Caring for elderly parents just got easier with the Ooma Senior Phone Bundle

Longevity isn’t what it used to be. Once, turning 65 and signing up for Medicare and Social Security signaled the start of old age, and many people didn’t live much beyond it.

Today, an entire “Third Age” exists beyond retirement, says longevity expert Marc Freedman, author of The Big Shift: Navigating the New Stage Beyond Midlife. Freedman introduced the idea of encore careers 25 years ago when he launched Civic Ventures (which became Encore.org and is now renamed CoGenerate.org, to celebrate cross-generational collaboration).

Encore careers refers to mature adults launching their next act in their fifties, sixties or later. When it’s possible to live an entire generation past so-called “retirement,” working into one’s seventies or even eighties doesn’t sound so outlandish.

Senior home care keeps aging parents safer

Coupled with the increase in longevity is the booming desire to age in place—that is, to grow older in one’s own residence, rather than move into a senior living community. For family members, this also means a vigilant senior home care plan is essential to help aging parents successfully and safely navigate their Third Age.

Because health and mobility don’t necessarily keep pace with our minds and enthusiasm as we age, telephone access to elder loved ones becomes critical—especially in an era when scamming seniors has become a daily event.

Home help for elderly phone users

Fortunately, senior phone service is now exponentially better with Ooma’s Senior Phone Bundle. This phone system, which is designed to keep seniors safer, includes three cordless handsets, an Ooma Telo base station and Ooma Linx wireless adapter. It’s tech for seniors that’s easy to use and makes caring for elderly parents who are living independently in their own homes, apartments or condominiums much simpler for family members as well.

During activation, customers sign up for the Ooma Concierge service plan, which is $14.99 a month and includes all the features of Ooma Premier plus a dedicated support line. On the main phone, there is an Ooma Concierge button so seniors can contact support, a 911 button for emergency services and two additional buttons that can be customized to direct dial any number.

In addition, an Ooma Linx can be used to extend a telephone handset to other rooms, such as a home office. The Linx device enables you to hook up a telephone, fax machine or other telephony device anywhere in the home that has an available power socket. There’s nothing to change or adapt; it’s plug and play.

Aging care to keep the lines of communication open

No matter how forward thinking they may be, most seniors would rather not have to learn a whole new phone system with a lot of challenging technology. With Ooma Telo, switching from landline to VoIP is seamless and simple, as well as low cost and easy to use.

There’s no need to download apps or buy a new headset. This means your aging parents can pick up the phone and make a call fast. In addition to ease of use, the high definition (HD) service quality allows seniors who may have some hearing loss to better hear every word on the call, so they can focus on the conversation instead of continually asking family members and friends—or clients!—to repeat themselves.

Ooma Telo is also a boon for caregivers for seniors, because the 911 Alerts capability means family members can be immediately informed in an emergency. When setting up this feature, you can designate up to three phone numbers or email addresses to receive alerts when 911 is called from an Ooma home phone.

One Ooma customer shared how an elderly relative calling 911 impacted the rest of the family, with 911 Alerts notification stepping in. “My mother recently fell and had to call 911. Thanks to auto-text notification, my brother, my wife and I were notified and were able to get there before the ambulance did!”

Caregivers really need this support. According to the Caregiver Action Network, “More than 1 in 10 (11%) of family caregivers report that caregiving has caused their physical health to deteriorate.” The stress of being always available just in case your family member should experience a health problem is one possible cause for caregiver health strain. Now, there’s more support for a caregiver’s peace of mind.

Tech for seniors to help block the bad guys

The Ooma Senior Phone Bundle can also help keep your aging parents safer financially, by blocking known or suspected scammers from getting through. According to a recent FBI Fraud Report, scammers stole more than $3.4 billion from older Americans in 2023, a rise of 11 percent from 2022 due to “increasingly sophisticated criminal tactics.”

Ooma makes it easy to fight back, with the following blocking features:

• Anonymous Call Blocking: Anonymous callers often don’t want you to see who’s calling before you pick up the phone because they know you won’t answer if they reveal their identity. When anonymous call blocking is enabled, people who hide their identity won’t bother you.
• Custom Call Blocking: This is your personal list of phone numbers or caller ID names that you simply don’t want to hear from. Any number that is currently on your custom call block list will not be able to reach you.
• Suspected Spammer Call Blocking: Suspected spammer call blocking taps into the NoMoRobo third-party database of confirmed telemarketers, robocallers, and phone spammers to protect you. Calls from over 800,000 known sources of phone spam are diverted from reaching you.
• Known Spammer Call Blocking: Formerly known as the Community Blacklist, known spammer call blocking references a list of thousands of phone numbers that have been identified by the Ooma community as sources of spam and telemarketing calls.
• Contacts-only calling: Contacts-only calling is the ultimate protection against unsolicited phone calls. When this option is turned on, your phone will only ring when the incoming caller is on your contact list.

With the Ooma Phone Service Bundle, you can help your elderly parents avoid phone scams and stay protected against AI impersonation, which might be the scariest scam yet to prey on older adults. Scammers use AI to copy a loved one’s voice, attempting to fool a senior into thinking a treasured grandchild or someone else they know is in trouble and needs money ASAP.

Your port in a storm

Ooma Senior Phone Bundle is your communication solution in the event of a natural disaster, too. When landlines are down, VoIP will still work if you have power and an internet connection—and Ooma Telo can be a literal lifesaver.

One elderly customer wrote to tell us how Ooma played an essential role: “During a recent storm the phone lines were all down, but not my Ooma Telo. I was able to call for lifesaving help. Thank You Ooma.”

Your folks may not be fond of cell phones as an alternative means of communication. It’s not just the technology; arthritis or other physical limitations can make using a touchscreen challenging, so they may prefer a regular cordless handset.

Best of all, Ooma Concierge is right there on your phone to provide 24/7 support. Just press the Concierge button on the handset and receive help, day or night, with your Ooma service.

The Ooma Senior Phone Bundle is your answer to staying connected and informed, caring for elderly parents worry-free no matter where you (or they) live. Ooma Senior Phone Bundle is a simple and effective tool to help your aging parents remain independent for many years to come.