Frequently Asked Questions:

 
 Q:  Is "Senior Medical Alert System" a personal medical system AND a service, or a stand alone alert system that you program who you'd like it to call?

A:  "Senior Medical Alert System" is a self-contained personal medical alarm system, where, rather than paying up to $40 per month (plus $80-$100 activation fees) for a monitoring service and
additional fees if you wish to stop service, you pay a one-time fee.  Then, you own the
entire medical alert system with no monthly fees.  You program the system to call the
local OR long distance numbers of the people that love and care for you - your family,
friends, or neighbors. The personal medical alert system will call each number that is
programmed until an actual person answers and press "0".

 Q: Does "Senior Medical Alert System" work anywhere in the U.S.? I have an aunt in Pennsylvania and a mother in Florida. Please advise.
A: "Senior Medical Alert System"  is FCC-compliant and licensed to work in any state, so Pennsylvania, Florida, or anywhere in the U.S. is not a problem. The emergency system is also licensed in Canada. "Senior Medical Alert System" can call people on your call list, whether they are next door, or across the country. It can call local or long distance numbers as well. If the person answering the call needs to call 911 on your behalf and they are across the country, they simply call their local 911 and have the emergency dispatched to your local 911.

 Q:  Can I program 911 into the personal emergency response system to respond in
the event that I've fallen and can't get up?
A:  Yes, you can program 911 as if it was just another personal number in your call list. 
Typically, you would program 911 as the last number in your sequence.  You shouldn't
program 911 as the first number.

  Q:  What is the range of distance for the system?
A:  The specifications allow for a 100-foot diameter range around the Console , which is more than enough to cover a home that is over 3500 square feet in size and up to three vertical levels.  The medical alert pendant has been found to have a range of over 100 feet in diameter in many emergency situations.  
     
  Q:  How can the emergency medical alert system tell if an answering machine has
answered instead of a person?
A:  When a call is answered, the "Senior Medical Alert System" plays the outgoing message
that you've pre-recorded during setup.  Per the recommendation in the setup manual, the
last part of the message that your record asks the listener to press "0" on their telephone.
 If a "0" key press isn't detected, the emergency system assumes that a live person has not
answered. It then hangs up and proceeds with the next number in the sequence.  
     
  Q:  What if my mother is too far from the Console and I can't hear what she's
trying to tell me?
A:  That's not a problem, because, as part of the normal process, we suggest that after you receive the emergency medical call from the "Senior Medical Alert System", whether you hear everything your mother says, or nothing at all, you should hang up, wait 75 seconds for the "Senior Medical Alert System" to reset itself, then call your mother back as you normally would. If you receive an answer, simply discuss the problem over the phone. If you do not receive an answer, you know there has been an emergency, and you should execute your agreed-upon emergency procedure, whether that is to drive over to her home, call a neighbor to help, call 911, etc. We call this the "Confirm Call" .
So, what you hear is more or less just extra information whether you hear everything or nothing. It doesn't change the fact that emergency medical help is required as soon as possible.  
     
  Q:  How is the personal emergency medical alarm system installed?
A:  The emergency medical alert system takes about 15 minutes to set up.  You pick an
area as close to the center of your home as possible, and connect the system into the
closest phone jack. If a phone is already connected, you will simply need a  splitter with the system
that will allow two devices to connect into the same jack.  You then plug it into a normal
AC power outlet, install a 9-volt battery, and you're ready to program it.    
     
  Q:  Does the "Senior Medical Alert System" work in Canada?
A:  "Senior Medical Alert System" is certified to work in the US as well as Canada. 
The Canadian Standards Association (CSA) has certified the system to work in Canada.  
     
  Q:  Is there a central emergency monitoring station or service?
A:  No.  You program the telephone numbers of your friends, neighbors, family, 911, etc,
and they act as your emergency monitoring service.  For instance, if you program your son
as the first person in the list, and you have an emergency, he can then listen in to the call
and call for emergency help, like 911, if needed.  Who better to help than the ones who
love and care for you?  The "Senior Medical Alert System" is flexible in that you can program local
OR long distance numbers.  
     
  Q:  Is the pendant water-resistant?
A:  Yes, the medical pendant is water-resistant and can safely be worn in the shower or
bath tub.  
     
  Q:  Do you offer a wrist pendant?
A:  We do not offer a wrist pendant. Do to medical conditions (for example) in which the victim might experience a stroke and isn't able to move one side of their body to press the panic button (as often happens in a stroke situation), we chose to opt out of offering the wrist pendant.   
     
  Q:  What happens in the event of a power failure?
A:  The "Senior Medical Alert System" runs on normal AC power, but a 9-volt battery
 must be installed as a backup, in case of a power failure.  A red light on the
system, when lit, indicates that the battery is low on power and needs to be replaced.  
     
  Q:  Can I turn the volume down for the alarm/siren on the Console?
A:  No.  The engineers deliberately prevented this so that it could be relied upon to
summon local help (within the house, neighbors) in an emergency.  The speakers sound
a 65 decibel alarm.  Furthermore, the emergency alarm cannot be disabled.  
 
  Q:  What is the size and weight of the pendant?
A:  The pendant is about the size of a matchbook cover.  It is about 3/8" thick and
weighs about 3 ounces.    
     
  Q:  Can the "Senior Medical Alert System" dial special 1010 long distance
numbers like AT&T?
A:  No.  You can dial 7 or 10-digit phone numbers only.  Note:  To program in
long-distance numbers, you program in the "1" also.  So, actually, "Senior Medical Alert System" will allow you to program a total of 11 numbers.  
     
  Q:  Does the system work with Vonage, Skype, and/or other Internet-based phone systems?
A:  Because both systems present analog dial tone, and "Senior Medical Alert System" is essentially just a "smart" analog phone, it works fine.   
     
  Q:  Do you offer a money-back guarantee for your personal alarm?
A:  Yes.  If you try the system and are unhappy with it for whatever reason, you can return it within 7 days for a refund.  
     
  Q:  Does the system have a warranty?
A:  The "Senior Medical Alert System" carries a 1-year warranty from date of purchase.