Help Wanted, No, Needed

[MauriceMynah]

I am trying to organise a telephone for an elderly lady. I have some problems.

1. the lady is 91 years old and not computer literate in any way. She needs a telephone, not a 5G tablet/phone/computer/mp3player.

2 She is hard of hearing and...

3. Her eyesight is pretty poor as well.

4. the room in which she sits does not have a "BT" socket.

5. She never sits in the room that has the BT socket, nor will she.

6. We cannot run an extension line from the room she doesn't sit in to the one she does. Also, the BT connection is questionable

7. She has a mobile, but cannot use it because the buttons are too small (she can't read them).

So, we need an old fashioned Mobile with the biggest clearest buttons available. What ideas do you all have!  

 

[DAVIDH]

Doro phones are marketed for the elderly. Take a look at the Amazon offerings - look down the list - not just smartphones sold.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SIM-Free-Mobile-Phones-Smartphones-Doro/s?rh=n%3A356496011%2Cp_89%3ADoro

[addicted]

 I'm sure I qualify as elderly although not yet 91. I got a smart phone -  the name is I think a contradiction of terms as it was the most stupid thing ever. I swapped it for a doro andI managed to set that up without even referring to the instructions and it's great. it's a flip phone so Tony doesn't cut people off instead of answering them.

 

 

Carole

[FrankHughes]

Hi this might be dumb and don’t know where the Lady lives. I would contact local social work department, ask for an assessment by social work and O/T. They could and should asses your friends needs and either provide or recommend aids devices etc. 

I am aware that 5his might be a contentious issue. There should a sensory impairment team that could provide expert advice and support.

This a suggestion from someone that lives in Scotland so not know how it might apply in this ladies area.

Also it can be difficult getting the person to acknowledge and accept help esp people of your friends age. 

I really hope she gets the assistance she needs and deserves

 

[vanessan]

It might be worth contacting the RNID, now referred to Action on Hearing Loss I believe. They may be able to suggest something. Maybe too the RNIB in view of her poor eyesight. Hope you manage to sort something out. 

[Chelsea14Ian]

There are available some mobile phones that are basic,with large numbers.It may be worth contacting mobile providers. Hopefully someone  more tech savvy will be more helpful then me MM.

[OldBerkshireBoy]

https://www.google.co.uk/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwirpefGjo_iAhXqne0KHfQSAPQYABAGGgJkZw&sig=AOD64_00tndzHw_SVlw1rBmlD8uq-2kxqQ&ctype=5&q=&ved=0ahUKEwjx49_Gjo_iAhVTVhUIHUIoCEwQ9aACCFE&adurl=

Something like this? Even say`s it has talking numbers.

[ZimbiIV]

A simple land line phone with an addition phone about £20, the base plugs into the BT socket and the second one just needs a power supply.

We had to does this for my Mother who didn't understand mobile phones but could cope with and old type phone.

BT should sort out the line pronto under the circumstances.

Otherwise contact social services (with trepidation).

paul

[woodwose]

I had an aunt with similar problems. She could only use a corded phone and could not cope with the red and green buttons on wireless phones or mobiles. Her argument was that corded phones don't have them so she was certainly not going to use a phone that did. In the end I got her a corded phone with big buttons which she did not like because the buttons were "staring at her". So I sent that one back and got a very similar one with more benign buttons. This solved the problem.

What is stopping you from running an extension led from the master jack to the room she is sitting in? Phone leads are only 50V and can be tacked round skiting boards or even run under carpets. That might be the best solution and then she can use a phone she is familiar with.

Nigel (Ludham)

[MauriceMynah]

Hi Nigel,

Imagine a long narrow house (It used to be a Chapel) it has a front room that has the BT socket. then a hallway alongside the dining room. The stairs opposite the front door then the fairly large kitchen. Tacked onto the back of the house is an extension (built in the late 1800s) which as a small room where everybody actually lives and this is where the phone is needed. There is a long extension phone lead that reaches from the front room to the kitchen. I suspect that lead may well have the fault I mentioned. The route from the kitchen to the back room is a minefield.

Most of the house suffers from damp and 30 years or so of poor maintenance. Her son is as much use as a chocolate fireguard when it comes to jobs around the house. He has the intentions to do things, but as an alcoholic things just don't get done.

I can only get involved to a certain level, any more and I get the feeling I'm treading on toes, very fragile toes. Although it is his mothers house, I live here on his good grace, so to say I'm walking on eggshells is putting it lightly. He disapproves of computers as well and has trouble getting his mind round the TV remote.

His mother at 91 is the fittest of the three of us.!!!

[ExSurveyor]

I think it might have been suggested, but.

I use a plug in thing at the master socket, this uses the electric cable to connect to another plug in socket at the other end of the house.

Any phone can be plugged in and it works well.

[MauriceMynah]

20 hours ago, psychicsurveyor said:

I think it might have been suggested, but.

I use a plug in thing at the master socket, this uses the electric cable to connect to another plug in socket at the other end of the house.

Any phone can be plugged in and it works well.

Do you have any details for this device?

Many thanks to all of you, you've given me much to think about to achieve the most satisfactory solution.

[DAVIDH]

I guess PS is referring to these type of phones:
https://www.argos.co.uk/search/telephones/category:33016860/

I have the same setup with the master phone in the living room and the other one in the bedroom. They are indeed wireless and all you need for the second handset is a suitable electric socket to plug it into. 

[ranworthbreeze]

No PS was referring to a system that you use standard 13 amp main sockets  used as extensions of the phone system, they used to be on the market many years ago, however the wireless operated phones systems must have made the system almost obsolete.

Regards

Alan 

[DAVIDH]

Yes I see now. They are still manufactured. Here is a used one on Ebay :
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wireless-Phone-Jack-Rtx-3120-Base-Unit-And-Rtx-3121-Ext-Unit-/163677442227 

- also on the page further down, are alternative new options. though alot more expensive. By the looks of it, you just plug the phone line into the master unit, which transmits to the slave unit.

 

 

[ExSurveyor]

2 hours ago, DAVIDH said:

Yes I see now. They are still manufactured. Here is a used one on Ebay :
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wireless-Phone-Jack-Rtx-3120-Base-Unit-And-Rtx-3121-Ext-Unit-/163677442227  

Thanks,  that is the one,.

I used these as the master socket is out of range of most cordless phones at the time.

Really good system,  never had a problem.