GADGET PATROL: SEND A MEETING SOS-DISCREETLY

Holly Hilliard, who organizes software training seminars, recently had an inspiration. Why is it, she wondered, that meeting rooms don't have an SOS device for when something goes wrong? Sure, you can pick up a phone or leave the room to hail someone on a walkie-talkie, but that can be disruptive. Hilliard envisioned something much more unobtrusive and immediate. You might call it a panic button. She calls it the Meeting Monitor.