Signum Outdoors
For volunteer search teams

Your team's own map and chat, past the tower.

Signum is a tool for a team's own map and chat. See where members were last heard and share the ground each person has covered, with no cell signal.

Join the field-test list How it works
Signum map of a group with waypoints, a recorded track and a radio
01

A team spread across a search area.

Volunteer teams work in pairs and lines across ground with weak or no cell coverage. Keeping track of who is where, and where they have been, often means a lot of radio traffic and a paper map.

Teams also train, and a training weekend needs the same thing: a shared picture of the team without everyone talking over each other.

Signum does not try to replace your agency radios or your incident system. It adds one thing: a shared map and chat on members' phones, for your team's own use.

0 BARS LAST HEARD 4 MIN AGO
02

A team training day

  1. At the assembly point, the team lead makes a group and members scan the QR code to join.
  2. The lead draws the training area and members download the map for it before heading out.
  3. Pairs head into their sectors, recording tracks as they go.
  4. At a check-in, the lead opens the map and sees where each member was last heard, and how old each position is.
  5. A pair sends their recorded track to the group, and the lead sees the ground they have covered.
  6. Back at the assembly point, the team reviews the tracks on one map.
03

What you get

Last-known positions, with age

Each member shows when they were last heard. Nothing is shown as more current than it is.

Ground covered, shared

Record a track and send it to the group as a simplified line. Delivery is not promised.

Offline area maps

Download an area, or draw the search area yourself, before you leave coverage.

Search by coordinates

Type coordinates and jump to them. It works with no connection.

Map and chat together

Follow the team and read messages on one screen.

Works across radios

Members with radios from different makers can still share one group.

04

See it

Signum recorded track with distance, climb and an elevation chart
Record where you went
Signum split view with the map above and the group chat below
Map and chat together
Signum map search suggesting places as you type
Find any place

Swipe for more

Demo group in Yosemite Valley. People and messages are for demo purposes.

05

Ready in three steps

  1. 1

    Agree it with your coordinator

    Decide with your team lead where Signum fits within your own policies.

  2. 2

    Pair and scan

    Members pair a compatible radio and scan a QR code to join.

  3. 3

    Train with it first

    Try it on a training day before anyone relies on it.

Signum is not an emergency service and makes no range promises. Good to know

Try it on your next training day.

Join the field-test list Other ways to use Signum