I know talk to text info is out there but mom has no idea how to use a smart phone. All she wants to do is make and receive calls. I think if she can get a voice activated phone she could do much more.
We got my mom a flip phone (Lively) and thought she would never be able to use it but she can dial the numbers and make calls. All she had to do is open the phone and dial and push OK....pretty easy, But now we are required to dial area codes for all calls so that has been a learning curve for her. she sometimes forgets and sometimes her fingers will hit two numbers at the same time so the call won't work. She doesn't realize what's she's doing and when the phone call won't go through she says something is wrong with the phone. :)
It does take patience, I agree, but training your gadget dragon can be fun too. I think the key points are:
don't rush it don't have unreasonable expectations make sure your step by step instructions really are step by step and don't leave out anything crucial just because it's obvious plan plenty of practice sessions make the machine do something the person actually wants to do, so that she's pleased when it happens.
I myself, being of a certain age, have a chequered history with Siri; but one or both of us have learned a lot since the early days of frustration and violence against poor defenceless hardware. I have been forced by work into a relationship with Google; and I have to admit from a straw poll among family and clients that Alexa seems the best listener (but also the most sinister, being eerily quick to pick up on unintended commands and butt into the conversation). But now that I have given my iPhone a female Australian accent instead of that unctuous male radio host one it came with I get apoplectic with rage far less often - I suppose I don't expect an Australian lady to know that it's incredibly unlikely I'll want to drive to Belgium so it doesn't annoy me when she suggests it as an option.
As long as a person can speak out loud: 1. "Alexa, what time is it?" before 2. "Alexa, call Karen" (and can hear the answers, of course) there's no reason why this shouldn't work.
Just went through this. My mother's flip phone was not staying charge and she was having difficulty seeing the small screen. She would only use it for emergencies. I programmed an icon on the front screen with my number and there was also an icon for 911. But she often fat fingers my icon when she is plugging in the phone so I get lots of "air" calls.
Mother fell in the kitchen three weeks ago and broke her hip. She was not wearing her medical alert, could not get up, and could not reach any of the regular phones. She slid herself on her back to her sitting room and was able to snag her cell phone.
She called me and hung up three times. I called her regular phone twice and she did not answer. (I put on my shoes and grabbed my keys at this point) She called again and finally said something into the cell phone.
We've gone over the use of this phone many times in the last two years....and it just didn't stick. ( and apparently neither did the importance of the emergency medical alert device)
If you can set it up for her and her memory is good enough for her to speak instructions aloud, then yes - it would be possible for her to make calls using any of the Siri or Google or Alexa enabled cellphones/systems. But she'd need support with it, and quite a lot of support until she's got the hang of it: are your tech skills up to the challenge?
Contact her local phone company (landline). They'll provide a special phone with gigantic buttons and volume and tone controls free of charge through the ADA.
The only drawback to those phones is that while they're push button, they work like an old dial phone (push the 2 and you'll hear "tick-tick," push 3 -- "tick-tick-tick"). You can't use it for any automated "press 1 for English" - type calls unless they've somehow updated them since we got one for my mother.
I agree with JoAnn29, have the person keep using the landline. The landline telephones are ingrained in their minds for over a half a century. They know to use them even when blind. Get a telephone that is set for the hard of hearing. Should be easy to find on the Internet, and get one for each room in the house.
We still use our landlines, won't give them up. I recently got a Jitterbug Smart Phone for texting but am perplexed on how to use most of the features. The KISS concept was not used. Daily I accidently hit the Alert button many times and have to scramble to cancel the call. It's due to a poor location on the face of the phone, as every time I pick up the phone, my palm lands on the Alert button :P
FF, touch and hold that alert icon, drag to another not so easily touched area on the screen. I have a new phone that I keep touching the "listen to me", speech recognition button. I had to go to the verizon store for something else and asked for help. That worked on my phone.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ypHDbBArAaQ
To disable the "CALL 5*" button you need to disable the "Lively" app on your device. Follow these steps from your home screen: Select "Options" > "View Phone Settings" > "Android Settings" > "Apps" > scroll down and select "Lively" > Select "Force Stop" and then "Disable".
Just get her a landline with a phone for the hard of hearing. She picks up when it rings, she puts down when the call is over. You can set it up for her favorite #s like #1 is you #2 a friend. Not sure how Alexa would works. Can she say "Alexa call Joan"? But then its the hearing thing. Can Alexa be bluetoothed to a hearing aide. My husband can have this option with his newest aide. My BIL has a bluetooth hearing aide.
don't rush it
don't have unreasonable expectations
make sure your step by step instructions really are step by step and don't leave out anything crucial just because it's obvious
plan plenty of practice sessions
make the machine do something the person actually wants to do, so that she's pleased when it happens.
I myself, being of a certain age, have a chequered history with Siri; but one or both of us have learned a lot since the early days of frustration and violence against poor defenceless hardware. I have been forced by work into a relationship with Google; and I have to admit from a straw poll among family and clients that Alexa seems the best listener (but also the most sinister, being eerily quick to pick up on unintended commands and butt into the conversation). But now that I have given my iPhone a female Australian accent instead of that unctuous male radio host one it came with I get apoplectic with rage far less often - I suppose I don't expect an Australian lady to know that it's incredibly unlikely I'll want to drive to Belgium so it doesn't annoy me when she suggests it as an option.
As long as a person can speak out loud:
1. "Alexa, what time is it?" before
2. "Alexa, call Karen"
(and can hear the answers, of course)
there's no reason why this shouldn't work.
"violence against poor defenceless"?! You crack me up!
Mother fell in the kitchen three weeks ago and broke her hip. She was not wearing her medical alert, could not get up, and could not reach any of the regular phones. She slid herself on her back to her sitting room and was able to snag her cell phone.
She called me and hung up three times. I called her regular phone twice and she did not answer. (I put on my shoes and grabbed my keys at this point) She called again and finally said something into the cell phone.
We've gone over the use of this phone many times in the last two years....and it just didn't stick. ( and apparently neither did the importance of the emergency medical alert device)
Is that the underlying problem? Needing more social contact, activity & connection than she currently has?
Contact her local phone company (landline). They'll provide a special phone with gigantic buttons and volume and tone controls free of charge through the ADA.
The only drawback to those phones is that while they're push button, they work like an old dial phone (push the 2 and you'll hear "tick-tick," push 3 -- "tick-tick-tick"). You can't use it for any automated "press 1 for English" - type calls unless they've somehow updated them since we got one for my mother.
We still use our landlines, won't give them up. I recently got a Jitterbug Smart Phone for texting but am perplexed on how to use most of the features. The KISS concept was not used. Daily I accidently hit the Alert button many times and have to scramble to cancel the call. It's due to a poor location on the face of the phone, as every time I pick up the phone, my palm lands on the Alert button :P
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ypHDbBArAaQ
To disable the "CALL 5*" button you need to disable the "Lively" app on your device. Follow these steps from your home screen: Select "Options" > "View Phone Settings" > "Android Settings" > "Apps" > scroll down and select "Lively" > Select "Force Stop" and then "Disable".
https://www.amazon.com/ask/questions/TxRKHQPM3YSVQI
Just get her a landline with a phone for the hard of hearing. She picks up when it rings, she puts down when the call is over. You can set it up for her favorite #s like #1 is you #2 a friend. Not sure how Alexa would works. Can she say "Alexa call Joan"? But then its the hearing thing. Can Alexa be bluetoothed to a hearing aide. My husband can have this option with his newest aide. My BIL has a bluetooth hearing aide.