Everything about this plan is very good. I certainly felt safer when I wore it in the bathroom and in bed in case I got up during the night - the so called "danger times" for falls.
The Telecare24 pendant plan is designed simply and efficiently to make it as easy as possible for a person wearing it to get help quickly, should they need to. It’s small and light design mean that it is comfortable enough to be worn around the home, almost without thinking about it.
In the box you will find the alarm itself, two straps for different wearing options (either as a pendant around the neck or on the wrist), the simple set-up guide, and a base unit. Set-up is super easy. Simply plug the base unit into a landline and mains plug, give the alarm a quick test that it’s working and you’re good to go!
The system isn’t complicated to use. Should your relative fall or find themselves in need of assistance, all they need to do it press the button on the pendant. The base unit then takes over, and after a brief period to make sure it isn’t a false alarm, it dials out to Telecare24’s TSA accredited monitoring team. Whatever the time of day someone will be on the other end of the line (in an average of 9 seconds) to ask if your relative needs help. The base unit has a very loud speaker and sensitive microphone so the pendant wearer can hear and speak to the responder up to 200m away or through thick walls.
Get £10 off when you use our code - agespace10
We have a panel of older people who review products featured on Age Space. We asked Roey, 89, from London, to review this product.
She ordered the Telecare24 Pendant, used it for a week and afterwards we asked her some questions based on her experience. Click on each question to open her answer.
It did. It came the next day after I had returned my completed service agreement plan. All in one piece, nothing broken!
I had no problem setting up the base unit. I have broadband so I couldn't just plug it directly into the landline socket, however the little set-up booklet comes with two very clear diagrams of what to do if you do and don't have broadband, which were easy to follow. They were such lovely diagrams I would even make them fill up the entire page, to make them a little bit bigger. Once the base unit is plugged in and switched on... that's it! I pressed the button on the pendant to run a test and it dialed the 24/7 monitoring team immediately.
After pressing the button on the pendant, which I did from several different rooms in my flat, the base unit dialed the monitoring team. They answered really quickly every time. Wherever I was in the flat I could clearly hear the lady from the response team who asked if I was okay.
Everytime I tested the call function on the device the person at the other end of the line was always friendly and easy to hear and understand. I even accidentally set the alarm off at 3am and the lady in the response team was happy to hear from me and even made a couple of jokes - most welcome after I had been stressing about setting it off! I never felt that I was bothering them and if I ever actually needed them I'd feel reassured they would be able to get me help.
For the most part yes. I preferred wearing it with the lanyard, around my neck and quickly got used to it. I did prefer it when I had adjusted it to make it shorter as I found it swung around less. It is really light and for the most part I actually forgot I was wearing it! The only small annoyance was that after I'd worn it in the shower the strap holds water and needed drying - which I did by wrapping it around my towel rail! It dried quickly and was not enough of an annoyance to stop me wearing it.
I'd wear it all the time but especially in those 'danger times'. So I would certainly wear it in the bathroom when taking a shower or bath - if only to avoid an awkward encounter with my keyholder should I ever slip! For the same reason I think I'd wear it in bed - in case I needed to get up in the night. Never more at risk of a fall when I'm a little bleary eyed in the early hours and I don't think I'd remember to put it on if I left it on my bedside table.
Overall I'm very impressed. The set-up is super simple, the pendant is light and comfortable, and the response team were lovely, quick and efficient. I am actually going to get the Telecare24 pendant plan for myself as I know that my family would feel reassured if I had and wore one.
It just works. Simple and efficient. With lovely people always on the other line
Included in the price of the Telecare24 Pendant plan is rental of one pendant and base unit and monthly subscription to the 24/7 monitoring service. There are two ways to pay for the plan, either once every three months or pay for 12 months at once, which works out cheaper. For both options there is a one time set-up fee of £45.
Telecare24’s personal alarms are also eligible for VAT exemption, which means you don’t need to pay VAT if the person you’re buying for has a disability or long-term medical condition. They say that 95% of their customers don’t need to pay VAT.
Not including VAT, pay for 3 months for £41.97 (+ set-up fee) or 12 months for £120 (+set-up fee) – which works out at £10 per month.
Age Space users can also get £10 off by using our special discount code, agespace10.
The basic pendant talked about in our review does not include fall detection or GPS tracking as standard. However, Telecare24 does also sell personal alarms with these upgraded features, should you think your relative would benefit from them.
"Very helpful when requesting help over the phone to find the right equipment for my Mum. Kit itself came quickly and very easy to set up. Did a test call and very impressed with how loud and clear it is. Really lovely call centre chap who spoke to us was clear and helpful and made Mum feel much happier with using it. Really put our minds at rest that Mum will get help if needed when we aren’t there."
