How the check-in system works

1 — You start a timer before the call

Before a booking you open Check-in, choose incall or outcall, set how long you expect to be busy (30, 60, 90 or 120 minutes), and add the details you'd want someone to have if things went wrong: the address or area, and whatever you know about the client — name, number, vehicle, ad they came from.

You also set the phone number alerts should go to (usually your own) and a safety contact: a person you trust, with their name and number. Nothing is sent to that person when you start — they are only contacted if the ladder below runs all the way out.

2 — The system confirms and watches the clock

You get an immediate text confirming the timer is running and when you're due back. A background job checks every minute, so the timing below is accurate to the minute whether or not your phone or browser is open.

3 — Reminders before and after you're due

• ·10 minutes before you're due: a heads-up text so you can extend or check out.
• ·The moment you're overdue: a first nudge text to you.
• ·Every 15 minutes after that: a repeat nudge, so a missed text isn't a single point of failure.
• ·Any time you extend (+15, +30, +60), the whole ladder re-arms around the new end time.

4 — Escalation to admins at one hour overdue

If you're still overdue an hour after your end time, directory admins are texted. That alert includes that you are overdue and by how long, so a human being knows to start trying to reach you.

5 — Admin handoff at two hours overdue

At two hours overdue, admins get a second alert. This one includes your safety contact's name and number and the session location, plus a one-tap link that says "I've got this — accept". Accepting is logged with a timestamp in your session's event trail, so there's a record of who took responsibility.

6 — Last resort: your safety contact, at two and a half hours

If no admin accepts within 30 minutes of that handoff, the system texts your safety contact directly with the location and asks them to reach out to you. This is the only circumstance in which your safety contact is contacted by the system.

7 — Checking out

Tapping "I'm safe — check out" stops everything immediately. If your safety contact was actually texted, they get an all-clear; admins get one too if they were alerted. You can also cancel a session outright, which closes it with no alerts to anyone — useful if a booking falls through.

You don't have to be 'out' to have a safety contact

The person you choose does not need to know the details of your work. They only need to know you sometimes keep unusual hours and that they should act if you miss a check-in. You can explain the app as a personal safety timer for dates, travel, or work meetings that you use when you're alone with someone you don't know well.

Good safety contacts are people who will answer, act, and not judge

• ·A roommate or neighbor who knows you're out and roughly when you plan to be back.
• ·A trusted online friend, peer, or chosen-family member in another city who can keep a level head.
• ·A coworker or work-wife who understands your schedule is unpredictable.
• ·A long-term friend who knows you have privacy needs and won't ask questions during a crisis.
• ·Someone who is reliably reachable by text and who will call back quickly if you don't answer.

How to introduce it without outing yourself

• ·Frame it as a general safety check: "I use a timer app when I'm meeting someone from the internet. If you get an alert from it, it means I missed my check-in and might need help."
• ·Use a cover story: a dating app, rideshare, or freelance client meeting works fine.
• ·Keep the location vague in the alert by default if you want — you can write "downtown hotel, room to follow if needed" or just the address. The contact won't see any of this until the final alert fires.
• ·Tell them what to do: call you twice, then call or text a friend or directory support if they can't reach you. They don't need to call police or explain anything to anyone.

What to tell them, and what to skip

You only need to tell them: "If you get a text from this number saying I'm overdue, try to reach me right away. If I don't answer, the message will include where I am and who to contact."

You do not need to tell them your rates, your ad links, your working name, or the nature of the appointment. The text they'll receive is written to sound like a safety check from a friend, not a business message.

Not out to people in your personal life?

You don't have to use a roommate, family member, or vanilla friend. Another provider, an industry-friendly ally, or someone you know from the community can be a great safety contact — they already understand discretion, they know why you might be unreachable, and they won't need an explanation if an alert fires.

If you don't have anyone you're comfortable naming, you can still use the check-in timer. In that case the directory admin becomes your safety contact. If a session goes all the way through the escalation ladder, the admin will use their best judgment to try to reach you and decide what to do next.

If you want the admin to be able to act on your behalf

If you would rather not list a personal safety contact, please send a private message to the admin with your legal name and date of birth. This is only kept so that if something serious happens and a report needs to be made, the admin has the basic identifying details required to make that call. This information is never shared with other members and is not used for any other purpose.

Contact us

If you need help setting up a safety contact, want to send your legal name and birthday for emergency use, or have questions about how the check-in system works, you can reach the admin directly by text or call:

• ·Text or call: (639) 525-6909
• ·Your message will be handled privately and discreetly.

What if I don't want to list anyone right now?

The directory admin escalation still works even if you leave the safety contact blank. One hour overdue, admins are alerted and will try to reach you. If you prefer not to involve someone in your personal life, you can rely on the admin ladder, but please consider the option above so the admin has the information they might need if they ever have to make an emergency call on your behalf.

Your call details are encrypted at rest

The location and client-info fields are encrypted with AES-256-GCM before they touch the database. They are stored as ciphertext, not readable text, and are only decrypted server-side at the exact moment a message needs to include them — which is at the admin handoff stage or the last-resort contact alert.

Nobody browses your sessions

• ·Row-level security means your check-ins are readable by your own account only.
• ·Admins do not get a browsable list of provider locations. They receive details in an alert message, and only for a session that has gone two hours overdue.
• ·Your safety contact's name and number are stored for that purpose alone and are never shown in the directory, in lookups, or to other members.

Minimum data, minimum time

• ·You choose what to write in the location and client fields — write as much or as little as you're comfortable with.
• ·Closed sessions and their sensitive fields are purged automatically on a scheduled retention job; they are not kept indefinitely.
• ·The event trail keeps the fact that a message was sent and its delivery status, so escalation can be audited — it is not a log of your movements.

How messages are delivered

Texts are sent through the directory's own SMS gateway. Only the phone numbers involved in a given alert — yours, an admin's, or your safety contact's — receive anything, and delivery receipts are recorded so a failed send can be spotted and retried instead of silently disappearing.

What this system is not

It is not an emergency service and it does not contact police, dispatch anyone, or track your phone's location. It is a dead-man's switch: if you stop responding, the right humans get told, in order, with the information they need to act. Keep using it alongside — not instead of — telling someone in person where you are going.