Medical alert systems like Bay Alarm Medical are made
with seniors in mind, but anyone with disabilities
or chronic conditions might find them useful.
The system we tested does a really good job
of making emergency help accessible anywhere
in your home or on your person while you're away.
But because this system has such an important job to do,
we wanted to test it for ourselves to see how well it works
and how quickly Bay Alarm can send help when
it matters most.
After all, living independently
means being able to call for help independently.
So join me as we talk
about what Bay Alarm does, how it works, how much it costs,
and whether or not it could save your life in an emergency.
Plus, you'll hear from our tester, Cathy Habas,
who spent a lot of time testing this medical alert system.
But before we get into it,
like and subscribe for more reviews, how tos, and videos
like this from us every week.
Alright, let's get into it.
Bay Alarm follows the standard template
for medical alert systems.
You pay for their monitoring service,
and they'll send you a call button that will contact them
in an emergency.
At its most basic,
the system is a wearable waterproof button and a base unit
with a built-in help button, speaker, and microphone.
When you press that button on your wearable
or the base station, monitoring pros will answer
and talk you through the situation.
The big difference in prices and gadgets all boils
down to where those buttons are
and how far out of the house they can go.
These are all the devices Bay Alarm Medical has to offer,
but all this stuff falls into one of three categories:
in-home devices, mobile devices, and accessories.
First, let's talk in-home devices like the help button,
fall detection button, and wall buttons.
These are best for folks who spend most
of their time at home
because they have to stay within range of the base unit.
The good news is that that base unit has a wide range
of up to 1000 feet
and a backup battery that lasts for up to 32 hours.
The basic Bay Alarm in-home kit
is just the base unit and a wearable button.
But, for a little more per month,
you can add wall buttons around your home
or upgrade to a fall-detection pendant that can tell
if you take a tumble.
Next up is the mobile devices.
These are the better options
if you live a more active lifestyle
or want something with you while you're out.
Bay Alarm has two mobile devices,
the mobile GPS button and the SOS Smartwatch,
neither of them needs a base station
and can call for help anywhere there's a cell signal.
And finally, the accessories.
These are the key lockbox and a vial
of life form designed to make things easier
and faster for EMS responders in an emergency.
Bay Alarm also has Bella Charms,
stylish clip on covers that disguise
your lanyard help button as jewelry.
(chill music)
Kits from Bay Alarm are customizable
without overwhelming you with options.
They have in-home systems,
mobile systems, and bundles with both.
Once you select one of these options,
you can add on extra features like a fall detection lanyard,
Bella Charms, a vial of life or a lock box.
Bay Alarm has some customer-friendly policies
we really like too,
such as the price lock-in and the lease-free options.
That means that you only pay
for the monitoring rate you signed up for
and some of the stuff only charges for monitoring.
The at-home kits start at $19.95
per month for landline connected systems
and $29.95 per month for cellular.
Both options come with that base unit and a wearable button,
your choice of a lanyard or wristband,
and there's no leasing fee for any of the home kits,
whether you choose a landline system or not.
All you pay is a monthly fee to keep the monitoring on.
Here's what Kathy had to say
about cellular versus landline connections.
If you get a good cellular connection in your home or not,
I would recommend looking at the FCC coverage maps
and it will show you if you get
either AT&T coverage or Verizon coverage or both.
And if you are
in a white out area where you don't get either,
then you're definitely gonna need a landline connection.
Both of Bay Alarm's standalone
mobile devices cost $29.95 per month to monitor.
But unlike the at-home kits,
you will have to pay for the devices.
The GPS button comes with everything you need built right
into a little device about the size of a key fob.
The SOS Smartwatch is easier to keep
on your person and does a lot of the same stuff
but adds a step counter into the mix.
Just like the at-home base station,
both devices have a two-way speaker, so you can call
for help and tell the monitoring pros what's happening.
And, finally, if you want the best of both worlds,
you can bundle your gear
for $39.95 per month plus equipment fees.
You can choose an in-home system
with a GPS button or an in-home system with an SOS watch.
So now that we've covered all the whats
and how muches, let's get to the juicy part.
What did Kathy think of Bay Alarm from her tests?
(soothing dance music)
I had the wearable pendant and a wall button
and also I tested the mobile devices,
the SOS Smartwatch, and the just basic mobile GPS device.
With all that gear,
Cathy got started on her test by setting up the base unit.
It's very easy.
It's just a plug-and-play system,
but you do have to do a signal range test
and the instructions were very simple.
It's very easy to do
and that just ensures
that your buttons will work in every corner of your home.
I think anyone could set it up.
I tested the cellular system
and all I had to do is just plug it in,
and it connects to the, I believe,
it's the AT&T cellular network all by itself.
You don't have to put in a Wi-Fi password
or anything like that.
And I believe the landline setup would be just as easy.
According to Cathy, setting
up the base unit is easy enough for anyone to do.
Just plug it in, turn it on
and it will pick up a cellular signal around your home.
Once the base unit was on, she performed the range test
to make sure extra sensors could connect with the base unit.
The range test is easy.
You just switch a button in the back to let the system know
that you're doing a range test, and then you push
down on the button for the accessory that you're testing
and you just walk around your house.
And the base station will be beeping the entire time,
that it's like connected to the accessory.
And if it ever stops beeping,
then you know that you've gone too far.
So, basically, you just do a clean sweep at your house.
If it keeps beeping, then you know that it works,
but you should also still test it
by like going into a corner
of your home and pressing the button and seeing
if you can hear the monitoring center when they connect
over the base station
because volume is also very important.
Thankfully, the base unit's range was wide enough
for Cathy to move throughout her house
and still have the call button work.
A thousand feet is pretty far for a medical alert system,
but she's tested other brands that reach up to 1,300 feet.
Next was the moment of truth.
Cathy made her test calls
on the base unit wall button and both mobile units.
I was not impressed
with how fast the monitoring center answered.
They did eventually answer,
but one of my tests took a full two minutes to be answered.
That was with the Bay Alarm mobile GPS device.
The in-home systems were answered a little faster.
I don't know that it really matters
which device I was using.
They're all going to the same monitoring center.
The other systems I've tested, like GetSafe and Aloe Care,
They were significantly faster.
And if I were in a real medical emergency,
those seconds would feel very long
and I would be very upset.
Starting the calls is very easy.
There's no way to cancel it.
So if you're just, you know,
trying to do a range test and you mess up a little bit
and you're accidentally calling the monitoring center,
you can't cancel it.
You just have to wait for them
to get online and then say, "Whoop, sorry.
That was an accident." Which is no big deal.
It happens.
Other than that, the audio quality was good.
I could understand them.
They could understand me.
There are no volume controls.
So, it just is what it is, but it was loud.
So no problems hearing it.
Yeah, you heard that right, two minutes.
And none of the devices she tested were much faster.
Even the base unit took up
to a minute for someone to answer.
Her results weren't much better
with the other devices, either.
(beeping)
(dial tone)
[Operator] Kendra, this Carl at Bay Medical,
do you need help?
[Operator] Placing an emergency call now.
(beeping)
Hi, this is Nancy At Bay Alarm Medical, do you need help?
No, I'm just testing the system right now.
She also had a few bones to pick with the SOS Smartwatch.
Okay, the only piece of equipment that I do not like
from Bay Alarm Medical is the SOS Smartwatch.
It's actually a really good option
if you don't want to wear a traditional pendant
or anything that looks medical, because it does look
like a watch and it has an SOS button
on the side, and you press that
and you can talk to the monitoring center through the watch.
And other than that, it really doesn't do anything.
And so I'm not really impressed with it.
There's no fall detection.
There's no way for caregivers
to track your location with it.
The monitoring center can track your location on the watch,
but your caregivers can't.
It's a pedometer.
It just doesn't really do much.
And it costs $179.
And then to monitor it,
I believe it's $20, it's about $30 a month.
And just knowing what other options are on the market
for smartwatches that connect to monitoring centers,
I don't really like it.
It's very easy to put on with one hand.
It's soft, it's comfortable.
Like I said, great if all you want
is a button to push and that's about it.
Yeah, that sounds,
so it sounds like it's a really expensive button.
It is a very expensive button,
and the battery life only lasts 24 hours,
which is very surprising considering how little it does.
There are other products that also are just buttons
and their battery life lasts about 30 days.
So that is a very low battery life.
So does Cathy recommend Bay Alarm?
I do recommend Bay Alarm for an affordable in-home system.
I don't think that it is best for remote caregiving.
It doesn't have the most intuitive app or the most features
for that, but it's affordable and it works.
And it's very simple.
You're not gonna get overwhelmed
with too many accessories or add-ons.
I think it's a good basic entry-level system.
Cathy said from her testing that she'd still recommend
Bay Alarm, but it's definitely not the top of the line,
as far as she's concerned.
While the system is affordable
and the devices are simple to use,
Bay Alarm had the slowest response time out of any
of the system she's tested (and averaged around 87 seconds).
She also said that it missed out
on other features that systems like Aloe Care or GetSafe
do well like voice activation or volume adjustments.
Bay Alarm's app is also pretty lackluster for anyone looking
after someone and wanting to check in on their loved ones.
But even for major drawbacks
like wait time and emergency,
Bay Alarm is an affordable entry-level option
for anyone new to medical alert systems.
If budget is an issue, Bay Alarm is a good choice,
but it doesn't lead the pack.
You can learn more
from Cathy's full written review on SafeWise.com.
And we also spoke to her about Aloe Care in another video.
We've dropped more of her articles in the description too
where you can check out and learn more.
Hey, if you're part of the 10% of people who watch this far,
or my parents, thanks for watching.
Don't stop there, though.
We have a ton of other resources
on SafeWise.com that you can check out.
And if you like and subscribe,
you'll get new videos from us every week.
Thanks for watching and stay safe.
(upbeat dance music)