Freedom Alert Emergency System

After my dad passed, my mom wanted to stay in her house but has some health problems and is also a fall risk, so we knew we needed SOMETHING for her to wear so she could get help if she needed it. We started researching and found a dizzying number of solutions, most requiring a monthly subscription fee that connects you to a call center. Since mom is on a fixed income, we didn't want to burden her with a monthly fee so we focused more on our options that wouldn't require a monthly fee. Out of all the options we found, we chose this one for a variety of reasons.First, we liked the fact that we could program it with a call sequence. If mom holds down the red button for two seconds it will first dial my sister. If she doesn't answer live, it then calls me. If I don't answer, it will try her neighbor across the street. And finally, if she can't reach any of us, it calls 911. When the call is answered it plays a pre-recorded message letting the answerer know that this is a distress call and then lets them talk to my mother. We loved the fact that it doesn't immediately go right to 911, which can avoid needless emergency calls if she accidentally triggers it. (But you DO have to hold the button down for 2 seconds to activate it, which helps avoid "misfires" from momentary accidental button presses.)The second feature we love is that the pendant has both a microphone and speaker built into it. Some similar units have a smaller pendant but don't have a mic and speaker in it. They rely on a base unit that sits somewhere in the house and acts as a speaker phone. If the base was in the kitchen and my mother fell in the bedroom, the bathroom, or the sun porch, it would be impractical for her to yell loud enough for the base unit to hear her and she would not be able to hear the answerer speaking back to her. So the mic and speaker inside the pendant work great (and in tests we did the call quality is outstanding).The rechargeable battery lasts about 30 days and it comes with a spare battery inside the base unit that will always be charged. The pendant will notify her when the battery is getting low, and when it does that, she just swaps the two batteries, putting the spent battery in the base unit to charge, and moving the charged battery from the base unit to the pendant. We rehearsed it all with her and she was able to do it no problem.Note that this unit DOES require you to have a home phone (not a cell phone) for it to tap into. In a sense, it acts as a "smart cordless phone" on your existing home line. However, my mother DID recently switch from a traditional wired phone to an internet-based voice-over-IP (VOIP) internet-based phone and it works just fine with the VOIP line. So if your loved one has internet and no home phone, you could very inexpensively get them a VOIP phone line to tie this to.Overall we are very satisfied with this unit. It's brought us all a lot of peace of mind. We thoroughly tested it and were able to verify that 911 could see her exact home address when it calls. Mom wears the pendant religiously, even placing it outside the shower on the floor when she showers (we talked through various scenarios such as shower falls, etc.). It's brought us a lot of peace of mind for a modest one-time investement.

Very easy to setup, 95% reliable. It came with a special battery, too prolong the life of the battery, don't leave it in the charger all the time. Takes it out when it is fully charge.

Seems to work really well.Very satisfied with the product.

This is a video I made of my mom using the unit. When we were making the decision whether or not to purchase it, I really could have used a video like this one so I could HEAR how it works. A lot of older people are hard of hearing, so the clarity and loudness of the unit was a big factor we wanted to know, that was not addressed by other reviews.This is very easy to install and program.REASON TO BUY:I can honestly say, I'm very pleased with the performance and ease of use of the Freedom Alert product. My dear mom is elderly and lives alone. I'm close by, and this unit means peace of mind for her and our family.Like mom pointed out, if she falls, or has a problem, she'd rather call family to come over first. If 911 is called (it is automatically if she can't reach the four people we programmed in), they would have to break down the door to get in.HOW WE PROGRAMMED IT:Just for an idea: we programmed in our cell number, our office, another relative, then mom's next door neighbor (with permission of course). The machine calls each number in succession, if it gets a busy signal, or voice mail, it continues to the next number until it exhausts all possibilities, before calling 911.EXPANDABLE:The beauty of this product, is that you can expand it and add on other pendants, so that you can cover several people in one home.HOW FAR AWAY IT WORKS:I tested the unit out in the yard, in the bathrooms, and in each room of mom's 4 bedroom house. It even works across the street. You know how sometimes your cell phone doesn't work in some rooms? This is not like that - it works everywhere equally well.BATTERY:A lot of reviews complain about the battery. We've used it about a month. The battery needs to be put on the charger every few days (around once a week or so). It comes with one battery in the pendant, and one for the charger, so you always have a working unit. And after a year or so of constant use, any battery needs to be replaced, so plan on buying one from the internet. (Amazon comes to mind!)WEIGHT:It must weigh something, but it's so lightweight that it's not a factor. Mom puts it in her pocket, but it comes with a clip for belts, the neck, and wrist.SUMMATION:I'm going to purchase another unit for another relative in another home soon. This product is well worth the money for safety and peace of mind.UPDATE: The machine is easily transferable. Mom passed away after a brief illness, and I took the machine over to my brother in laws. I installed it, and reprogrammed it with new phone numbers in about 5 minutes. I kept the book and the little box, so that helped with the process.

Easy for her to operate. Has helped a few times when she has fallen. Like that she can talk into it. Must have a landline to use. Batteries were dead when we got it. Husband had to force them to start charging. Has worked well since. Good peace of mind with no extra charges or fees