App idea proves to be a real live wire

An app that takes the sting out of guessing whether an electric fence is live has won its inventor the top innovation award at Fieldays.

Danz Zappz founder Dan Hall took home the Vodafone Innovation Technology Award at a prize-giving breakfast for the Fieldays 2015 Innovation Awards on Thursday.

Mr Hall’s winning innovation was the “Fence Detective”, a smartphone app that lets farmers check if an electric fence is on or not.

His wife Rhonda Hall said she was overwhelmed when she read the text Mr Hall had snuck off to her during the breakfast.

“I’m really excited. It’s taken him nearly two years, and a lot of hard work, to get to this stage. We’ll be having a bit of a celebration at the end of Fieldays” she said.

Eighteen months ago Mr Hall was crossing through a farm near his hometown of Kumeu, just north of Auckland, when he came across an electric fence.

“I thought, is that on or off? I couldn’t jump over it, go under it, or squeeze through it and I’m not going to walk a bloody kilometre around it,” he said

Fortunately he knew the farmer, and tried to call him to find out if the fence was live but stopped as he noticed some interference on his phone.

“Hang on, maybe I ought to point my phone at [the fence],” Mr Hall recalls thinking.

He looked to see if there was an app for that, there wasn’t.

And when came across a web advertisement for Beta Solutions that said “We make entrepreneurs out of ideas” he decided to fill in their form and submitted his idea.

Mr Hall’s app is now available on android phones, and he’s working through the process of getting it approved for sale on Apple phones.

Mr Hall said he was ‘”chuffed” with the reception his idea has received, and recommended following up ideas.

“I think each and every one of us is capable of having an intelligent thought in our lifetimes, maybe more than one even. So if you ever see one of those ads that says ‘we make entrepreneurs out of ideas’ fill it out,” he said.

The Innovation Awards saw more than 60 entries over three categories and six ingenious inventions received cash and in-kind prizes.

Fieldays Innovation Awards winners

Sponsored by Vodafone, Soda Inc, NZ Farmer, Tru-Test Group, Locus Research, James & Wells, and Callaghan Innovation

• Tru-Test Grassroots Innovation Award – Felton Industries – Ag Oxijet
• Tru-Test Grassroots Merit – Te Pari – BCS Systems / Bachler Steel – Fence Step
• Launch NZ Innovation Award – Farm Medix – Check Up Mastitis Diagnostic Tool
• Launch NZ Innovation Merit – Zammr Ltd – Zammr Trough Clip
• International Innovation Award – Waikato Milking Systems – Centrus 84 Composite Platform
• Young Innovator of the Year – Kinneir Groube – Easy-Use Feed Bin Wires
• James & Wells IP Service Award – Kinneir Groube – Easy-Use Feed Wire Bin Wires
• Locus Research Innovation Award – Bachler Steel – Fence Step
• Vodafone People’s Choice Award – announced on Saturday 13 June 2015
• Vodafone Innovation Technology Award – Danz Zappz – Fence Detective