Customer Reviews

ClearSounds Amplified SOS Alert Telephone (CS-TALK500-ER)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Phone works as advertised for urgent "SOS" calls to landlines, but with cellphones--which is how you would contact most people in an emergency that can occur any time of day--the phone keeps dialing other numbers and will not let you answer or stop it. I called customer service and they told me to test the phone with landlines, which worked fine. Shouldn't they tell you this upfront about cell phone difficulties?

Easy to set up and works great. The pendant is not like a lot of other phones of this type - the button is recessed a little bit so it is not easily set off. Can be worn around the wrist or the neck. - This was not in any of the documentation and I thought was a great feature.

I would recommend this to anyone with a limited budget and elderly parents. The knowledge that I am only a button away from knowing if they need help, makes a world of differnece.

I purchased this phone for my elderly parents. My father has mild-moderate Alzheimer's and rarely uses a phone anyway. We were concerned that he could not manage to summon help if my mother was incapacitated. With this phone, he recognizes the significance of the SOS button and we've made 911 the first number on the emergency call list. (That being the case, it's very unlikely that the emergency call will get any further, but we did add some family landline numbers to the queue.) We tested the system and 911 did respond, triggering the speakerphone. (The 911 operator thought the phone was a great idea, BTW.) The phone is worth it just for this capability alone.

A couple of negatives ... the flashing light signifying a missed incoming call cannot be disabled. My mother is used to checking her portable phone/answering system for missed calls. Now also checking the new phone is just one more thing for her to do and my dad objects if the signal is left flashing. That's a pretty minor thing, but since there's a menu function for altering the rate of flashing, why not just add "OFF" to the options? Secondly, the thumbwheel control that should regulate the handset volume only works if the user first pushes another button. I was hoping that some level of mild amplification would be easily available to my mom for certain calls. It would be less confusing if the 40 dB "boost" function and the handset volume were independent.

We got this phone because of an elderly relative who lives alone. We set it up, tested it throughout a 2100 square foot house and found that it works as advertised. Our relative wears the pendant button around his neck and if he falls or needs help, he simply pushes the emergency button and it calls our house, cellphone and then other relatives should we not answer. When he pushes the button, it automatically calls and turns the speaker phone on. We use it this way rather than have it call 911 as we can quickly determine if the call is truly an emergency or he just needs other help and cannot get to the phone. I gave it four stars rather than five simply because you really have to stay focused to get it set up to dial all the numbers you want. That part is a little complicated and certainly no chore for some elderly. If you do order it, have it sent to your home and get it setup before taking it to their homes or apartments. There are no failsafe ways to protect those who may truly need help due to a fall or whatever, however, this is a step in the right direction and certainly helps give everyone more peace of mind. I suppose the monitered services might be better, especially if you have no friends or relatives in their area, however, we decided that we wanted to be called first to have knowledge of the problem and then decide what level of help is actually needed. Almost everyone has a cellphone these days so getting a call immediately is not a problem. Some elderly or otherwise challenged people may not even be able to actually dial a telephone even if they are sitting next to it so this can serve dual purposes if needed. Nice product, fair price and it works as advertised. I have never had a problem with any delivery when using Amazon.com or their dealers so getting products on a timely basis or in good condition has never been an issue.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well this device seems to work, and fulfills my (mother's) needs. The range of the remote is more than adequate for her home. Being able to press the remote to simply answer the speakerphone is a great feature. The speakerphone works well, even at a distance. The remote can be worn around the neck, or on the wrist - it comes with both the lanyard and wrist strap. It claims to be waterproof, which is a great feature, though I have not put it through the test. I had a technical question, and the company responded relatively quickly via email to answer it, which us a good sign. I like the fact that I can put lots of people in the call list (up to 30, which I will never use). I also like that it will keep repeating the dialing attempts, and not quit after going through the list. The features for the price are excellent.

Now if I can just get her to stop hanging it on her walker, and put the da-- thing on her wrist, it will be much more effective...

This is a phone that I purchased for my dad as he is by himself at times and is 75 so that I knew that if he needed help and he could not get to the phone he would have a way to contact emergency help. He is very pleased with it as I.
I had purchased a similar type phone in the past that I had to have replaced 3 times due to a malfunction of differnt things. The company replaced the phone for me each time, but felt that 3 times is a little much.

Last year, I bought my mother a Guardian911 Alert phone. It works great but I found that she was not using it when she falls because she did not want to bring the fire, police and ambulance over every time this happens. With this device, she can just press the pendant and it will call a neighbor or my sister or brother who can come over and help her up. For a real emergency, she can use the Guardian.

This is very well built and works as advertised. The only glitch is if she calls someone, they respond (by pressing 0) and say they cannot assist and hang up. It supposed to call the next person in line but it waits 2 minutes to do so. However before that time, the dialtone times out(like when you leave the phone off hook), making it unable to dial. You have to hit the button again and start the process over, including dialing the person who cannot help you.

That situation is rare if ever and should not dissuade you from buying this. But remember, for a real life threatening emergency, get a Guardian 911 phone as well.

The caller ID only annouce the caller's number.For the visually impaired it is unless you know the number of everyone calling you or have programmed the number into memory. The other features worked as expected.Trying to read the caller ID when you're blind is a drag. Voice annouce would make this phone just about perfect.

Purchased because my husband recently had a seizure and was looking for a more economical way to make sure he was able to reach someone in case of an emergency. A service was too expensive and after talking to a close friend that had one for his mother-in-law, I learned that that also had it's draw-backs. So I felt that this system would fit right into our life style. I did have a problem with it calling my cell phone and had to have my cell carrier do a system update on my phone to make it work. When it called my cell number which is first on the call list, it would go directly into my voice mail, then call my son's cell phone. Also, since my cell is a touch screen, I found that I had to push the codes much harder to stop the phone from calling the next emergency contact. These little glitches are now worked out and it works well. Am now looking through the manual to change the ringer, which my husband finds annoying. Would definetly recommend to others.