Retention rates after free offers

In response to the original poster, retention rates after free offers can be extremely high, depending on the service offered. We have seen retention rates of 75% although in less affluent areas this can drop, although rarely below 50%.

The issue, to my mind, isn't the fact a council is raising awareness of telecare through free trials, but that it might force inappropriate telecare and social alarm units onto 'anyone it can' to prove the project. Many councils seem obsessed with giving 'box and button' to people who are almost certainly never going to wear their pendant, and many social workers don't consider whether the end user is likely to actually wear the pendant or not. Pendant alarms definitely have value, but their value is overstated for a majority of users When that becomes properly accepted is when councils will start to recognise the value of other telecare and educate their OTs and social workers well in terms of choosing who should be referred on to what. Right now, a lot of money spent on pendant alarms should be spent on other more appropriate telecare.

Kevin, I share a lot of your views. BTW you mentioned 'computer assisted proactive calling'... we've been doing this for years in various ways and, obviously it depends on what flavour you are talking about - but by and large making outbound automated calls to people to check they are safe (if that is what you are referring to) is something we don't recommend, born out of extensive experience and real testing over years. It's ultimately very stressful for end-users who feel they have to be in for calls. It's 100 times better to allow people the freedom to say they are okay in their own time. This also serves as a simple cognitive test. The best things are always simple!

For those who are not familiar with how 'smart telephony' and how different but simple approaches can support people, take a look at www.alertacall.com

Regards,

James Batchelor
Alertacall Ltd