I have received a rash of calls lately from frantic family members. What is making them frantic? It is their parents, who after placing or answering a phone call, forget to hang-up their phone, or place it in the cradle incorrectly.
Why is this frenzy producing? Because many of these same parents are elderly, living on their own, and wearing an emergency pendant to access help. Most often, the pendant relies on the existing phone line being available to call for help. But, for it to work the phone must be on-hook!
Thankfully, there is a telephone available that has an automatic on-hook feature that activates after eight minutes. So if a parent forgets to hang-up, or places the handset in the cradle incorrectly, this built-in Geemarc AMPLI600 feature recognizes the phone is off-hook and automatically places it on-hook.
This action opens the line, and now the existing emergency pendant will work. If this is a problem someone in your family is currently experiencing, know that this is one assistive technology solution available to deal with it.
If you have other questions about telephone access for people with hearing, vision, speech or mobility loss IPAT can help. Call 800-895-4728 or begin to explore options here.