My experience with other phones and companies has been really poor. My 84 year old father would never have been able to get through the automated systems on any of them with his hearing problems. He even had trouble with On Star in his GM car, too.

Certainly, every situation is different and you need to find the best solution for your particular needs.

If you are happy with your phone company and phone, let me know. I’d like to tell all our readers about it.

CKWilde

Do your research first — quality goes along way! (especially w/the elderly — plus, WE are not as inept as people believe.

The Jitterbug service has customers between the ages of 55 and 100. And, in addition to the phone with the big buttons, they offer a phone that has only three buttons — “Operator”, “Personalized” (preprogrammed with one number) and “911″. The operator can help the customer access additional phone numbers. This phone is called “One Touch”.

The company says that operators are caring and patient. The woman I spoke with was very gracious and helpful. The operators will greet the senior by name (using caller ID technology) They are expecting the senior to be able to explain what he needs.

If your father has your phone number (or another close family member) programmed into the phone, he can push that button first. He would use the operator button if you can’t be reached.

You are in the best position to judge whether your father is capable of explaining to the operator what he needs. The phone does not have GPS, so they can’t tell the location he is at. He would have to tell them.

It can be very upsetting to suddenly find yourself lost. If your father gets flustered or upset to the point that he can’t communicate, the operator may not be able to help.

Verizon Wireless offers several cell phones with “Chaperone Parent/Child” GPS service. The parent can “see” where the child phone is on a specially equipped phone, on the Chaperone website or by getting a text message alert.

The Verizon phones cost less than the Jitterbug but require a two year contract. There is an additional fee for the Chaperone service. If this sounds like a better option, you could go to a Verizon Wireless store in your area and try out phones with your father to see if any will work for him.

Other phone carriers may have similar programs. I’ll be doing more research on this and post it on my blog.

Thanks for asking a great question!