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REVIEW SUMMARY
AMERICAN MEDICAL ALARM IS NOW PART OF AMERICAN SENIOR SAFETY. PLEASE SEE THEIR REVIEW FOR CURRENT INFORMATION.
THIS MEDICAL ALARM REVIEW IS FOR HISTORICAL PURPOSES ONLY & WILL NOT BE UPDATED FURTHER.
American Medical Alarms has a competitive “traditional” service offering but is lacking with the release of some of the newer technologies, like fall detection, no phone line cellular services, and GPS. We do prefer companies that monitor their own accounts in their own TMA (CSAA) 5-Diamond central stations. This may provide better quality control with less parties involved.
There is one system package that American Medical Alarm offers:
1. Medical Alert System: In-home system that requires a landline.
PROS
No equipment or set-up charges, month-to-month contract, 24-hour support, DSL phone support built-in, chat function available on their website.
CONS
Do not operate their own monitoring facility, no automatic system testing to the monitoring center, short console battery backup compared to others, no fall detection, cellular, or GPS options, no activity monitoring option, no pill reminder option.
RATING: 
COMPARE DEVICE FEATURES:
PROS & CONS TO CONSIDER | How did American Medical Alarm do? |
| Price | American Medical Alarm Review |
| Cost for Equipment | Free self installation kit with free shipping |
| Cost Per Month | $24.95/month |
| Advance Payment Discounts | Annually prepaid monthly rate of $23.95/month, billed annually at $287.40 for the year. No discount for quarterly billing. |
| Monitoring Agreement Term | Month-to-month |
| Repairs or Replacement Charges | None, replacements shipped |
| Cancellation Policy & Discounts | American Medical Alarm Review |
| Cancel at Any Time | Yes. They will refund any unused prepayments made |
| Senior Discount | No |
| Other Discounts | No |
| Equipment | American Medical Alarm Review |
| Approximate Button Range in Typical Home | Coverage for up to 6000 sq. ft. and 200′-300′ range outside |
| Watch/Button Battery Life | Battery will last approximately 7 years |
| What Happens if I Lose Power | System has up to 18 hours of battery back-up |
| Is the Watch/Button Waterproof | Water resistant |
| How Can The Button Be Worn | Neck or Wrist – you must choose when ordering |
| UL Certified Equipment | Yes |
| Does The System Automatically Test Itself To The Monitoring Center | No – it is recommended that you test it monthly yourself |
| 24 Hour Technical & Customer Support | Yes |
| Monitoring Station | American Medical Alarm Review |
| TMA Five Diamond Certified Monitoring Center | No |
| Typical Response Time When Button Pressed | Approximately 45 seconds |
| Other Options & Information | American Medical Alarm Review |
| How Fast Does System Ship | Orders received after 4:00 PM EST or on weekends will be shipped the following business day |
| Do You Need Separate Systems For Mom & Dad | No. $35.00 one-time charge for additional button |
| Optional Advanced Features | American Medical Alarm Review |
| Activity or Inactivity Monitoring | No |
| Senior Fall Detection | No |
| Cellular or No Phone Line | No |
| Smoke or Carbon Monoxide Protection | No |
| GPS Medical Alert Tracking System | No |
| Special Offers | American Medical Alarm Review |
| Special Offers For Our Visitors | None at this time |
LIKES
Long Range Voice & Button –Claim to have the longest button and two way voice range. Remember that home construction and layout (among other things) can greatly impact wireless signal range and home acoustics can impact audio quality. We recommend you do an initial “Walk Around Test” with the monitoring center with any system you purchase.
24-Hour Support – Support is available 24 hours per day.
Flexible Monitoring Agreement – You can cancel at anytime.
DISLIKES
Do Not Own Monitoring Center – They do not monitor their accounts themselves, but they do work with a central monitoring station which has dispatch centers in California and Texas and a back-up center in Florida.
Short Console Battery Life if Power is Lost – The system should provide at least 24-hours of battery backup if there is a power loss. American Medical provides up to 18-hours. Many companies provide 32-hours of standby battery.
No Automatic Monthly or Weekly Tests – System’s console does not test automatically to the monitoring station.
No Activity Monitoring – Activity monitoring typically requires the user to check in with the system by pressing a button once every 24 hours. This is very beneficial as it allows you to know that your loved one is active and about each day.
No Pill Reminder Option – Having the system remind you of when to take medication is a nice feature, although not required by all. Many of these services have the main unit console provide some sort of beep reminder on regular interval to remind you of when to take your medication. The downside to this option is that it will not tell you what or how much medication to take.
No Fall Detector Option – Since diabetics can have the tendency to faint, fall detectors can be helpful because the user would be unable to press their medical emergency button.
No Cellular/No Phone Line Option – Since every household no longer has a traditional telephone line, having a reliable no phone line option is a must.
No Mobile GPS Option – For seniors or even young children on the go, this may be an important option for you
BOTTOM LINE
American Medical Alarms has a competitive “traditional” service offering but is lacking with the release of some of the newer technologies, like fall detection, no phone line cellular services, and GPS. If you have DSL service, then you won’t have to worry about adding a DSL filter, as their console has one built-in. Their website has a nice FAQ section and also a chat function to ask questions.
When monitoring a second person in the same home, we found that they do in fact gather separate information on the second person monitored. See our tip: Two Medical Alert Monitoring Systems For The Price of One? for more information on this type of service offering.
As of this review, they are a paid corporate sponsor the a program called Vial of Life, which is basically an attempt to standardize the notification of what and where medial information is kept at home. You get a free Vial of Life kit with your system purchase.
We do prefer companies that monitor their own accounts in their own CSAA 5-Diamond central stations. This may provide better quality control with less parties involved.
Although our experience with this company had these results, your experience may be different. If you’re interested in this company’s services, contact them to judge for yourself.
