Alexa Echo Show for Elderly (96) year old mother

[CAH]

Just wanted to tell about my experience setting up an Echo Show for my elderly mother.  We had an old unused cell phone.  I was able to get a cheap sim card for it (3.99), and put it on a very minimal plan (like 12 or less per month!).  I cancelled her long distance service, so basically the cell phone plan is cheaper for her.  After setting it up, I have the cell phone at my house (5 hours away) because this is not something she can handle, and then I can add any other contacts she needs to call. She has macular degeneration so dialing a phone is very difficult for her, but using voice dialing for alexa is great. I also got her an amazon music subscription (free for 3 months - then 3.99 per month so she can play her 40's music easily.  I can see what she is doing with it using the history on the Alexa app, and she asks about the weather, the time, the humidity, to play music and to call. Hopefully she will learn how to set reminders for appointments etc.   One fun fact is she thanks Alexa ("thank you, honey") and Alexa comes back with "no problem, your welcome, absolutely, etc etc.)  Except for having to use a cell phone to set it up, it is wonderful technology for the elderly. 

[AlanH]

That’s a great story and I hope your mother has many happy years ahead of her with her new ‘friend’.

[jwlv]

That is great to hear you and your mother are using this technology successfully! And since you got her an Echo Show, you can "drop in" to make sure she's ok. The screen and camera are the best selling points for Echo Show. Although I don't use my Echo Show to do video conferencing, I do use it with my Arlo Pro security cameras. So if I'm in my office, I can just say "Alexa, show me front yard" and I can see what's going on in my front yard (the Arlo Pro camera that's pointed to the front yard is named "front yard").

[Laurel]

CAH that is a nice story. Brought tears to my eyes. 

[renegade600]

that is one of the advantages of alexa, it has the ability to increase independence for the elderly, sick, and others.  Over the years I have read many similar accounts from helping stroke victims with their speech to as the case here.   

It is good you were able to help your mother and thanks for posting it here with the steps you took because it could help others do the same. 

[franz]

Thanks CAH for posting! It solved my problem setting up my mother's account from an unused SIM card. Happy new year!

[falcun1700@aol.com]

This is what Alexa is good at my I sent a feedback to the development team that Alexa would perfect for senior care and companionship. They just need to develop the systems conversational skill to a higher level. Once they do it will assist care givers with the personal communication.
I know someone put a skill out, but it's good a long way to go.

[mikeindc]

I wanted to set something like that up for a good friend but have had nothing but problems.  His caller id does not display correctly so people don't answer. The sound quality of his voice is hard to understand (echo dot 1  but we had better luck with an echo but still sounded worse than a standard telephone speakerphone).  I am in a ""household" with a friend and when he calls me it rings in both households.  When I call it shows my friends caller id and when he calls it shows mine.  Yes, we have tripled verified all the phone numbers.  We  deregistered devices and registered back with no change.  I deleted other person in household and all caller id and correct devices on my end worked but as soon as he was added back, caller id issues came back and calls came in on both devices. 
I spent 45 minutes on the phone with Amazon and all he could do is get from the wrong caller id to no caller id.

There is so much potential, but just can't get it working right.

[beemerbiker]

I know this is an old post, but it corresponds so well with my own needs (98-yr-old mother 5 house away who can't handle cell phone) that I'm hoping I can get some help. Can I ask the original poster what was the old reactivated cell phone for? Was it because you needed a device at your mother's house that you put an Alexa app on that was connected to your mother's Alexa account? But did you even need a SIM card? Couldn't you just connect the old phone to your mother's wifi and use that? I'm a newcomer to Alexa/Echo so I don't have a feel for things that an experienced user would. I'm considering setting up internet at my mum's house and installing an Echo Dot. I need to get my head around the whole process step by step before I can decide whether to commit to the project. I need a do this, do that guide. Thanks guys.