The following questions will help you make the correct decision when choosing a medical alert system.
1. Do You have any advance pre-payment requirements (12 – 24 months).
Certain medical alert providers advertise that no long-term contract is required, yet will require a 12 month minimum service period. Before signing anything, always ask what length of time you will be obligated to.
2. What is your monthly service agreement amount?
Cheap or discount pricing should not be your only criteria for a medical alert system. Quality medical alert providers cannot offer you adequate medical alert service below market rates. On the other end, don’t pay $50 a month simply because a company has a recognizable name or a particular person endorses their service. (Oftentimes, these endorsers are paid with revenue generated from sales).
3.
Can you I get out of my contract if I no longer need the service?
Consider what your monthly obligation will be if you sign a long-term medical alert contract if you or a parent passes away or moves to a nursing home.
4. Is your monitoring center UL listed?
The UL stands for “Underwriters Laboratory”. A “Listed central station(monitoring center)” is an alarm monitoring facility that has demonstrated the ability to provide Standards-complying service. For monitoring stations, UL requirements cover building structure, receiving and monitoring equipment, and staffing issues in addition to installation and ongoing service. To be able to provide Standards-complying service, the building, equipment and staffing requirements have to be met at all times.
5. How quickly does your monitoring center respond to calls?
Make sure you the monitoring center has an audited response time of under 30 seconds. After all, you want help to arrive as quickly as possible. If the response time is slow, the medical personnel dispatched will be delayed.
6. How much experience do your operators have?
Perhaps one of the most important questions to ask. You want to be sure the medical alert monitoring center has qualified Care Specialists to help you when seconds count. Always ask what type of employee training is provided and how many years experience on average each one has.
7. Will there be 24/7 customer support?
You will want to make sure that no matter what time of the day or night you call that you will be able to talk with a live person. Some monitoring stations are located out of the country and use operators with strong accents. Make sure you know where the monitoring station is located and that their operators speak good english.
If you follow these tips when choosing a medical alert system, you stand a much better chance of being happier with your decision and the life of a loved one will be in better hands.
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