What is MobileHelp?
MobileHelp is a medical alert service selling monthly monitoring packages and alert hardware.
MobileHelp employs almost one hundred people. MobileHelp headquarters are at 3701 FAU Blvd. Suite 300 Boca Raton, FL 33431.
MobileHelp is an accredited Better Business Bureau member. It has an A+ rating (at the time of this publication). You can read their BBB profile here (opens in a new window): MobileHelp on BBB.
The MobileHelp emergency operators are in Corona, CA, and Syracuse, NY.
MobileHelp is a Personal Emergency Response System
MobileHelp is a medical alert device service, also known as a Personal Emergency Response System (PERS).
You wear an MobileHelp button to get immediate attention when you experience a medical emergency.
MobileHelp Product Profiles
Senior Home Central gives you an in-depth profiles of each MobileHelp package.
You can view all of the MobileHelp’s profiles using the list below:
The MobileHelp Classic Medical Alert
Learn More
The MobileHelp Duo Medical Alert
Learn More
The MobileHelp Mobile Duo Medical Alert
Learn More
The MobileHelp Solo Medical Alert
Learn More
The MobileHelp Wired Medical Alert
Learn More
MobileHelp Home Devices
A MobileHelp “home” medical alert uses a call box to communicate with MobileHelp operators.
The call box uses a landline you provide, or a cell phone signal you get from MobileHelp. MobileHelp uses AT&T cellular if you choose their cell phone connection instead of using your landline.
You use your wearable pendant or wrist button to activate the call box.
Three MobileHelp packages contain a home call box. The links below open in new windows to MobileHelp profile pages on the Senior Home Central site:
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- The MobileHelp Wired is a call box home medical alert. It uses your landline to communicate. Fall detection is an optional add on feature.
- The MobileHelp Classic is a call box home medical alert It uses an AT&T cellular signal to communicate. Fall detection is an optional add on feature.
- The MobileHelp Duo is a package combining the MobileHelp Classic cellular call box with the MobileHelp Solo mobile device. The home call box includes the AT&T cell phone service. Fall detection is optional. The MobileHelp Solo includes location detection. Fall detection is also optional.
Three MobileHelp packages contain a mobile device. The links below open in new windows to MobileHelp profile pages on the Senior Home Central site:
- The MobileHelp Solo contains one mobile medical alert device. The package includes the AT&T cellular service to connect the device to the MobileHelp operator. Location detection is included. Fall detection is optional.
- The MobileHelp Mobile Duo is a package of two MobileHelp Solo devices priced at a discount.
- The MobileHelp Duo is a package combining the MobileHelp Classic cellular call box with the MobileHelp Solo mobile device. The home call box includes the AT&T cell phone service. Fall detection is optional. The MobileHelp Solo includes location detection. Fall detection is also optional.
The MobileHelp Lock Box
All MobileHelp offers include the MobileHelp Lock Box. You put your house key inside the lock box, then program the lock box combination. You give the lock box combination to MobileHelp to put on file.
Based on your instructions on file, MobileHelp can give the combination to caregivers or emergency personnel.
Without this access, emergency personnel might have to break into your home in order to help you.
MobileHelp Fall Detection
MobileHelp offers a fall detection upgrade on its medical alert packages. I recommend getting a fall detection device because it’s an amazing safety net. Fall detection is not 100% foolproof, but it is a lifesaver more often than not.
For fall detection to work, you must wear your pendant. Both the home and the mobile pendants have fall detection versions. The wrist devices do not include fall detection. If you depend on your wrist button, you will not have fall detection coverage.
MobileHelp Location Detection
MobileHelp mobile alerts contain GPS software. This is the same technology you use in the car to get automated directions.
When you use a MobileHelp mobile device, the operator can pinpoint your location. You do not need to know where you are to get help.
The GPS technology gives your location to the MobileHelp operator. The operator then communicates your location to your caregivers or emergency services.
Who Buys MobileHelp Medical Alert Devices?
Children buy MobileHelp medical alerts for their parents. Older adults buy MobileHelp protectionfor themselves and their spouses. Caretakers are often involved in the purchasing decision along with the end users.
My mother researched and bought her own medical emergency package. Had she not done that, I would have done it for her.
Where Do MobileHelp Devices Work?
MobileHelp home call boxes work only within the home. You can press the button in the yard, but the call box will probably not be able to hear you. In this case, the operator will assume you’re having an emergency.
MobileHelp mobile pendants work as long as you have a cell phone signal. If you get a home-only device, you will not have emergency coverage away from your home.
Home Coverage Communication Diagram
Below you see the steps in getting help using an MobileHelp call box.
- You press your pendant or wrist button, sending an activation signal to the call box. Or, you have “fall detection,” and the pendant senses a fall and so activates the call box.
- The call box calls MobileHelp. You and MobileHelp communicate through the call box microphone and speaker.
- MobileHelp calls your caregivers or emergency services. Who they call depends on your situation, and your instructions on file.
Mobile Coverage Communication Diagram
Below is a diagram showing the mobile MobileHelp calling for help.
- You press your mobile pendant. Or you have fall detection, and the device automatically makes a call when you fall.
- You communicate with MobileHelp over the pendant’s phone connection. MobileHelp contacts your caregivers or emergency services, depending on your situation and your instructions on file.
Using a Landline or a Cellular Phone System
You connect an MobileHelp home call box base station either to your landline phone system or to MobileHelp’s cellular service.
If you choose cellular service, the device is still limited to the call box range. So a home call box with cellular service is not a mobile device. It’s a home device that communicates over mobile technology.
MobileHelp mobile pendants always use MobileHelp’s mobile signal. They buy from AT&T, and then include that service in your mobile monthly fee.
How to Ensure Two-Way Communication with an MobileHelp Emergency Operator
The home base station is a two-way communication device. If you push the base station button, you initiate a call to Alert1.
You can be up to 600 ft. away from the call box. You will be able to hear it, and it will be able to hear you and send your voice to Alert1.
The mobile pendant is a two-way communication device. If you push that button, you initiate a conversation on the mobile pendant.
At home, the call box is the telephone communication device. The pendant just activates it.
With a mobile device, the pendant is the communication device. It has phone technology built into it.
Default Emergency Mode
MobileHelp knows that you might summon for help but not be able to talk. If you initiate a call but do not speak, MobileHelp will send emergency help. The default is to assume you are having an emergency that is preventing you from talking.
The MobileHelp operator sends emergency personnel or caretakers to your home, depending on your written instructions on file.
Pendant and Wrist Buttons
You can activate the home call box with a pendant button or a wrist button.
If you have fall detection (which I do recommend), then you must wear the pendant button.
For fall detection to work, the button must be around your neck. It cannot be on your wrist or in your pocket or a purse.
Fall detection pendants contain gyroscopes to detect falling motion. This technology works well when hanging from your neck, but not well when held stationary on your body.
You can activate the MobileHelp button from your pendant button. The two-way communication technology and the fall detection trigger are both built into the pendant.
How to Choose a MobileHelp Package
You can take our exclusive Medical Alert Quiz to find the exact right medical alert for your situation. Take the quiz here, it opens in a new window.
View All MobileHelp Medical Alerts
You can view each MobileHelp medical alert below.
The MobileHelp Classic Medical Alert
Learn More
The MobileHelp Duo Medical Alert
Learn More
The MobileHelp Mobile Duo Medical Alert
Learn More
The MobileHelp Solo Medical Alert
Learn More
The MobileHelp Wired Medical Alert
Learn More
The Best MobileHelp for Full Protection (Especially for Wanderers)
The best MobileHelp package offering full protection is also the best package for seniors who wander.
The MobileHelp Solo is a mobile medical alert location detection, and you can add fall detection. It works everywhere there’s a cell phone signal.
The Solo protects the wearer both at home and away from home. No device will work if the wearer takes it off. The advantage of the Solo alert is that there’s only one device to wear.
With a home-away bundle, you need to switch off wearing the home pendant at home, and the Solo pendant away from home.
If you get the Solo medical alert for the wandering senior, he or she will always wear this one device. If you can get him or her used to it, then there’s no need to change out the device for home use and then for away use.
The Best MobileHelp for Protection at Home
The best MobileHelp device for a homebody who does not want to pay for mobile coverage is the MobileHelp Classic medical alert, with optional fall detection added in.
This is the MobileHelp home device that allows you to add fall detection to your service. The Wired version does not do that.
The Classic can hear you from up to 1,400 ft. away. Press your button to activate the call box. The fall detection trigger will also initiate a call.
In order for fall detection to work, you must wear your pendant button. Wrist buttons do not detect falls well so they don’t include the technology. This is true for all fall detection devices, across all brands.
You can wear your fall detection pendant in the shower, and it is compatible with pacemakers.
This is the MobileHelp medical alert to get for home service with fall detection included.
