Grandparents and elders

Not everyone wants a smartphone. A desk phone with real keys and a proper handset is easy to use, always in the same place, and always charged.

What it does

• One press to call family. Pair the phone as My own phone for the person who uses it, and their family’s names sit on the digit keys: lift the handset, press 1 for Ana.
• Only people they know. Calls come only from their own household and the connections they (or whoever helps them set it up) have accepted. No phone numbers, so no robocalls and no scams by phone.
• Voicemail they can hear on the phone. Missed calls show on the screen; with the handset up, MENU, 2, then 1 plays new messages.
• The grandkids can call. A kid’s phone in another household reaches them through the families’ connections, with the kid’s guardians deciding.

Daily check-in (labs)

The labs firmware adds a check-in mode: each morning they press key 1, “I’m OK”. If nobody presses it by the time you set (say 10:00), the family gets an alert in their voicemail inbox (“Grandma didn’t check in by 10:00.”), and their own phones show it as missed. The phone can also show reminders, like 08:30 PILLS, until a key is pressed.

The check-in has been tested on a computer, not yet on a real board. It needs the phone to be connected to a server: your own or the free hub.

Start

1. Get started and create an account for them, or invite them to your household.
2. Pair a phone as My own phone.
3. Connect them with family under Connections, and set up voicemail.