A daily check-in call works on a landline
If your mother still answers the phone on the kitchen wall, she does not need a smartphone, an app or a button to wear. A call that rings her landline does the job. A few things work differently on a landline, and they are worth knowing before the first morning.
Updated
What she needs
A phone that rings, somewhere she can reach it. A wall phone, a cordless handset or a basic mobile all work the same way. There is no internet connection to set up, nothing to charge and nothing to learn. She answers out loud, in her own words.
What she hears
The phone rings at the time you picked, in her time zone. Every call starts by saying what it is, in the same words each day:
"This is your daily call from an automated assistant, on behalf of your family. It is not an emergency service. If you need help now, hang up and dial 911."
Then it asks how she is feeling, asks any questions you added, asks if there is anything to pass on to the family, and says when it will call next. On an ordinary day that is about two minutes. You can pick one of five voices and slow the pace down, which helps on an older handset or with hearing aids.
Where a landline is different
Texts do not reach it
When she misses a call, Care rings again ten minutes later and sends a text to her number. A landline cannot show a text, so on a landline it is the second and third calls that matter. The people on your list still get their texts and emails as usual.
An answering machine counts as no answer
If her machine picks up, that is treated exactly like no answer. A machine answering tells you nothing about her, so the next try and the people on your list go ahead as they would on silence.
Caller ID, if she has it
You get the number the call comes from before the first call. If her phone shows caller ID, store it under a name she will recognize. If it does not, tell her the time it rings, so an unknown voice at nine is not a surprise.
She can ring it too
If she calls that number back from her own phone, it knows who she is, asks what she would like passed on, and makes sure the family gets it. No menu and no code to remember.
Small things that help
- A cordless handset next to her chair, so she does not hurry across the room. If she misses the first ring, it rings again ten minutes later.
- A loud ringer, checked on your next visit. Plenty of landlines have been turned down for years.
- A time she is reliably up and in the house. After breakfast is usually better than first thing.
- A printed card by the phone with 911 and your own number on it.
Landline pendants are a different thing
Many medical alert systems also run over a landline, through a base unit in the house. That is a button she wears and presses when something is wrong. A daily call is the other half: it notices the morning she does not answer. The two side by side.
Getting it started
- Ask her first. The setup asks when you asked her and what she said. How to bring it up.
- Hear it yourself. Have the call ring your own phone so you know exactly what she will hear.
- Enter her landline number and pick the time, the voice and the name it greets her by.
- Put the people to tell in order, nearest first.
Questions
- Does a daily check-in call work on a landline?
- Yes. Any phone that rings works, including a landline. She needs no app, no internet and nothing to wear.
- What if her answering machine picks up?
- It counts as no answer. The call is tried again, and if she still does not answer, the people on your list are told.
- Will she get the text messages on a landline?
- No. A landline cannot show a text. The repeat calls still reach her, and your family's texts and emails go out as usual.
- Can the call speak more slowly?
- Yes. You can slow the pace and choose one of five voices, three women and two men.
- Can she call the service herself?
- Yes. If she rings the number from her own phone, it takes a message and passes it on to the family.