Eugene entrepreneur’s new device connects homes directly to 911

More than 500 families had already joined the reservation list for a wall-mounted button designed by Eugene entrepreneur Reed Rosenberg to connect a home directly to 911 with one press. Rosenberg’s company, CURA, said the patent-pending Halo Button was built to do more than place a call: it activates two-way audio, turns on live video and shares household details with dispatchers and responders before they arrive.

The pitch centers on a simple problem that has grown more common as landlines disappear. If a phone is misplaced, left in another room or not on the person who needs help, calling 911 can take precious time. Rosenberg’s device is aimed at that gap inside the home, especially for children, older adults and anyone who might not be able to work through a smartphone quickly under stress. CURA said first-batch access was being offered through its waitlist, and the company expected availability in the next couple of months.

The concept lands in Lane County at a moment when emergency response depends increasingly on speed and context. Central Lane Communications, the largest of the county’s three public service answering points, dispatches fire and EMS for 12 agencies and covers 89% of Lane County by population. It handles about 1,300 incidents a day, a volume that shows how much pressure sits on local dispatch when a call comes in with little information.

Oregon’s statewide 9-1-1 system is administered by the Oregon Department of Emergency Management’s State 9-1-1 Program, which says its job is to provide prompt and efficient access to public and private safety services. That system is also in transition. The state’s next-generation 9-1-1 modernization effort says Oregon’s current system is built on outdated technology that has reached end of life, underscoring why products like the Halo Button are arriving as both consumer devices and public-safety tools.

The broader market case is straightforward. Pew Research Center says 98% of U.S. adults own a cellphone and 91% own a smartphone, yet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 78.7% of adults and 86.9% of children lived in wireless-only households in the second half of 2024. Among adults 65 and older, Pew says 78% own a smartphone, leaving a sizable share who do not. AARP’s 2025 poll found 86% of adults 50 and older said next-generation 9-1-1 is important in their community, and 88% said it is very important that the services be regularly maintained and updated. In Lane County, where emergency help often starts with Central Lane Communications, Rosenberg is betting that a button on the wall can make that help faster to reach.