Phone pager buttons so my kid can call me from various rooms
March 29, 2024 12:04 PM Subscribe
Surprisingly hard to find: I'd like a few wireless, battery powered buttons to install in several rooms in the house so my kid can ping me or my spouse while we are working in the yard etc.
My kid is disabled and sometimes needs assistance while he's in the bathroom, his bedroom, etc. Currently his only option is to yell out which is difficult for him and requires him to yell very loudly if we are at the limits of earshot.
I'd like to install 3-4 wireless buttons in the bathroom, his bedroom, etc, which will notify both my spouse's and my phone so we can assist him. A wireless doorbell like this one isn't quite the perfect solution because we may not be in hearing range of the chime (esp if out in the backyard etc) and we want to make sure to not miss it. A phone notification would be ideal but the only devices I could find to do this are doorbell-cameras which are expensive and unnecessarily privacy-invasive. I just want a button!
My kid is disabled and sometimes needs assistance while he's in the bathroom, his bedroom, etc. Currently his only option is to yell out which is difficult for him and requires him to yell very loudly if we are at the limits of earshot.
I'd like to install 3-4 wireless buttons in the bathroom, his bedroom, etc, which will notify both my spouse's and my phone so we can assist him. A wireless doorbell like this one isn't quite the perfect solution because we may not be in hearing range of the chime (esp if out in the backyard etc) and we want to make sure to not miss it. A phone notification would be ideal but the only devices I could find to do this are doorbell-cameras which are expensive and unnecessarily privacy-invasive. I just want a button!
Best answer: Would a wifi ‘caregiver’ pager/call button work in your circumstance?
There are plenty of choices on Amazon.
posted by artdrectr at 12:36 PM on March 29, 2024 [1 favorite]
There are plenty of choices on Amazon.
posted by artdrectr at 12:36 PM on March 29, 2024 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I've heard of people setting up some systems like this at front desks to a communal "on call" cell phone for front desks and similar systems at offices and hotels. Not sure how well it works, but these could potentially be an option or something similar. It looks like the magic words to search for are "push button notification system"
amazon.com
posted by Nackt at 12:42 PM on March 29, 2024 [1 favorite]
amazon.com
posted by Nackt at 12:42 PM on March 29, 2024 [1 favorite]
If you can't figure out a button-based solution, you could get some cheap Echo Dots to put around the house etc and he could tell Alexa to announce that he needs help.
posted by Jacqueline at 12:52 PM on March 29, 2024
posted by Jacqueline at 12:52 PM on March 29, 2024
Best answer: Caregiver alarms - I give these as gifts to people in all kinds of situations, I probably have never bought the same thing twice because I try to tailor the units to the home and circumstances, but I get repeated heartfelt thanks even in really shitty situations because they're a pretty simple system and they tend to Just Work.
However, on the "just work" front, they don't generally have app interfaces because those Don't Just Work. But you can get a set like this one with 5 receivers and 5 buttons. The receivers tend to have a volume range that goes up to eye-watering (the one I got my mother when my father was on home hospice was like damagingly loud at top volume), and you can point one out a cracked window, if necessary, and just make sure you don't leave hearing range.
But you probably could "link" up a system using these call buttons plus any app-based home security system (we use Alfred and our old phones to keep an eye on the cat, and it has this feature) that will give you noise alerts to multiple devices if they are logged in as receivers. Easy to turn off when you don't need it snooping.
posted by Lyn Never at 12:55 PM on March 29, 2024 [2 favorites]
However, on the "just work" front, they don't generally have app interfaces because those Don't Just Work. But you can get a set like this one with 5 receivers and 5 buttons. The receivers tend to have a volume range that goes up to eye-watering (the one I got my mother when my father was on home hospice was like damagingly loud at top volume), and you can point one out a cracked window, if necessary, and just make sure you don't leave hearing range.
But you probably could "link" up a system using these call buttons plus any app-based home security system (we use Alfred and our old phones to keep an eye on the cat, and it has this feature) that will give you noise alerts to multiple devices if they are logged in as receivers. Easy to turn off when you don't need it snooping.
posted by Lyn Never at 12:55 PM on March 29, 2024 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Agreed that Alexa or other similar assistant are the easiest way to make this work. Walkie talkies also work.
However, if you're into DIY home automation this is possible in several ways. I did it with a combination of Hubitat (a non-cloud home automation system), a Twilio account and integration, and whatever physical zwave or zigbee buttons I had around. In my case those were Lutron Pico remotes with the caseta hub. The lutron stuff is amazing for lighting and very very reliable, so I used some of the remotes from that - but you could probably use other buttons too.
This does take some work, but if you're capable of it it has tons of flexibility. For example we set up a remote with one "emergency" button and one "I could use some help, but no rush" button. Both would text our phones with the appropriate message, and in the emergency case it would text again after a minute.
posted by true at 2:03 PM on March 29, 2024 [1 favorite]
However, if you're into DIY home automation this is possible in several ways. I did it with a combination of Hubitat (a non-cloud home automation system), a Twilio account and integration, and whatever physical zwave or zigbee buttons I had around. In my case those were Lutron Pico remotes with the caseta hub. The lutron stuff is amazing for lighting and very very reliable, so I used some of the remotes from that - but you could probably use other buttons too.
This does take some work, but if you're capable of it it has tons of flexibility. For example we set up a remote with one "emergency" button and one "I could use some help, but no rush" button. Both would text our phones with the appropriate message, and in the emergency case it would text again after a minute.
posted by true at 2:03 PM on March 29, 2024 [1 favorite]
I haven't dived into the world of NFC chips, but they sound like they'd work for this purpose. Here's a recent AskMe about what some people are doing with them. Here's an article about how they can be used in health care environments and a blog post describing their use supporting elder independence.
posted by cocoagirl at 3:01 PM on March 29, 2024
posted by cocoagirl at 3:01 PM on March 29, 2024
Best answer: Flic buttons can be set up to send a text. This reddit post talks about how they set up the push notifications.
posted by CleverClover at 9:36 PM on March 29, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by CleverClover at 9:36 PM on March 29, 2024 [1 favorite]
Also with flic a tap vs long hold can be two different functions, so depending on your son's hand dexterity making a tap send a text and long press make a call might be helpful.
posted by CleverClover at 9:39 PM on March 29, 2024
posted by CleverClover at 9:39 PM on March 29, 2024
Best answer: There's a bit of a learning curve, but a mainstream Zigbee-based home automation solution like a Samsung SmartThings hub and various compatible battery-powered mountable buttons that trigger a programmable action on the hub might be the most elegant solution.
Most people use these to control things like lighting and sound, but SmartThings (and some other solutions like the one true recommended) should allow you to set up an SMS or Email if a button is pressed.
I moved to having little Zigbee-based buttons set up to control lighting in my house. I was worried about them being flaky, but after setup I've been pleasantly surprised that they've been very reliable and the batteries have lasted for years. I finally had to change the battery in the first one I installed after two years of frequent use.
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 8:30 AM on March 30, 2024
Most people use these to control things like lighting and sound, but SmartThings (and some other solutions like the one true recommended) should allow you to set up an SMS or Email if a button is pressed.
I moved to having little Zigbee-based buttons set up to control lighting in my house. I was worried about them being flaky, but after setup I've been pleasantly surprised that they've been very reliable and the batteries have lasted for years. I finally had to change the battery in the first one I installed after two years of frequent use.
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 8:30 AM on March 30, 2024
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posted by Dr. Wu at 12:24 PM on March 29, 2024 [2 favorites]