Life Alert

In part thanks to its well-known commercials, Life Alert may be considered the premier brand of the medical alert system industry. Even the term “life alert” is sometimes used interchangeably to describe any kind of alert service.

Life Alert was one of the first companies in the scene and has been selling alert devices to seniors since 1987. But despite their time in the industry and brand awareness, they may be several years removed from being the best product out there.

Many competitors have innovated in various directions and Life Alert has struggled to keep up. Lively, for example, offers Jitterbug smart phones and mobile apps, while companies like Bay Alarm Medical sell smartwatches and other high-tech options.

Life Alert still largely only sells alert pendants that can be connected to an operator through a base speaker at the touch of a button. For some seniors, that may be all they are looking for.

But with so many technological advances in the last few decades, especially as the industry has grown, most competitors offer a much larger range of products and services that better integrate with modern society and modern technology.

Life Alert’s medical alert system works similarly to many other companies. It starts with you wearing a pendant that can typically be worn around your neck or on your wrist.

The pendant has a button on it that is connected to the Life Alert speaker you place in your home. If you have some sort of medical emergency or fall, you can press the button and immediately be connected to a Life Alert emergency operator through the speaker.

They can then contact your family or emergency services depending on your situation. If you are too far away from the speaker for them to hear you or you can’t talk, they typically contact emergency services if the button was pressed without a verbal response.

The pendants have a range of 800 feet, meaning they will work as long as you remain within 800 feet of the base unit. They are also waterproof.

Life Alert has some other auxiliary versions of its product as well, like an alert button that you can stick to the wall of your shower so you can easily press it if you have any kind of emergency.

The cost of a Life Alert system can be hard to nail down due to a lack of transparency from the company. Life Alert does not list any kind of price or cost publicly on its website. Instead, it directs you to call them and speak to a salesperson.

This appears to be the only way to get cost information directly from Life Alert. This differs from its competitors, as many of them not only post full cost information online but allow customers to purchase items directly from the website.

According to the U.S. News & World Report, you will be charged a one-time equipment fee of $198 and then a monthly fee that can range from $69.99 to $89.99 depending on the package that you select.

It should be noted that this is much more expensive than many of Life Alert’s competitors. Some companies have monthly fees in the $20-to-$30 range, and the equipment fee is also much lower for most competitor devices.

Life Alert also requires the signing of a three-year contract to receive services, meaning, you will have to pay the company for three years even if you decide at some point that you no longer want Life Alert or want to switch to a different service.

Some of Life Alert’s competitors also include contracts of some form, but typically not as long as three years.

There are some pros and potential benefits to opting for Life Alert over some of its competitors. The company remains perhaps the most established in the industry and is one of the few that can say it has decades of experience providing alert systems to seniors.

Life Alert is also a very reliable service that can help keep you safe. You should have no issue getting the help you need if you have an emergency and press your alert button at any time of day or night.

But there are some serious potential drawbacks that must be considered as well.

The lack of transparency in pricing and the requirement to speak to a salesperson in order to receive cost information is a serious drawback, especially compared to competitors.

Many people do not want to have to speak with a salesperson to order a product, especially in an industry that often allows immediate purchases of devices directly from company websites.

The price of a Life Alert system is also a major con, especially given the relative simplicity of the technology compared to some competitors. You will have to pay much more, both upfront and each month, if you opt for a Life Alert device.

The long-term contracts are another drawback, since you essentially become locked into paying a hefty monthly fee for three years with little control over the contract.