In Spain, around half a million mobile phones are sold every year, mainly to the elderly. This population segment chooses this type of device because of its simplicity and ease of use for staying in touch with their immediate environment, but even so, they often cannot configure their settings or customize the various options they include. Faced with this situation, SPC, as the leading mobile phone brand in Spain and an expert in the senior segment, has developed a pioneering app to help and care for the elderly or those less familiar with technology remotely. How? By remotely managing their ‘dumb’ phones.
What is SPC Care?
SPC Care, a technological innovation never developed before, will allow relatives or friends of elderly people to remotely manage the settings and operation of their phone to adapt it to their personal needs and receive alerts in certain situations that could affect the elderly person's well-being. This initiative is exclusive to SPC brand mobile phones and is already fully implemented in SPC POLARIS: the first basic phone for the elderly launched on the market that is fully integrated with the app, with other models to follow as the brand updates its catalog.
What are the benefits of SPC Care for the elderly?
The new app will improve and facilitate the relationship of the elderly, not only with technology but also with their loved ones. It shows the location without the elderly person having to do anything, just carry their SPC mobile phone with them (this option is only available if the elderly person's mobile phone has GPS).
With SPC Care, nothing changes for our elderly people, but everything changes for their relatives, who can now lend a hand by using their mobile phone as if they were by their side without compromising their autonomy and strengthening their independence. All of this provides a sense of security for the elderly, who also feel useful and like members of a digital society in which their family and friends are also involved.
What are the benefits of SPC Care for family members?
Using it is very easy: after downloading from the Play Store or Apple Store, the app itself clearly shows the three steps to follow to sync with the compatible SPC mobile phone: registering the caregiver, registering the elderly person, and pairing with the senior phone. Once the process, which only takes a few minutes, is complete, a caregiver, from their smartphone, can:
- Help that senior relative with the configuration of their mobile phone. Anytime, anywhere they can access the settings and make changes such as raising or lowering the ringer volume, turning the SOS button on or off, managing the contacts associated with the SOS button, raising the brightness of their screen, adding contacts to their address book, setting up direct memories and more.
- Know where you are. SPC Care allows you to see the exact location without the elderly person having to send their location (depending on the mobile phone model).
- Ensure their safety. SPC Care alerts you if you have missed calls, if a new message has arrived and sends alerts if something is wrong. For example, if prolonged inactivity is detected, if the mobile battery is about to run out or if the elderly person has pressed the SOS button.
- Protect them against spam and unknown contacts. SPC Care allows you to remotely configure the blacklist of the mobile phone and mark SMS as read and calls as seen so that the elderly person does not interact with potentially fraudulent messages or contacts.
- Keep track of their health. Record upcoming medical appointments to easily remember their check-ups or consultations, the name of the medication they take or check the number of daily steps they have taken. (Depending on mobile phone model).
- Share management with other caregivers. Collaborative care is possible, which provides the peace of mind that there will always be someone available to help and share the responsibility. The app can also be used to link different phones so that the same person can care for more than one elderly person.
First steps in using SPC Care: caregiver data, elder data and linkage
Once the application has been installed on a smartphone, the first steps to complete are:
Create the caregiver's account in SPC Care: name, email, telephone number...
Create the profile of the elderly person as a ‘Cared-for person’. You can do this in two ways:
- create the profile of a new carer by entering their details: name, date of birth, telephone number...
- add a profile of a cared-for person created by another user in SPC Care through their ID (this ID can be found in the administrator's app that manages this profile).
Next, all that's left is to link the device of the elderly person being cared for, which only takes a few seconds:
.- scan the QR shown on the elderly person's mobile phone from the SPC Care menu on their phone, or
enter the IMEI (this is a unique number that identifies each mobile phone worldwide).
Both the QR and the IMEI can be found in the menu of the senior phone; go to the ‘SPC Care’ section and then to the ‘Linking’ option. You can also find the IMEI on the box of the phone by dialling *#06# on the device if that's easier or under the battery of the device.
Once linked, the caregiver can manage the phone remotely from anywhere.
Family members or relatives of the senior can choose between different levels of ‘caregivers’, which will allow them to have more or less control and management power over the senior's phone:
.- administrator: this role is automatically assigned to the creator of the senior's profile, although it can later be changed if the latter designates another administrator (the app requires that there must always be a main administrator) and has full control over all the senior phone's remote management options and over the ‘caregiver's’ profile, and authorises the entry of new ‘collaborators’ or administrators.
.- collaborator: has the same functions as the administrator, except for managing roles of other carers and deleting the senior's profile.
.- guest: can only see from the app how the senior phone is configured without being able to modify or control any parameter.
Once the app has been linked to the senior's phone, the main screen of the application is accessed, where the most interesting information to ensure the safety of the person being cared for can be found. In addition to knowing how much battery their phone has and whether it is being charged, it shows their location and the time of the last update of that location. It is also possible to force a query to know their exact location in real time. From this home screen it is also possible to remotely ring the elderly person's phone to locate them easily and a list of the latest notifications received is displayed.
Use and operation of SPC Care
1.- Make remote settings
From the ‘Device’ section of SPC Care, adjust all the settings of the cared person's mobile phone:
Phone:
Activate or deactivate the Bluetooth and mobile data connection.
Select the language in which you want the device's menus to appear.
Lock the phone's power off option with the ON/OFF button.
Enable/disable the option to answer/hang up a call by opening and closing the flip (*only on flip phones, such as SPC POLARIS)
Set up actions for the up, down, left, right, and OK buttons of the mobile phone
Set automatic power off and power on
Install pending software updates
Display:
Adjust screen brightness
Customize the font size
Choose the format of the senior phone menu.
Sound: from this function you can adjust the volume and/or type of sound for:
Calls
Earpiece
Keys
Messages
SOS:
Enable/disable SOS function
Enable/disable the alarm siren
Enable/disable sending of emergency SMS messages
Configure emergency message
Configure emergency contacts
Alarms: up to 3 alarms can be set to sound on the ‘care’ phone.
Power-on management:
Restart the device (Warning! It is recommended that the senior's phone does not have a security PIN so that the cared-for person does not have to intervene when restarting the device and does not have to enter it manually; until it is entered, the phone will not be recognized as turned on).
Turn off the device (Warning! If the cared-for person's phone is turned off, they will not be able to receive any commands from the app. As with the previous option, it is advisable that the elderly person's phone does not have a PIN).
2.- Contact and communication management
From the ‘Contacts’ section of SPC Care, adjust various options on the caregiver's device related to:
Calls:
Access the call list, distinguishing between outgoing, answered, and missed calls.
Mark all calls as read
Adding that contact to the blacklist
Messages:
Access received SMS and mark as read
View sender information, date/time, and message content.
Add the contact directly to the blacklist
Delete the message
.- Contacts: add or delete
Blacklist: add phone numbers to the blacklist and manage its options:
Block incoming messages
Block incoming calls
.- Direct memories: configure the contact associated with each direct memory of the mobile phone.
Quick memories: configure keys from 2 to 9 and assign a contact to each of them.
3.- Locate him/her
The application allows us to know the location of our cared-for relative at any time. This way, we can find out where they are if they need someone to come help them and they cannot or do not know exactly where they are.
4.- Receive activity and safety alerts
SPC Care receives notifications to alert about missed calls or new messages on the senior’s phone. It also sends alerts if the battery is low, if the device has been inactive for a prolonged period, or if our cared-for relative has pressed the SOS button.
5.- Monitor their health
Caregivers find in this section of the app a place to keep track of upcoming medical appointments for their cared-for relative to easily remember check-ups or consultations, the names of medications they are taking and their medication schedule, or access other health features included in the phone, such as the number of steps taken per time zone or the weekly comparison of daily steps in the case of SPC POLARIS.
SPC POLARIS, the first phone compatible with SPC Care
The revolutionary app comes with SPC POLARIS, the first phone for seniors compatible with SPC Care. This way, the key phone can be fully configured remotely, without needing to be physically with the senior or requiring them to perform any action on the phone.
SPC POLARIS is a basic flip phone with 4G connectivity, ensuring better coverage and clearer call sound.
The phone also includes GPS, which allows it to be located via the app, and an SOS button which, after a long press, automatically calls the 5 designated contacts, making up to 3 rounds of calls if no answer is received. (Attention! It is recommended that the contacts set in the SOS function do not have voicemail activated because if, upon receiving an emergency call, the SOS function detects voicemail, it will assume the call has been answered and stop the process at that moment, so it will not continue making further calls).
This new device for seniors is compatible with hearing aids and includes a built-in charging dock, making it easy to charge and keep in sight at all times. It features 3 customizable direct memory buttons to which a contact can be assigned so that pressing each button automatically calls its linked contact. It also includes 8 programmable speed dial keys from 2 to 9, where eight additional direct contacts can be assigned.
POLARIS also has an address book with 2000 contacts, a rear camera, the option to insert a Micro SD card to expand its storage capacity, and a series of practical features useful for senior users: flashlight, radio, alarm, hands-free, or calculator, among others.
