Giving a mobile phone to an elderly person is much more important than it seems. With the phone, you are also giving them the ability to communicate with their loved ones, take photos and save memories, be closer to those who are far away, feel accompanied even if we can’t be by their side, and even explore the vastness of the Internet in the case of smartphones.
Our elders need a device that lets them do all this and also helps their children and grandchildren take care of them when we can’t do it in person. At SPC, we have thought of all this and developed the Smart Help intelligent care function. It is a set of company-specific features that includes 3 intelligent care options.
REMOTE SETTING
First, Smart Help includes the Remote Configuration option. This gives us the ability to configure some settings on our father’s/mother’s or grandfather’s/grandmother’s phone without needing to do it in person or even pick up the phone ourselves. Now we can do it from our own phone by sending a series of predefined SMS codes to the phone we want to configure.
What you can configure remotely
The Remote Configuration function allows you to make these adjustments on the SPC device from your own phone:
1.- SOS function settings: activate or deactivate it and/or configure the phone numbers assigned to this function.
2.- Add phone numbers: both to the contacts and to speed dial if the phone has this option.
3.- Volume settings: raise the volume of the ringtone, handset, and speakerphone to the maximum.
How to add a trusted phone number
We explain below how simple it is to make these adjustments remotely. The first thing we have to do is "grant permission" from the SPC phone to up to 5 people to perform this operation (depending on the model of the senior phone in question).
It's very easy and quick. After making sure you have Remote Configuration enabled in the Smart Help Settings on your elderly family member's device, you can start adding trusted numbers to the list. One thing you must pay attention to is always including the prefix, even for Spanish phone numbers (+34).
How to proceed with remote configuration
From here, we can start making configuration adjustments from another phone by sending those SMS codes to the phone number we want to configure. Here are some examples of the codes to include in those SMS messages:
- activate the SOS function: *SOS#1#
- delete phone numbers from the SOS list: *SOS#3#2# (to delete the 2nd contact from the SOS list)
- add contacts to speed dial: *MEM#2#2#622222222 (to add the fictitious contact 622 222 222 to direct memory 2)
- increase the volume of the ringtone, earpiece, and speakerphone to maximum (*VOL#MAX).
You can access all predefined codes in our support area which explains the Remote Configuration function in detail.
SMART NOTIFICATIONS
These features have been developed so we can live peacefully knowing our elders are fine when we can’t be with them. How? Very simple!
This option automatically sends an SMS notification to a trusted contact previously configured if certain situations occur.
- Total inactivity notifications*: on one hand, the SPC device alerts the contact configured as “helper” if it detects inactivity on the phone when
- no key has been pressed in 24 hours,
- nor opened or closed the cover in 24 hours (in the case of flip phones),
- nor has it been charged in 4 days.
- Other notifications: The Smart Notification option can send an SMS to another phone to inform that the SPC phone's battery level is below 15% and/or a missed call has not been answered. This other type of notification is very useful for us children/grandchildren because it allows us to call our elderly relative to warn them that they have a missed call and alert them that the battery is low and they need to charge their phone.
You can activate all options or just the ones that interest you most in each case; it only takes a few seconds and here we explain how.
* ZEUS 4G and ZEUS 4G PRO do not include this type of notification; these models use “other notifications.”
SMART RINGTONE
The third major intelligent care option included in the Smart Help feature is the Smart Ringtone. This option is very helpful for those who need a high ringtone volume to clearly hear an incoming call.
Keeping this need in mind for some people, this option included in SPC’s senior phones automatically raises the ringtone to maximum if the device registers 2 missed calls from the same phone number within less than 3 minutes. This way, if the user isn’t carrying the phone when they’re being called or didn’t hear it ring, they won’t miss any important notifications and will hear the ringtone if the same number tries to contact them again.
Activate it with just three taps by following the steps you’ll find in our SPC support center.
WHICH PHONES INCLUDE THE SMART HELP FEATURE?
There are several senior mobile phone options that include the Smart Help feature. At SPC, we stand by our elders and strive to make their lives easier through technology. It’s our way of bringing the latest technological advances closer to those who matter most to us, in a very friendly and approachable way.
The phone models for seniors that include Smart Help are:
Thanks to the functionality and practicality offered by the Smart Help intelligent care options, people who were previously hesitant about technology will now find it an essential trusted companion for their daily lives.
