Bay Alarm Medical

Industry-Leading Protection at Non-Industry Leading Rates

Once again for 2024, Bay Alarm Medical places first in our rankings for best medical alert provider. Bay Alarm Medical separates itself from the pack with its high level of customer service, affordable and transparent pricing, equipment reliability, and response time.

Buying Experience

Let’s face it, shopping for a medical alert isn’t something families look forward to doing. No one wakes up in the morning excited to purchase a service like this. Bay Alarm Medical recognizes this and really strives to do what they can to ease the process. With a beautifully crafted website and some of the friendliest reps in the industry, you can count on Bay Alarm Medical to provide you with the best shopping experience when purchasing a medical alert system.

During our call, we got a hold of Katie and right away, she began asking questions to really get to know our situation. Not once were we met with high-pressure sales tactics or up-selling of any kind. After a thorough consultation, Jacky advised us on an in-home cellular system and a 4-pack of wall buttons. This was extremely refreshing and gave us the confidence to know we’d be taken care of.

Equipment

Bay Alarm Medical has two incredibly robust and feature-rich mobile products that are both powered on 4G LTE networks. 4G LTE is optimized specifically for medical alert devices as they consume less battery life vs 5G and but have exponentially more bandwidth than the previous 3G standard.

Additionally, Bay Alarm Medical has transitioned all of their in-home buttons from the old off-white buttons to new interchangeable buttons that can be swapped out for wrist or lanyard wear. This provides versatility for the user throughout the day.

Bay Alarm Medical ships directly out of California so it took two business days for the package to arrive to our headquarters. They also have fulfillment in Kentucky for its Midwest and East Coast customers. We tested Bay Alarm Medical’s entire product portfolio including both in-home systems (landline and cellular), and all three of their SOS mobile products: SOS Mobile, SOS All-In-One & SOS Smartwatch.

Get Started Today. Visit Bay Alarm Medical or call 1-855-412-1539

In-Home Medical Alert Review

Our in-home test unit came with a base station with a 32-hour backup battery and a standard necklace button. We also ordered their fall detection button to test for comfort, usability, and false alarm sensitivity. And since more and more people are “cord-cutting”, we opted for Bay Alarm Medical’s new 4G LTE cellular add-on for testing. However if you still have a landline in the home, we recommend to go with that option (and save some money at the same time).

If we were to have one gripe, it’d be that the equipment looks outdated. We reached out to Bay Alarm Medical about the aesthetics and their reasoning was that the plastics are made to easily cleaned, shaped for optimal acoustics, and designed with durability in mind. Definitely good reasons but we still wish it was more Apple-esque.

That being said, the plastics are indeed very durable and easy to wipe clean from spills and dust. The buttons on the both the pendant and base station give good feedback when pushed and we didn’t have any issues with accidental button pushes. The buttons are also very light and 100% waterproof. The system includes an interchangeable button that’s ultra light and super comfortable.

From our headquarters in the bay area, we didn’t have any cellular issues and the performance was identical to the landline system. Obviously being in a metropolitan area, we didn’t have any issues with AT&T cellular but if you’re in a more rural part of town, check AT&T’s coverage map before ordering.

Finally when it came to the automatic fall detection button, we weren’t able to initiate any false alarms. During our phone call with Jacky, we appreciated the fact that she made it clear that no auto fall detection technology is 100% accurate. For $10 a month, we think it’s worthwhile to treat it as a backup insurance policy but we always advise to push the button if something were to happen.

Setup

Installation required just 4 minutes. Here’s a list of what we did and I’m sure the process will be similar in most homes.

1. Unplug your home phone from your landline wall jack

2. Plug in the base station into your landline wall jack

3. Plug in your home phone to the base station in the port labeled “phone”

4. Plug in the power

5. Turn on the base station.

6. Test

Note that for the in-home cellular option, things get even easier as there isn’t a phone line to worry about.

That was all it took. The buttons were already pre-programmed so all we had to do was push the buttons to activate a test call. A Bay Alarm Medical representative came over the line and addressed us by my name. We tested the system throughout my parent’s 2000 sq ft home and everything was good. Each time, we were greeted by a very professional and friendly operator that asked if everything was okay.

We recommend placing the base station as close to the center of your home as possible. If this isn’t possible, always caution to the side of placing it towards the bathrooms or kitchens where falls will most likely occur. In the event of a fall while showering, the combination of a closed door and running water can make hearing somewhat difficult for a senior. The Bay Alarm Medical in-home system was exceptionally loud and clear.

Buyer’s Tip

Medical alert systems aren’t something people want to use. I can tell you first hand that getting my father to even test the system was a challenge. If you have stubborn loved ones like mine, a good alternative is to place wall buttons around the home instead of actually wearing a button. Having a button at all times is always preferred but if a fall were to happen, it’s good to know that a person could still crawl to get help. Definitely something to consider.

Get Started Today. Visit Bay Alarm Medical or call 1-855-412-1539

SOS All-In-One 2 Review (New for 2024)

One of Bay Alarm Medical’s most popular service offerings was their SOS All-In-One device. As the name of the product suggests, this device was developed for users that want a single system to be used both in the home and while out and about.

New for 2024, Bay Alarm Medical released it’s new SOS All-In-One 2. The device includes a in-home interchangeable button that is to be used by the mobile device is being charged on the cradle. Automatic Fall Detection is available as an upgrade.

Compared to the previous device, the AIO2 is sleeker, significantly better battery life, IP67 for better water resistance, and has improved GPS tracking and automatic fall detection capabilities.

All SOS mobile devices includes Caregiver Tracking, free of charge, which allows you to download an app (we tested both iOS and Android) to find the location of the device. The fact that the feature is included at no cost is a complete game changer for the product. We found this to be extremely useful if one, you’re a caregiver wanting to know the location of a loved one and two, if you happen to misplace the device and need to know where you left it. Keep in mind that the device needs to be charged and have cellular reception for accurate coordinates.

As far as battery life is concerned, in our testing we were able to get two day’s use with enough juice to last us to the next day. We still recommend charging the device each night and to utilize the included home button for all in-home activities such as sleeping and showering.

This is by far our favorite offering from Bay Alarm Medical. However it is important to note that speaker performance will be lower than a dedicated In-Home system because of how compact the device is. But overall we’d recommend this product to just about anyone looking for a do-it-all medical alert system.

Get Started Today. Visit Bay Alarm Medical or call 1-855-412-1539

SOS Mobile Review

If you’re shopping for a medical alert system that will strictly be used outside the home, look no further than Bay Alarm Medical’s SOS Mobile offering.

Now before we get into the review, if you’re cross shopping between this product vs the SOS All-In-One mentioned above, there are few key features that make this particular device a better mobile solution.

1. SOS Mobile is available to work on AT&T and Verizon networks
2. SOS Mobile’s battery life is a lot longer
3. SOS Mobile features much better tracking capabilities with the use of both GPS and WiFi

We like to think of the SOS Mobile as an ultra-light, ultra-sleek, one-button “get help fast” communicator. This is a product for the active senior that always on the go but needs that extra peace of mind throughout the day. And just like it’s larger All-In-One counterpart, Caregiver Tracking is included free of charge. The device also comes included with a lanyard or a belt clip. But to be honest because of how sleek it is, we’d just throw it in a pant/jacket pocket or purse so long as it’s easily accessibly should you need to call for help.

Get Started Today. Visit Bay Alarm Medical or call 1-855-412-1539

SOS SmartWatch Review

Bay Alarm Medical was the first medical alert company to introduce a fall detection-enabled medical alert smartwatch. Designed to be the alternative to traditional medical alert systems, the SOS Smartwatch features sleek, lightweight styling, long battery life, a bright and visible display, 2-way communication, water resistance, and most importantly, a physical SOS button that makes getting help incredibly easy and straightforward (seniors usually have trouble with soft-touch buttons as their skin isn’t as responsive on screens).

According to Bay Alarm Medical, the SOS Smartwatch was designed to be “as far away from the Apple Watch as possible” in terms of usability and functionality. “Our users appreciate simplicity above all else and when you design around that principle, you end up with longer battery life and a much more delightful product for our elderly customers” says Alan Wu, VP of Marketing.

And as mentioned above the SOS Smartwatch can be had with Automatic Fall Detection.

Get Started Today. Visit Bay Alarm Medical or call 1-855-412-1539

Pricing and Value

Of all the medical alert systems we tested, Bay Alarm Medical came out the most competitive with a starting price of $24.95. And unlike their competitors where you have to commit to a longer term if you want a lower average monthly price, Bay Alarm Medical starts at the $24.95 base price no matter if you decide to pay month to month, quarterly (3 months at a time) or annually (12 months at a time). And since we purchased an additional wrist button, both my parents had access to monitoring and there wasn’t an additional monthly monitoring fee that we had to pay.

Note that all three SOS mobile devices require need to be purchased outright, unlike the in-home consoles which are leased and need to be returned about service cancellation.

Free ground shipping is currently being offered with all quarterly and annual plans. You can also get a free month if you decide to prepay annually. These along with the affordable monthly price is a big reason by Bay Alarm Medical continually ranks high in our yearly comparison list.

Conclusion

Bay Alarm Medical is the perfect choice for anyone looking to get a simple and easy-to-use medical alert solution for themselves or their loved ones. We had a hard time trying to say anything negative about their in-home alert system.

Bay Alarm Medical Key Specifications

Get Started Today. Visit Bay Alarm Medical or call 1-855-412-1539