Friday, April 1, 2016

Caregiver Aids #19: Handsfree Smartphone - UPDATE

Front view of Skip's wheelchair (sans Skip) with Moto X Pure phone mounted on stalk

View from the back (note: the fabric on the chair's headrest pulls Skip's hair so I got her a shower cap as a cover. Problem solved.)


Yesterday, after writing my last post, I dug out Skip's phone and got it charged up. 

This morning we tried a few things out with it. Skip said, "listen up, Moto," and it beeped to life. First, she called me. The call went through and it defaulted to speakerphone so Skip could hear me. Great! Then she called HM, her primary aide, to wish her a happy birthday. Worked like a charm as well.

But what about answering the phone? Sometimes when I go to Foxwoods, I leave there pretty late. I call her when I'm on my way home so she knows when to expect me. It would be great if I called her cell and she answered ... most of the time she can't get the buttons to work to answer our landline phone so this would be an excellent alternative. Only thing is, you can't seem to answer the phone without hands. There is a command, "talk to me," that notifies you for the next 30 minutes of any texts or calls you get. We'll see if that allows her to answer, but obviously it's bound by a time limit and of only limited applicability. Worst case is, when she can't answer the phone, she can wait for it to stop ringing and just call the person back. .

Now, it's on texting.