Tech specialist Tunstall Healthcare has launched a new product to boost communication with its Lifeline service.
Home Boost will extend the audio range of the Doncaster company’s home alarm units.
It will reduce the number of false alarms - with responders dispatched if no voice contact (NVC) can be established.
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The new product features a remote speaker with an integral microphone that can be installed in any room in the home. It then connects wirelessly to a dongle that is fitted to the Lifeline unit.
Gavin Bashar, UK managing director of Tunstall Healthcare, said: “When used in combination with a Lifeline unit in areas such as the hall, lounge or bedroom, Sound Boost provides reassurance to service users that they will be heard. It also enables monitoring centres to work more efficiently, and direct their resources to genuine emergencies.”
Client Stockport Homes’ Carecall service provides 24 hour monitoring and response to more than 4,500 people. It was experiencing a high number of NVC calls, with 86 per cent being false alarms where the user didn’t need assistance.
A pilot was launched by the South Yorkshire firm.
The centre’s monitoring software identified a cohort of users associated with high levels of NVCs, and compared the number of NVCs for the six week period before and after the introduction of Sound Boost. For the period prior to the introduction 47 NVCs were made, but this fell to zero once the new technology was deployed.
With responder call outs costing on average £40 to £50, and ambulance call outs much higher, this not only significantly reduces costs, but also reduces disruption.
Aimee Teare, senior project officer for preventative services at Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, said: “Sound Boost has been brilliant in enabling us to contact service users. In all cases of the trial it has reduced the amount of times we have to ring or attend the property after a NVC. It makes our service more efficient and reduces anxiety for the people we support.”
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