1. Why use a medical alarm system?

At sometime in life, whether it's your mom, dad, aunt, uncle, family, or a friend... life can become difficult.

Mom could fall and not be able to call for help. Aunt Tillie's arthritis could flare up not allowing her to get out of the tub. Dad could slip in the shower and not have a Button to push for help. Uncle Joe could have a heart attack and not have a Button to push to get help.

Most of our family members, or us, wait until an emergency occurs before getting a medical alert device. Some refuse to use a system even after their first incident and therefore have the same fall, heart attack, stroke, breathing difficulty... or whatever kind of threat... yet again... with no way to summon help…because the can't reach the phone for help to dial 911.

Here's the problem. Once a senior has fallen and waited hours for help to find them…they lose a portion of their self-confidence. By the time someone has fallen multiple times without immediate help…they start to become a different person…they become frail and sometimes afraid.

The best time to protect a loved one with a medical alert device is prior to any problem. I have become a young senior myself and I now stay safe with my own Button. It's the smart thing to do.

A loved one can remain living independently in their own home far longer by having a Button to push that will get them help when they need it most.

2. What is the problem with Wireless Jacks, Splitters and Voice over IP Internet phones?

In a nutshell, all of these devices make medical alerts at times inconsistent. There are still some companies out there that claim their medical devices work fine with these devices.

No medical alarm device should ever be hooked up to Voice over IP (Internet phones). No doubt, the telephone long distance rate is great. We use Voice over IP phones to connect our offices in Santa Barbara, Maui, Palm Springs and Los Angeles. We need a landline for backup because 10% of the time noise is so loud on the line, we must switch off VOIP. Switching to a landline is easy technology for our offices. In your home, when you need help the most, you could be in trouble. Beyond that noise problem... Internet connections are never reliable.

Wireless jacks introduce noise on the phone too... they are just unpredictable.

Solution:

If you are concerned about getting help consistently during an emergency... DON'T USE ANY OF THESE DEVICES in the telephone jack with your medical alarm system. The risk is simply too high. Keep it simple.

If you must use one of these devices, a separate phone number (a separate phone line) for any medical alarm system or medical alert device is the best solution.

3. What to look for in a medical alarm monitoring center.

1.Do they own their own monitoring center or do they contract out?

There are great privately owned monitoring centers and there are great contracted monitoring centers. There are lousy private and contracted monitoring centers. What you should really be trying to find out.. are they a good certified monitoring center.

Here's the rub. Everyone is making claims of why they are great. As a civilian in this industry... can you tell who is telling the truth?

2. What quality are your operators? Your monitoring Center should be committed to providing the highest quality customer service possible. This includes a comprehensive customer service training program designed to teach the operators how to handle all situations. This program must include a quality control system such as operator evaluations and daily performance reviews. All operators should have the calls recorded and reviewed on a daily basis.

3. How are their operators trained? Your monitoring center should have a comprehensive training program designed specifically for medial alarms. This includes a certification for all operators who handle Medical accounts. The training program teaches the operator how to handle all medical situations. The goal is to ensure that medical emergencies are handled at the highest level of importance and quality. If someone needs medical assistance the operators must have the confidence and training to handle all emergency situations with the utmost accuracy.

4. How many operators do you have? Does it really matter? Your monitoring center should have systems in place to allow controlled growth. This should include a Call Management System (CMS) that monitors the call flow traffic and projects staffing needs. The monitoring center will use this data to project the staffing need for each shift based on time intervals. Heavy traffic periods should have the staffing to control it.

5. How is your monitoring center certified? Our National Monitoring Center is UL listed, FM approved and Department of Defense cleared. These agencies certify our monitoring center and ensure through annual inspections that the monitoring center meet stringent requirements. An example of these requirements are to ensure full redundancy of all systems which means that if a system fails a back-up system is implemented immediately and automatically. Back up power generators and UPS systems are another requirement that provides the monitoring center with the ability to automatically transfer from city power to generator power automatically. There are numerous requirements that a monitoring center must meet in order to hold all three of these certifications. Monitoring centers that can achieve all three of these listings are best prepared for any situation and can ensure that they will not go down and will be available to handle your emergency when you need them no matter what the circumstances are. Very, very few centers in the United States meet all three certifications. I would never use a non UL Listed monitoring center as a bare minimum certification.

6. Are your operators always there to answer the phone? Our’s is a Two-Ring Commitment: Does your monitoring center answer all in-bound calls in two rings or less and by a live person no matter how busy they are?

Our monitoring center has service goals and service commitments that govern how we are performing. We have goals that are monitored on a daily basis?

We always have Spanish speaking operators available.

4. How to choose the correct medical alert equipment?

On 6/28/05 I received this question from AskJeff@SeniorSafety.com

Q: Mr. Miller, I fell upon http://www.seniorsafety.com and read your Choosing the right monitoring center section.

Very informative and food for thought to ask: has anyone conducted a medical alert systems comparison/study?

So far I've seen so many different sites/systems that is very confusing and complicated for anyone, let alone seniors, to decipher the differences, other than cost, among these systems.

Please let me know since I'm in the market for one of these systems for a member of our family.

Thanking you in advance
-ca
...............................................................................................

A: Hi Cesar,

Thanks so much for the compliment.

You are right that it is confusing to decide between systems...and there are new players on the block claiming to have been around forever. They have also opened multiple sites under multiple names, making a variety of claims.

I will address your question more fully shortly.

If companies say they can do things that no other company can do...I would question this. Most good companies have equal equipment and have good service. It's not about the equipment. It's about the follow-up service. There is a lot of work for a medical alarm company to do to make sure all bases are covered.

Reviewing the equipment is easy…reviewing how a company handles all situations is difficult. It requires an extensive test suite be set up to that judge all systems fairly. We are in the process of having a test run at this time.

My best suggestion is to go with your gut. How did you feel when you spoke to the company?

5. In what states do you provide personal medical alarm and alert systems?

We provide service in all 50 states in all cities and towns...since we are so often asked "Where do you have clients?"...we've included some of the cities we have concentrations of medical alarm clients

Alabama,
Anniston, Auburn, Birmingham, Cullman, Dothan, Florence, Gadsden, Gulf Shores, Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery, Orange Beach, Tuscaloosa

Alaska,
Anchorage, Bethel, Delta, EagleRiver, Fairbanks, Galena, Haines, Juneau, Kenai, Ketchikan, Kodiak, Nome, Petersburg, Skagway,Thorne Bay

Arizona,
ArizonaCity, Bullhead City, Casa Grande Chandle, Cottonwood, Douglas, Eloy, Flagstaff, Gilbert, Glendale, Mesa, Phoenix, Prescott, Scottsdale

Arkansas
Arkadelphia, Batesville, Bentonville, Conway, DeQueen, Eureka , Springs, Fayetteville,
Fort Smith, Harrison, Little Rock

California
Anaheim, Bakersfield, Berkeley, Burbank, Chico, Corona, Eureka, Fresno, La Jolla, Los Angeles, Monterey, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco

Colorado
Aspen, Boulder, Canon City, Colorado Springs, Denver, Durango, Fort Collins,Grand Junction, Grand Lake, La Junta, Vail, Windsor

Connecticut
Bridgeport, Bristol, Danbury,
East Haven, Greenwich,
Hartford, Milford, New Haven, New London, Norwalk,
Stamford, Stonington, Stratford,West Hartford

Delaware
Bethany Beach, Dewey Beach, Dover, Georgetown,Harrington, Laurel, Lewes, Middletown, Milford, Newark, Rehoboth Beach, Seaford, Smyrna, Wilmington

District of Columbia
Washington, Capitol Hill, East, Georgetown, North, Southwest

Florida
Boca Raion, Cape Coral, Clearwater, Daytona Beach,
Fort Lauderdale, FortMyers, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, Pensacola, St. Augustine, Tallahassee, Tampa, West Palm Beach

Georgia
Albany, Alpharetta, Athens, Atlanta,Augusta, Bainbridge, Carrollton, Columbus, Danielsville, Gainesville, Homer, Macon, Rome, Savannah, Thomaston, Tifton, Valdosta, Waynesboro,

Idaho
Aberdeen, Boise,
Bonners Ferry, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Falls, Lewiston,
Montpelier, Moscow, Mountain Home, Pocatello,

Illinois
Alton, Arlington Heights, Aurora, Belleville, Bloomington, Bolingbrook, Carbondale, Champaign, Chicago, Niles, Peoria,

Indiana
Bloomington,Charlestown, Evansville, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Muncie, North Vernon, South Bend, Terre Haute, Valparaiso

Iowa
Albia, Ames, Chariton,
Davenport, Des Moines,
Forest City, Iowa City, Mason City, Sioux City, Waterloo,
West Branch, West Union

Kansas
Arkansas City, Baldwin City, Dodge City, Emporia, Goodland, Hays, Hillsboro, Junction City, Kansas City, Leavenworth, Manhattan, Topeka, Wichita

Kentucky
Bowling Green, Columbia, Georgetown, Harrodsburg, Lexington, Louisville, Murray, Paducah, Richmond, Williamstown

Louisiana
Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Denham Springs, Lafayette, Monroe, New Orleans,
Shreveport

Maine
Augusta, Bangor, Kennebunk, Portland, Rockland, Scarborough, South Portland, Stonington,

Maryland
Annapolis, Baltimore, Camp Springs, Frederick, Ocean City, Owings Mills, Salisbury, Upper Marlboro, Westminster

Massachusetts
Acton, Bedford, Berkley,
Boston, Cambridge,
Chelmsford, Cohasset, Springfield, Worcester

Michigan
Allendale, Battle Creek, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Holland, Howell, Lansing, Rochester, Traverse City, Ypsilanti

Minnesota
Becker, Burnsville, Cambridge, Coon Rapids, Duluth, Eden Prairie, Farmington, Minneapolis, St. Paul

Mississippi
Biloxi, Columbus,Hattiesburg, Jackson, Meridian,
Olive Branch, Starkville,
Tupelo, West Point

Missouri
Bowling Green, Cape Girardeau, Columbia, Farmington, Hannibal, Jefferson City, Kansas City, St. Louis, Warrensburg

Montana
Billings, Bozeman, Great Falls, Helena, Kalispell, Missoula, Philipsburg, Sidney, Whitefish

Nebraska
Alliance,Bellevue, Kearney, Lincoln, North Platte, Omaha, Scottsbluff, York

Nevada
Carson City, Fallon, Fernley, Las Vegas, Laughlin, Mesquite, Reno, Sparks, Yerington

New Hampshire
Bedford, Claremont, Concord, Manchester, Milford, Nashua, Warren

New Jersey
Atlantic City, Cape May,East Brunswick, Gloucester City, Hoboken, Jersey City, Newark, Princeton, Trenton, West Paterson, Woodbury

New Mexico
Albuquerque, Artesia, Belen, Carlsbad, Clovis, Deming, Farmington, Las Cruces, Roswell, Santa Fe, Silver City, Socorro, Timberon, Tucumari

New York
Albany, Amsterdam, Auburn,Babylon, Buffalo, Cooperstown, East Hampton, Elmira, Fulton, New York, Niagara Falls, Rochester, Syracuse, Yonkers

North Carolina
Asheville, Boone, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Clayton, Durham, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Greenville, Raleigh, Troy

North Dakota
Bismarck, Fargo, Garrison, Grand Forks, Jamestown, Minot, Napoleon, Underwood, Williston, Wishek

Ohio
Akron, Athens, Cambridge, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo, Youngstown

Oklahoma
Ada, Ardmore, Bixby,Cleveland,Edmond,
Glenpool, Oklahoma City,
Tulsa,

Oregon
Bend, Corvallis, Eugene, Forest Grove, Klamath Falls, Medford, Monmouth, Portland, Roseburg, Salem, Sheridan

Pennsylvania
Allentown, Doylestown, Easton, Erie,Harrisburg, Hershey, Lancaster, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Scranton, Wilkes Barre, York

Rhode Island
Barrington, Bristol,
Coventry, Jamestown,
Newport, Providence,
Sakonnet, South Kingstown, Warren

South Carolina
Anderson, Charleston, Chester, Columbia, Conway, Easley, Florence, Greenville, Myrtle Beach

South Dakota
Aberdeen, Deadwood, Dell Rapids, Lemmon, Madison, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Vermillion

Tennessee
Bristol, Camden, Chattanooga, Cleveland, Jackson, Knoxville, Memphis, Nashville, Smithville

Texas
Amarillo, Austin, Beaumont, Bonham, Corpus Christi, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Hillsboro, Houston, Lubbock, McAllen, Plano, San Antonio, Tyler, Waco

Utah
Cedar City, Logan, Moab, Salt Lake City, St. George, Vernal, West Jordan

Vermont
Burlington, Middlebury,
Randolph, Shelburne, St. Johnsbury, Waitsfield

Virginia
Alexandria, Arlington, Bedford, Bristol, Charlottesville, Christiansburg, Norfolk, Richmond, Roanoke, Williamsburg

Washington
Bellevue, Bremerton, Edmonds, Everett, Mount Vernon, Olympia, Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma, Yakima

West Virginia
Charleston, Clarksburg, Huntington, Marlinton, Parkersburg, Weston

Wisconsin
Appleton, Brodhead, Eau Claire, Florence, Green Bay, Janesville, Madison, Milwaukee, Wausau

Wyoming
Cheyenne, Gillette, Gillette, Jackson, Pinedale, Rock Springs, Wheatland