Has anyone used the TeleCalm service?

Techie, welcome back.  You have been missed!

I've never heard of this service.   Interception of 911 calls would concern me, as 911 is a direct line to needed services, and could result in unnecessary and/or disastrous delays.  (see excerpt below)

I like the idea of keeping telemarketers from hassling people.   Do you have any idea how this is accomplished?  I've seen tv ads for "apps" that intervene and apparently offer ridiculous responses.   But I haven't been impressed.

Personally, I wouldn't want anyone interfering with my seniors (when they were alive) calling in the middle of the night, as they were always calls for emergencies.  

Repeated calls weren't a problem for me, although I've read of others here whose seniors did engage in that behavior.   I've always felt sorry for the seniors, needing to reach out for so much support.

From a Google search:

"The teleCalm Trust service is designed for independent seniors and filters out robocallers before they have a chance to ring through to the senior's phone. Our Trust service learns over time who your loved one's trusted contacts are based on their calling habits."

Independent seniors - would they benefit from this kind of service?   There are also other robo filters that I've read about but didn't pay much attention to them.   The last sentence would concern me.    I would assume that AI is used to determine who "trusted contacts" are, but it seems to be based on calling habits, and those vary widely.    Some of my "trusted contacts" don't call more than annually, some less, and I definitely wouldn't want them intercepted.

Some questions or concerns I might have, based on this source:

https://www.telecalmprotects.com/faq/?nowprocket=1

1.   " This is designed for independent seniors in a senior living community that are looking for regular phone service with robocall blocking. "   It has limited applications, obviously.  

2.   "How do I transfer or port a phone number?
To transfer a phone number to teleCalm, you must complete a Letter of Authorization (LOA) provided by teleCalm and provide a complete copy of a recent phone bill."

I wouldn't even consider this w/o reading the Letter of Authorization, which I suspect has some clauses I would find legally objectionable.   I would also wonder why it requires a "complete" copy of a recent phone bill.   My phone bill doesn't list any long distance calls; it certainly doesn't address any incoming calls.  

2.    Emergency calls:

"we provide 911 service. During signup, you will be asked to provide the physical address of the end user. The physical address provided is used to route the 911 call to a local emergency response center."   

I wouldn't be comfortable with this as it seems to be primarily a substitute for a direct 911 call.  

3.. Power outages:

"911 service will not function in the event of a broadband or power outage, or if your broadband, ISP or teleCalm service is suspended or disconnected" 

So someone needs to have broadband coverage?    Hmmm.....


https://www.telecalmprotects.com/2019/01/30/best-senior-friendly-home-phones-for-2019/?nowprocket=1

The company:

https://www.telecalmprotects.com/about/?nowprocket=1

Terms of Service:

https://www.telecalmprotects.com/terms-of-service/?nowprocket=1

911 Disclaimer (uh, oh!)

"911 Disclaimer
teleCalm is providing a VoIP phone service. Emergency calling service/911 might not be available from this line under certain circumstances, including but not limited to:

During an electrical power outage
During a broadband service outage (for Ethernet service)
During a loss of cellular signal (for Wireless service)
Relocation of the teleCalm adapter from the Provisioned Address
More information:

Continued, more research:

"More information:

https://www.telecalmprotects.com/2019/01/30/best-senior-friendly-home-phones-for-2019/?nowprocket=1

The company:

https://www.telecalmprotects.com/about/?nowprocket=1

Terms of Service:

https://www.telecalmprotects.com/terms-of-service/?nowprocket=1

I've never seen this advertised in the AARP publications, never heard of it, and even though it offers some valuable services, it seems just too technologically oriented AND dependent, for me to consider.   

I also abhor, resent and have contempt for companies with exclusionary liability limitations.

Sorry to be so negative, but I always look at "senior" options with a mirror to root out potential limitations.

I can help with information on teleCalm's service. As the company founder, I was my mother's caregiver for over 5 years, and created teleCalm to solve the biggest issues families have related to the telephone and their parent with dementia. We are now helping families solve phone related issues across the US, both in private homes and over 500 senior living communities.

I invite you to see what other families have to say.

You can also see customer reviews on the Better Business Bureau website, where we have an A+ rating -- https://www.bbb.org/us/tx/carrollton/profile/senior-services/telecalm-0875-90900694

Here is a quick walk-through of how the service works, but we also welcome any questions you have, simply call or text us at 888-701-0411.

teleCalm's Caregiver service stops problem calls for families living with Alzheimer’s and other cognitive challenges. Our landline and cell phone service empowers family caregivers to stop late-night calls, repeated calls, and 911 abuse, while protecting loved ones from deliberate and targeted fraud. teleCalm helps reduce isolation, by keeping loved ones connected with family and friends, while protecting against targeted fraud and saving family caregivers from phone-related stress.

The family caregiver manages all the features and benefits of the service remotely through our easy-to-use teleCalm Caregiver app, including:
- Managing trusted contacts for incoming and outgoing calls
- Setting up Quite Hours, if late-night calling is an issue
- Setting up Repeat Dialing, if needed to curb repeated call issues

The teleCalm service evaluates each incoming and outgoing call, deciding whether the call should be allowed, blocked, or re-routed.

Only incoming calls from trusted contacts ring on the senior's telephone. This protects the senior living with Alzheimer's from all telemarketers and scam calls.

Outgoing calls can be filtered as well, to block certain calls to unwanted destinations or to limit calls only to family and friends.

teleCalm's Quiet Hours and Repeat Dialing features help for those seniors where late-night and repeated calls are the problem behaviors as a result of their dementia.
- Quiet Hours details: https://www.telecalmprotects.com/2019/02/20/quiet-hours-creates-peaceful-time
- Repeat Dialing details: https://www.telecalmprotects.com/2019/02/01/repeat-dialing-feature-for-dementia-stops-compulsive-repeat-phone-calls

For seniors living independently, teleCalm provides direct 9-1-1 service to their local PSAP (Police, Fire, Ambulance).
For seniors living in Assisted Living and Memory Care communities who continually make unnecessary 9-1-1 calls, teleCalm is able to block or re-route these calls to an-onsite nurse station instead -- because they have access to 24-hour emergency care .

Please note that teleCalm Trust is a different service for independent seniors who do not require a caregiver or the advanced services described above.

I hope this helps answer most of your questions, but again invite you to reach out with more.

Apparently you haven't read the Terms of Services, from which this excerpt applies:

"The following are examples of some actions and activities that are prohibited by you in accessing and/or using the Sites and/or Services, and you agree not to do any of the following:

Using the Sites for commercial purposes."

Your response seems to me to fall into the category of commercial purpose. 


I checked the BBB site; it contains this notice:   "THIS BUSINESS IS NOT BBB ACCREDITED".    There is in fact an A rating, although I'm not sure how that was obtained, especially for an unaccredited business.

I note that there's no information on executive salaries or monetary allocation.  I always look for that as it reveals so much about the company.



https://www.agingcare.com/aboutus/termsofuse