Why our customers chose us
Our Experience
We have been providing nurse call systems in Canada and the Northeast U.S. since 1992. These systems were for larger facilities involving computers, emergency call software, paging transmitters and wireless or hard-wired relays installed throughout the facilities. These systems required site visits for planning, for installation and training. A few of these systems had some 1,000 transmitters. Essentially, their costs made them out of reach for small facilities.
In 2018, with the advent of new technology, systems became available on the market allowing us to provide systems for smaller facilities, from a few residents to about 100. The systems simply include portable call buttons or pull cords, with the call for help alarms going directly to pocket pagers. As a result, we now specialize in marketing these small systems across Canada and the U.S.. They require no site visit on our part since they can be easily be installed by your own staff whether you have half a dozen or 100.
‘Call bells in a box’
We refer to our systems as ‘Call bells in a box’; here’s why.
- Contact us by email or telephone, and we will review the products available, their operation and recommend the best alternatives based on your needs. You select the product you want, either portable call buttons, pull cords, bed stations or a combination of them.
- You select the product that you want, either portable call buttons, pull cords, bed stations or a combination of these.
- You then provide us a list of the room numbers and whether you want to include the residents’ names.
- If you would like to try one of our transmitters, we will be glad to provide you a free trial, along with a pager.
- Based on your list, we then program, label and test all your transmitters.
- We mail your ‘call bells in a box’ using the Post Office Expedited or FedEx.
- Every system is shipped with a detailed user guide, customized for your facility.
When you receive your ‘Call bells in a box’
- If you ordered bracelet or pendant call buttons, simply hand these out to the residents and turn on your pager(s) – and your system is up and running.
- You should test the range of the system. To do this go to a room at one end of the facility, activate a call button, and verify that you get the pager message at the other end. If yes, all is OK, if not you might need a repeater.
- If you ordered pull cords, install them on the wall. Two wall plugs and two screws are included with each of them.
No expensive installation site visits required
Since our transmitters go directly to pagers, and when you receive your ‘Call bells in a box’ everything has been programmed for you – all you need to do is hand out the portable call buttons and turn on the pagers. If you ordered some pull cords, these can be easily installed by your staff.
All our customers, including the hospitals got their systems up and running themselves with no site visits. The hospital in Collingwood, Ontario ordered 25 bed stations and 18 dome lights and got the system up and running on their own.
No expensive onsite service calls
Since all the call alarms go straight from the transmitters to pagers, there is no need for a technician to come on site, open ceiling tiles or trouble shoot wiring and different equipment. If a portable call button is not working, simply give us a call. If the issue is not a user problem, we will send you a replacement call button.
How can we provide systems across U.S. and Canada?
With no installation or service onsite visits required, our marketing territory is only limited by the Post Office or FedEx service. That is why one of our customers is the Wahiawa Hospital in Hawaii, 4,800 miles from our offices.
You will never be out of service, even during a power failure
Since all the alarms go directly from the call buttons or pull cords to pagers, and these are all battery operated, your system will still be operational during a power failure. This is different than hard-wired systems, especially if they are computerized because they rely on power and expensive backup generators to operate during power failures.
The other major difference between our systems and others is in the case of complete system failures. Most other systems require multiple components to operate such as computers, paging transmitters, relays and annunciator panels. If any one of those fail, you are completely out of service until a technician comes onsite and the equipment is either repaired or replaced.
With our systems, because the alarms go directly from the transmitters to the pagers, the worst-case scenario is a call button or pull cord malfunctions. If you have more than one pager or a spare transmitter you will never be out of service.
On Quality of Product
We only provide products of the highest quality available from reputable manufacturers. That is the reason why our customers have next to no defective equipment. Very few of our customers contact us after they receive their systems – mostly, it is because they are adding residents. That is a testimony to the quality of our products, the ease of getting them up and running and the customized user guides that we provide. And the great benefit of these systems, is that you can add transmitters a few at a time, when needed.
Turn around time from order to being up and running
Once we have an order your product usually ships within a week. If there is a rush, the product can be programmed in one day and then shipped Fedex overnight anywhere is North America.
24/7 support line
We offer 24/7 service. All calls are answered by our employees and not an answering service. We encourage our customers to call us when they have an issue – as it happens. We would rather get a call at 3 am or Sunday afternoon than have someone call us to relay the issue some else had. That way we know exactly what happened.
Replaceable batteries
The life time of the batteries is about 2-3 years. Our systems all have battery supervision, that is once a transmitter has about 10 days of battery life remaining, it will automatically send a message to the pagers that the battery must be replaced. All our batteries are available locally from your pharmacies, Walmart, Canadian Tire, Home Depot or Lowes. No need to contact us.
How can we cover facilities with a larger footprint?
The range of our systems is dependent on such things as construction type, size of building and number of floors. The first thing that we recommend to our customers is to test the range of our systems in their facilities. It is as easy as going to one end of the building and verify if they receive the alarms at the other end.
Any range issue can be solved by the addition of one or more repeaters. Once again, there is no installation, they simply plug into power. They are small, 2 by 3 inches. The need for repeaters is usually limited to schools or hospitals that have been converted to senior living or in buildings with more than three floors.
Lorraine and J.C. LeBlanc