Why Package Alerts are Awesome

In his famed experiments, Ivan Pavlov trained his dogs to associate mealtime with the ring of a bell. Over time, Pavlov found he could elicit an involuntary physical response in his dogs with a simple jingle. Every time his bell rang, the dogs, anticipating a tasty meal, began to salivate. Today, the dings, buzzes and rings from our phones create a similar response. They are the “Pavlovian bell of the 21st century,” and they get us to check our phones constantly.

Psychology of NotificationsWell timed and relevant notifications increase our productivity and are useful in helping us get the most out of our technology. They provide peace of mind, instant gratification, important updates, gossip, news and reminders of important events and tasks. They’re most effective when they create a connection between the external social world and the internal world in our thoughts and emotions. The connection relates to triggers--or the cues that inspire us to think about something or to do something. There are two kinds of triggers: external and internal.External triggers are cues in the user’s environment that provide information for what to do next. On a survival level, a silhouette of a lion or a quick movement in the corner of our eye causing us to flinch are external triggers. In the same way, a button telling the user to “click here,” “tweet this” or “your package has been delivered” are all examples of external triggers.However, not all of our actions are externally triggered. We also have an inner world of thought and emotion that push us to act. These internal triggers rely on associations in the mind to prompt actions. The most frequent internal triggers are emotions. For instance, when we’re feeling lonely, we check Facebook. The feeling of loneliness is the trigger. When we’re uncertain, we Google. When we’re bored, we watch YouTube videos, check Reddit or scroll Pinterest. Now, when we are wondering about the security of our home deliveries, we can check the status of our Package Guard.

The most effective notifications are those that align an external trigger with an internal trigger. In other words, getting a status notification from Package Guard at the same time we’re feeling uncertain about the status of a delivery would be an effective notification. This is probably because the app gives us information right when we feel we need it, almost as if it is anticipating our thoughts. The closer the timing of the external trigger is with the internal trigger, the sooner we get the information we seek.For instance, imagine you are in an important meeting at the office and you have some expensive electronic equipment being delivered to your home sometime today (Alexa gave you the notification this morning that it would be arriving “today”). Instead of paying attention to the meeting, you can’t stop worrying about the status of your delivery because you don’t want that item stolen. Fortunately, all you need to do is glance at your phone and, voilà, there’s a notification from your Package Guard saying your package arrived and that your alarm is armed. You are now able to sit back relax and focus on your meeting. Package alerts provide you the peace of mind you need, when you need it!Package Guard has created the most credible and trustworthy package delivery notifications on the market. You can also set up a Safe Circle of friends and family who will also receive approved notifications.How it all worksFedEx, UPS and Amazon offer notifications when a package is delivered or soon-to-be delivered, but they are all dependant on humans scanning the package right as it’s being delivered, and that’s still sometimes a bit unreliable or vague. Amazon Alexa also offers package delivery notifications, which is awesome, but she just tells you that you have a package arriving sometime today. That might provide a little peace of mind, but it doesn’t offer a notification of exactly when that package hits your front porch. The Package Guard does. It’s an automatic alert that gets sent directly to your cell phone 30 seconds after a package is set on the unit. This is the only delivery notification offering 100% peace of mind and allowing you to get back to focus on the task at hand, most likely your job since we know 74% of packages are delivered while homeowners are away at work.

We even take it a step further with the Safe Circle. The Safe Circle is an approved community of your choosing who are authorized to pick up packages on your behalf. This Safe Circle can be neighbors, friends and family members and can include as many people as you want or need.

If you have a neighbor who works from home, add them to your Safe Circle so they can receive alerts when your packages arrive and then retrieve them from your device. Going out of town for a few days? Add your house sitter to your Safe Circle so they can receive your package alerts and bring them in the house for you. It’s easier for everyone, and by making your house less of a target for package theft, you also help the neighborhood when porch pirates realize it’s not a good place to try to pilfer packages!