SafeClickID to help with background on workers at your home

Oakbrook Terrace-based SafeClickID launched a new online service where homeowners can check the identity of repairmen or others coming to their home to do work.

SafeClickID will recruit companies as members and do background screenings of the employees who work in or around a customer’s home, said co-owner and co-founder Howard Hamilton of St. Charles.

“As customers finalize an appointment, they can get the person’s ID badge number in advance and check on them by using their smartphone or PC,” Hamilton said. “This helps the homeowner feel more comfortable about the person coming over.”

Hamilton remembers well his own personal experience when they were expecting some repairman, but his wife felt something wasn’t quite right and asked him to stick around while the work was being done. While he did so, he realized that other homeowners may feel the same way about a total stranger coming into their home.

Hamilton is a former CEO of CFM Direct, a direct marketing agency, that he and some partners started in the 1980s. It ws sold in 2007. He remained on board for a while, but then wanted to do something more. About a year ago, he and his partners got together and started the development SafeClickID.

The service is free to consumers, but the member companies will pay for a subscription, he said.

Now, consumers can go to the site, check on the badge number of a repairman, in-home health care professional or other home service profession, he said.

As the site builds its clientele, it does its background screenings through the National Association of Professional Background Screeners, he said.

“Plain folks, like everyone else, may be uncomfortable about having a perfect stranger come into their home,” Hamilton said. “This could help put them at ease.”

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