• Easily access emergency contacts details - First respondants can easily find out who your emergency contacts are and how to get in touch with them.

• Provide important information if you're unconscious - ICE Alert lets you enter information such as allergies and conditions you suffer from and any medications you're on. This could save time in a time of emergency as any first respondents can easily see the information once the app is launched.

• Quick Dial - You can quickly dial a preset number or emergency services in only a few taps

• Emergency SMS - You can send a prewritten text message to a group of contacts quickly. This could be helpful if you're feeling unsafe and want to quickly let friends and family know. Your GPS coordinates are automatically added to the text message so the recipients know your general location.

• Free!

ICE Alert is an app that could save your life. Should you get into an accident and are unable to communicate to anyone else, ICE Alert can be used by paramedics, or other first responders, to find out important information about you such as any allergies or conditions you suffer from, any medications you're on and the numbers of contacts that should be notified of your accident.

However, ICE Alert is not just for accidents. If you're feeling unsafe or are in trouble, you can use ICE Alert to quickly send an SMS alert or set up a call to either a predefined contact or the emergency services - all in a few short taps.

You can save the text to send in the message as well as the contacts that should be notified, saving any typing when you have to send the SMS alert. When sent, ICE Alert will automatically add your GPS location information (if available) so that recipients have an idea of where you are. It will also include an approximate accuracy of the GPS reading as well as the time sent, so that any network delays in sending the text are accounted for. ICE Alert is free and could prove to be one of the most important apps you download.

ICE Alert attempts to obtain your GPS location so that it can be sent to the recipients of your SMS Alert. This will be in the format of Latitude, Longitude. You can use this information with Bing Maps to get an idea of the position. Simply enter "Latitude, Longitude" (replace 'Latitude' and 'Longitude' with the values in the text message).

Your GPS accuracy depends on how strong the signal is. The signal is affected by the environment so, for example, open areas tend to have stronger signals. ICE Alert gives an approximate accuracy value in meters. Remember this is an approximation, not a fully accuracte measurement, but it gives a general idea of how reliable the GPS reading is. If the accuracy is 50 meters, it means that your position is in the centre and the area of certainty would be a circle surrounding the centre with a radius of 50 meters. Therefore, the smaller the circle (i.e. the lower the number of meters), the more accurate the reading.

You can test out the GPS feature by running ICE Alert and waiting for the GPS Status to become ready. You can then press the Send SMS Alert button and your location details will be displayed. This can be entered into Bing Maps, as described above, and you can compare the accuracy to get an idea.

We'd love to get your feedback on ICE Alert. Any bugs you've come across, suggestions or simply your experience with the app is more than welcome. You can email us from within the app itself, or you can send an email to icealert (AT) jivtech (DOT) com.

Updates based on current feedback: - There will be two free updates available very soon.

You can download and use the current version and will be informed when the update arrives via the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace.

Version 1.1 will display a more detailed GPS reading, providing even greater accuracy. -RELEASED
Version 1.2 will fix a minor bug in choosing contacts. -RELEASED

We'd like to make the barrier between user and developer as transparent as possible. Amongst the positive reviews, there have been a few reviews that raise important points. We feel we should address them here.
Firstly, we do take on board what reviewers have said and act on any problems in the best interest.

- A minor bug in choosing contacts has been fixed in the latest update, which is now available.

- We have taken on board the suggestion of displaying the relationship of the contact, and will consider including this in any future updates.

- Developers have limited access to contact information at the moment. However, if more access is available in the future, deeper contact integration will be considered for future updates.

- There has been one claim that this app would not be used by first responders. However, it seems that the reviewer has missed the quick access buttons. The user is able to quickly dial a contact, the emergency services and send a text message with their current GPS coordinates. This in itself should make the app worth using, even if you feel the first responders wouldn't use the app themselves.

JivTech suggests that you pin the ICE Alert tile to your home screen so that it is clearly visible by any first responders who do look through the phone. This can be quicker than actually finding the phonebook, looking for the relevant contact (assuming they're named 'Mum', 'Dad', 'Brother', 'Sister') and dialling. On top of this, some users may remove the 'People' tile from the home screen, thus making it even trickier for first responders to find the phonebook, especially if they've never used a Windows Phone 7 device. Dialling a contact does not also help provide any vital medical information straightaway and relies on the contact to provide the information, at that moment in time. (Assuming that the contact picks up their phone and actually has knowledge of the user's medical background).
ICE Alert can also be used to keep notes of less vital information in the 'Notes' section, such as the car insurance number.
As is metioned, ICE Alert should not be used to replace any other medical cards or information you carry with you. It's there as a potential backup in case the other medical information cannot be found for whatever reason. It also provides access to quickly contacting the relevant people in times of emergency.

We'd like to thank everyone who has taken the time to rate and review the application. JivTech has provided the foundations of the app and your feedback helps mould it into the app you'd like to see.