Fuss Free Phones

How worried are you? How Stressed? If the answer is “More than I have ever been in my life”, then you are normal.  Research has shown that as we get older we get more worried. But there is good news, things then get better.

They say that half your life is ruined by your parents and then half your life is ruined by your kids. Today we have “The Sandwich Generation”, people who are looking after both their kids and their parents. It’s a result of people living longer and starting families later.

So where is the good news in this? It happens later. It turns out that when we are young we are pretty damn happy. We leave school or university with the world as a new exciting place and then get our first pay cheques. Not that anyone uses cheques anymore.  We are independent and free.

Then responsibility starts to grow, rent,  mortgages, commitment, children. It’s all good and part of growing up. And with it we worry more. By the time we reach our 40 and 50s we are pretty worried, and having had decades getting there we assume that our parents are desperately glum.

This is not the case.

1947 was the height of the baby boom, this year having a 70th birthday will be pretty normal. Those people will be healthier than any generation before and happier. With their children having left home, generally with some money tucked away and great opportunities to do all the things they’ve been meaning to do since the kids were born it’s a great age. The AARP is the American organisation which is a cross between Saga and Age UK. It used to stand for the American Association of Retired Professionals, until they worked out that most members were old, but not retired.

They only have one major concern: their kids worry about them. They know because they have been there. Fortunately there is something to ease the concern: technology.

It’s generally thought that by teaching older people to use technology they can have better communication with their kids and grandkids and that they will be happier.

This gets two things wrong. The first is that they are already quite happy, and the second is that if you are 78 and have never had a mobile phone you don’t see why you need one. Especially with tapping, swiping, double tapping and pinching. It’s the wrong way to do it.

Technology is flexible so what’s needed is a service like Fuss Free Phones.  www.fussfreephones.com  This doesn’t just make technology easy. It makes it familiar. An easy to use mobile phone has a big button on the back. The customer presses the button and is connected to a friendly telephonist. Think of the switchboard in Man Men or and old fashioned operator. The telephonist has a list of the customers’ contacts so when the customer asks for a person by name they are put through. Telephonists can also type out text messages and will read out replies, or look up something on the internet.

They can even block nuisance calls.

When a Fuss Free Phones customer receives a call the number calling them is compared with the numbers held for making outgoing calls. If the number is on the list the call goes straight through. Numbers not on the list are diverted to a telephonist who checks out the caller. If it’s the doctor changing an appointment that’s put through to the customer. If it’s “someone from Windows who had identified that your computer is running a bit slow”, the call is blocked, No more spam, scam or nuisance calls.

Because the telephonists are friendly it’s a piece of technology which they will actually use, and enjoy using. No more peering and a small screen or trying to remember how it works.

If you answered the question at the beginning of this article “less stressed than I used to be”, you should think about getting a Fuss Free phone because your kids worry about you. But, if as you probably did, answered “more worried”, you need to get your Mum or Dad a Fuss Free Phone for your own peace of mind.

www.fussfreephones.com