has a Gorilla Glass scratch and shock-resistant screen and meets the military-level MIL-810F certification for resistance to humidity, salt, shock and heat. The keypad has been designed to be usable with gloved or wet hands and the phone’s speakers are loud enough to be heard over machinery or sirens.

It also has been designed to allow mobile workers to change settings easily, so they can stay better focused on the task at hand.

There even is a 2 megapixel camera with an LED flash.

Arguably the most impressive feature is the man-down motion sensor that can detect impact, tilt, free fall and no movement.

If that is not enough, the phone comes with a three year unconditional guarantee.

But wait there is more. The phone also comes with an emergency “red” button, along with an “amber” and a “green” button.

The green button can be used to indicate the user has started or ended their shift.

In an emergency the user presses the dedicated red button on the side of the phone. This button activates even if the keypad is locked and causes the user’s GPS location to be sent to the monitoring centre, where the position appears on a map with other relevant data.

A call is automatically placed to the emergency monitoring centre to summon assistance. After the call the GPS tracking will continue until the incident is resolved or the phone is reset.

On a full battery GPS tracking can continue for about 24 hours, with a signal going out at three minute intervals.

With the amber key the worker can request enhanced monitoring and tracking if they are going into a risky situation.

The monitoring service tracks the worker on a map and can remind the user to use the phone keypad to acknowledge their safety every 10 minutes until they cancel the amber alert.