This reference defines the terms used throughout Staff Safe. The terms build on each other: a staff member wears a Smart Badge, an Alert Rule decides which badge press activates an alert and who is notified, and responders acknowledge and resolve the alert.
Core entities
| Term |
Definition |
| Responder |
A person who receives Staff Safe alert notifications and acts on them. Responding requires a Staff Safe role with access to alerts — receiving a notification is not enough on its own. |
| Smart Badge |
The Kontakt.io badge a staff member wears. Pressing its button activates a duress alert and reports the staff member's real-time location. |
| Staff |
A person assigned a Smart Badge and monitored by Staff Safe. Staff are also managed in Company Settings, where they are called Entities. |
| Staff Group |
An optional grouping of staff, used to define which staff an Alert Rule monitors. Not the same as a User group. Managed in Staff Safe. |
| Staff Role |
The categorization of staff, commonly mirroring positions in your organization such as Nurse or Security. Every staff member must have one. Staff Safe reports metrics by Staff Role, and a role can be assigned to an Alert Rule. Also managed in Company Settings, where Staff Roles are called Entity Types. |
| User group |
A group of Kio Cloud users, used to define who is notified by an Alert Rule. Managed in the Kio Cloud Users app, not in Staff Safe. Not the same as a Staff Group. |
Note: Staff Groups decide who the rule watches; User groups decide who the rule tells. A rule commonly uses both, and the same people are rarely in each.
Alert Rules
| Term |
Definition |
| Actions |
The step in an Alert Rule that sets how people and systems are notified — emails, text messages, phone calls, or webhooks — and who receives each. |
| Alert Rule |
The configuration that decides which staff are covered, where they are covered, which Smart Badge button activates an alert, and who is notified. Until an active rule covers a staff member at their location, a badge press does not reach responders. |
| Button event |
The Smart Badge button that activates an alert for a rule: Blue Button, Red Button, or Any Button. The rule sets which button; the number of presses is configured on the badge. |
| Department |
A grouping of rooms, created in Kio Cloud Smart Location, that an Alert Rule can use to define where it applies. The alternative to selecting Location. |
| Location |
The campuses, buildings, and floors an Alert Rule covers, selected on the rule's Locations step. The alternative to selecting Department. |
| Reminder |
An optional follow-up notification that re-notifies the same recipients while an alert remains unacknowledged or unresolved. Sent once or repeating on a schedule. Configured on a rule's Actions step. |
| Severity |
The level assigned to alerts a rule triggers: Critical, High, Medium, Low, or Info. A Critical alert also raises an in-app banner and plays an audible notification. |
| Webhook |
A notification action that sends an alert to a third-party system. Created in Kio Cloud Company Settings, then assigned to an Alert Rule. |
Note: Location and Department are alternatives, not additions. A rule uses one or the other, never both, and switching between them clears the current selection.
Alerts
| Term |
Definition |
| Acknowledge |
The action a responder takes to confirm they are responding to an alert. |
| Alert |
A duress alert activated by a Smart Badge button press. It carries the staff member's identity, real-time location, the time of activation, and the rule's severity. |
| Alert status |
Where an alert is in the response: New, Acknowledged, or Resolved. See Alert status values. |
| Alerts History |
The list of resolved alerts, reached from the Alerts History link in the List view. |
| Resolve |
The action that closes an alert after the incident has been handled. Resolving moves the alert to Alerts History; nothing closes an alert on its own. |
Views and workflows
| Term |
Definition |
| Alerts > List view |
The full alert list, with details, filters, and history. Used by responders and administrators. |
| Alerts > Simple View |
The responder view, showing only active alerts with large visuals and the staff member's real-time location. |
| Map View |
Active alerts shown on a floor plan. Available at your organization's discretion, because real-time location is privacy-sensitive. |
| Provisioning a badge |
The combined workflow of assigning a Smart Badge to a staff member and distributing it to them. |