Hi all my Mum is bowing slightly to the inevitablities of old age and considering carrying a mobile phone so she can call in case of emergencies etc. There are quite a few phones advertised as being sutable around; can anyone hee may any specific recommendations?
I guess my considerations are:
- easy to use / large buttons etc.
- PAYG, unlocked maybe?
- reliability
- replacable battery
Thanka a lot Jon N
In article , The Night Tripper writes
Just got one of these for an ageing rellie:
Certainly good for easy dialling, big buttons and it will speak the key pressed as you are dialling.
They are unlocked and are low cost.
Works ok held to a hearing aid or has loudspeaking option.
User interface is v poor however, even in the dark ages of mobile phones I can't remember a phone with a more difficult to use address book (entry or selection for dialling) and just forget texting (Example: to change between upper/lower case and numbers you have to make 5 key presses, upper, lower, number, pred-txt lower, pred-txt upper.)
That said, with close attention to the instructions my 80+ rellie was able to enter all her pals numbers into the address book and seems happy with it purely as an emergency phone.
The one we got has an emergency button function which can send text messages to up to 3 numbers if it is activated. We won't be programming this function as we believe the risk of accidental activation followed by any inability to contact the user could lead to problems. For proper emergency use a simple 999 call should be adequate.
Phone lock is via a relatively small and stiff slide switch on the side which if operated accidentally in a bag could cause confusion in an emergency while trying to unlock.
We put an ASDA sim in it which gives 10ppm flat for voice & 6p text. Reply STOP ALL to cease their marketing spam texts.
Doro specialise in producing phones for this market:
I suppose touch screens may not be ideal for the elderly due to lack of positive action from buttons, but they can be "skinned" e.g.
But the alternative is the operator stealing 15 pounds a month from a fixed fee for calls that you don't make.
Whilst I can see that having a PAYG SIM expiring is not helpful for an emergency phone, I can't see that losing the credit is stealing
tim
As an older person I am not interested in anything but a phone, straight and simple. Also being mutton and jeff I have to have one that is loud and clear. I know it is an old model but Nokia 1100 fills all my requirements, purchased from Ebay. Yes 02 disconnect and steal the money if you don't use a pay as you go phone, for, I think, three months, it has happened to me twice. However in fairness when I contacted them they refunded the money when I purchased more time. if you are worried that your elderly relative might forget, phone her periodically yourself and ask her to ring you back.
No it isn't. The alternative is the PAYG credit just hangs around till you need it, like at least one other operator does. Which is why my PAYG phone is with them - my Vodafone experiment is over, and will remain so.
Contact your local branch of Age UK. They are the experts in the field of helping the elderly.
Colin Bignell
Care to enlighten us? AFAIK they all have 180-day cutoff periods, though they may not be thoroughly enforced.
Zero from Three is 0-pounds-per-month contract, which may not suffer from this (I haven't checked). Similarly SIMple from TalkMobile (ie Carphone Warehouse) has a 1-pound-per-month contract, with a small number of inclusive minutes/texts. Vectone has a similar deal.
If the OP's relative wants a phone that just looks like a landline phone but without wires, I'd recommend something with green-telephone/red-telephone buttons. These can be operated without looking at the screen, while many phones with modal buttons cannot. Some people can struggle with the idea that a button has a different function depending on what it says on the screen.
Theo
Virgin mobile, though I discovered after posting that that the original PAYG tariff isn't available any more, and the replacement has the three month cutoff like the others :-(
Err, sort off. They came to my association and definitely said a TV without scart could not be converted to digital.
They may well have a commercial interest in anything they recommend these days.
Hi All Thanks for the several and useful suggestions re. Tariffs and models. etc.
I need to do a bit more investigation as to what will be most suitable form y mum (I'm not the relative in closest touch with ther), and then I'll see where to go noxt.
I'll update in dues course with what we decide on.
Cheers jon N
Not sure I'd trust the information you'd get from the voluteers helping in the local shop...
I did see an ad somewhere for a simple phone, to make phone calls recently, it *might* have been at a Tesco phone shop. With the rise of the smartphone I suspect the demand for such things has risen and the market is responding.
Maplin usually have a SIM free one on offer for about fifty quid(ish). Speak, listen, and at a push, text, with a phone book on the SIM. Nice big buttons and a clear, simple display.
You can make up a system like that with a simple pendant and that triggers of an autodialler. One of the Menvier ones allows you to dial in and listen in, subject to a PIN code. It also calls you if the temperature drops too low which can be critical for older people.
Most of them can be programmed to call several numbers several times till they get a response.
Might all in all be simpler, all shes got to do is remember the pendant..
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