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Dad is not great at answering my phone calls or monitoring messages. He lives alone and has the lifeline button (but doesn't detect falls). He has the tv up so loud, that he can't hear my calls, or he takes long naps. Sometimes it takes 4-5 hours before he answers my "Are you Ok?" messages. Often, I worry about him, so I go over to his condo to check on him. He has been fine each time; the tv up too loud etc. So, I was thinking; if his cell phone would auto-answer, I could hear the tv up loud and be relieved that he is ok..or he could hear me talking with him and answer. Is there anything you guys are aware of that can do something like this? It could be a messager-type app too, walkie-talkie app? any other ideas?

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There are many security cameras that allow you to check in from your phone. Nanny cams are also accessible by phone.

If your dad is hard of hearing, you can get a flashing light for his phone so he can see when it's ringing. Most iPhones have this setting, so just Google how to activate it if you go that route.
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We have used a combo of an Echo Show and a security camera to communicate with and keep track of my mom. She also doesn’t hear well and often didn’t hear her phone even when she could figure out how to answer it. The Echo Show makes a sound she is able to hear even over the tv plus she can see us and we can see her making conversations much easier. We also have a security camera over her medicine table that also enables us to see if she is in the room and ok or not without intruding on her privacy too much. Her need to have the tv blasting, especially when she wasn’t able to mute or pause it consistently, was a real issue too so we hooked up a splitter thing that allows us to have an ear bud (or two she just doesn’t use one) plugged in which she prefers anyway to listen with and mute the tv in the room.
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Google information on Echo Show to see if that might meet your needs. There may be other devices that are similar.
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Iphone has the ability to auto answer. I got mom a standup charger and zip tied her phone to it so she would not lose the phone or forget to charge it. I deleted all phone numbers that I didn’t want her to get calls from and in setting I selected only allow calls from contact list. This allows her to get calls but not scammers or robo calls. The most important thing to remember is to hang up on your end. It has been wonderful and sometimes more reliable than my alexa echo which uses wifi. I have both. It is peace of mind along with blink motion detector camera ( i told mom they were speakers). I set her auto answer to 10 seconds and put an obnoxious Duck Quacking sound. It gets her attention!
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my2cents Mar 2023
Duck quacking or similar annoying noise might be the answer for this question.
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Hi
I have several suggestions as I’m in the same boat with my elderly dad, however he’s in a memory care facility.
1. I have a camera in his room so I can always see what he’s doing. Inexpensive Wyze cam ($35) and it works PERFECTLY! I can even talk to him through it if I want to. I subscribe to the yearly fee that saves 30 days in the cloud. I can set it to ping me when there is motion, etc. TOTAL PEACE OF MIND FOR ME!
2. BROADLINK PRO ($45) on Amazon. I can control his TV or ANY other remote controlled device from anywhere in the world. Turn it on/off, mute it, change channel for him … anything! It is GREAT! Lots of times I mute the TV before I call :)
3. An app called RecallCue on his tablet. Only costs $5.40/month and I have it set to AUTO ANSWER calls. 2-way video so he can se me too. I can send messages, pics, videos or play music for him all from my IPhone from anywhere in the world. He doesn’t have to do a thing or touch it!
4. I just read an article about a phone thru RAZ MOBILITY that sounds like a great option for elderly.

All of these require internet wifi of course.
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People have posted that they use Alexa this way, it might be worth checking into.
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I know you didn't ask, but what's the lifeline button for?
Maybe get a security camera that you can monitor from your cell phone or computer.
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JoAnn29 Mar 2023
If he falls, he pushes it and the operator sends help.
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I have a Samsung and it allows answering automatically but only when a headset or bluetooth is being used.
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I would get a camera and install it he usually sits plus put one in his bedroom to check on him at night. Even if you could set phone to auto answer, you might hear TV but unlikely he'd be able to hear you with it up so loud. Just hearing the tc blaring won't give you any assurance that he's ok. With camera, you can peek in on him if he doesn't answer phone and see that he's ok.

They have Amazon echo screens for two way visual conversations, but he would have to hear it, just like a phone, and answer for you to see him. Another thought would be a phone for hearing impaired. Some can be set up to make a light flash when it rings. He might not hear the phone ring but possibly see the light flashing off/on. Check his local phone company for phones available to him for hearing impaired
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Apple phone has auto answer function. I set mom’s to 10 seconds and have it verbally auto announce all of her contacts. I set it to a quacking duck ring with the name of the caller. Additionally, I set it so she only hears calls in her contact list (she was getting scammer calls). She has an old iphone 8S and it works wonderfully. Just be sure you tell people who call it is up to them to hang up. Mom cannot touch the phone well enough to make it work. I zip tied it to a stand up charger so it can be charged all the time. She doesn’t go anywhere and when she was holding it, she didn’t charge it or she mislaid it. As others have mentioned. Echo show and blink cameras are very handy. I told her the camera was a speaker but I was the only one who looked in on her. The camera alerting me a great deal made it easy for me to see when she needed more help (confused-walking in circles or one time she was on the floor and didn’t have the strength to get up). It showed me her normal schedule and I was glad to see how well she slept at night and when she napped. She doesn’t know or remember.
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