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Use case

Reminders that reach an older relative

The person you are reminding does not want an app. They will answer a phone. Every reminder tool you have tried so far has failed at the same step: it needed them to install something, learn something, or notice a small grey banner on a screen they do not look at.

Start with GoogleRead how phone-call reminders work
An older woman answering a landline telephone at home

Why the usual answers do not work at their end

None of this is about capability. It is about what a device asks of elderly parents and relatives before it helps them.

  • The app was installed once and never opened again

    You set it up on a visit. It worked while you were sitting next to them. Three weeks later it has been swiped off the home screen, logged out, or buried behind two updates.

  • The notification is silent and small

    A banner assumes somebody is holding the phone, looking at it, and reads it as a prompt rather than as decoration. Plenty of people never learned to treat a grey bar as a request.

  • The phone is not a smartphone

    It is a handset for calls. There is no app store on it, and there was never going to be. Any answer that starts with install is finished before it begins.

  • Reminding them is really you phoning them

    Which works, and which is why it falls apart. It ties the 14:00 dose to you being free at 14:00, every day, for years.

How to set up a reminder that rings their phone

This is a one-off conversation and about five minutes of setup, done from your own phone or laptop.

  1. Verify their number with them

    Timelee sends a one-time code to the number and they read it back to you. Nothing can be pointed at a phone whose owner has not confirmed it, which is also the reason this step cannot be skipped.

  2. Create the reminder as a Phone Call Only

    Give it the time, the repeat pattern, and a title written the way you would say it out loud. Choose a male or female voice once in your account.

  3. Write the pre-text and the post-text

    The call plays your pre-text, then the words This is your reminder, then the title, then your post-text. Use the pre-text to say who it is from, so the call is not a stranger. Both are optional, and both are worth writing when the call is going to somebody else.

  4. Test it once, with them on the line

    Set it two minutes ahead and let them hear what it sounds like. A call they have already heard once is a call they answer the second time.

What a call can do that the other channels cannot

Timelee has three ways to reach someone. The first two need a smartphone with the app on it. The third does not, which is the whole reason this page exists.

  1. notif_type 1

    Regular

    A full-screen alarm on a phone with Timelee installed. Fine for you. It asks more of them than it looks like it does.

  2. notif_type 2

    App Call

    The phone rings full screen inside Timelee, like an incoming call. Good for a relative who does use a smartphone comfortably and has the app.

  3. notif_type 4Premium · uses credits

    Phone Call Only

    A real phone call placed by Timelee's servers to a verified number. No app, no smartphone, no account and no learning at the other end. It rings the way every other call they have ever taken rings.

What the call sounds like at their end

The phone rings. They answer it the way they answer any call. A voice says the pre-text you wrote, then This is your reminder, then the title you set, then your post-text.

There is nothing to tap, nothing to dismiss, and no way to get it wrong. If they miss it, it is a missed call, which is a thing they already understand.

Write the title as a sentence somebody would say. Take the blue tablet with a glass of water works. Med #2 PM does not, because it was written for a screen rather than for a voice.

  • Works with no app installed and on a handset that is not a smartphone
  • Arrives in their language — the spoken call follows the language setting, across 32 languages
  • Rings over the phone network, so it does not depend on their data or their Wi-Fi
A senior man taking a phone call in an armchair

Their number, their consent, their code

A number can only receive a Timelee call after its owner has verified it with a one-time code sent to that phone. You cannot set this up for someone without their involvement, and you can remove a verified number at any time. This is a deliberate limit, not an obstacle: an automated call that could be aimed at any number would be a nuisance tool rather than a reminder one.

Questions about reminders for older relatives

Do they need a smartphone?

No. A Phone Call Only reminder is a normal call on the phone network. It works on a basic handset, on a landline number they have verified, and with no Timelee account at their end.

Do they need to install anything?

Nothing. The only step involving their phone is the one-time code that verifies the number, and you can do that together in a couple of minutes.

Can the call repeat every day?

Yes. Set the reminder to repeat every day, on weekdays, or on the specific days you choose with the seven day toggles. Use Repeat ends if it should stop after a course of treatment or after a date.

What if they do not pick up?

It shows on their phone as a missed call and nothing further is placed for that reminder. If you need to know, set a second reminder for yourself ten minutes later so you are prompted to check in.

Will the call be in their language?

Timelee runs in 32 languages and the spoken call follows the language setting rather than defaulting to English. Four of those languages are laid out right to left in the apps.

What does it cost?

Real phone calls use call credits, which are bought in the Timelee app on Android or iPhone rather than on the web. Everything else, including creating and scheduling the reminders, is part of the free core. Current figures are shown in the app.

Set one call, for one dose, this week

Verify their number together, set the 14:00 reminder, and test it once while you are both on the line. If it works for that one, the rest is the same five minutes.

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