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Last Updated On: | 10 Minute Read
We selected Bay Alarm Medical as our #1 provider for 2024. Among all of the medical alert companies in the industry, we found that they have the best overall mix of services, equipment, customer service, testimonials, and affordability.
The company provides some of the best devices on the market – including in-home, mobile and smartwatch medical alert systems. In particular, their SOS Smartwatch stands out as one of the very few medical alert watches featuring automatic fall detection, and the only watch using artificial intelligence to minimize false alarms.
Affordability is perhaps Bay Alarm Medical’s strongest point. It offers top-notch medical alerts at prices that are well below those of competitors like Medical Guardian or Lifeline.
Competitive prices do not mean that the service you’re getting is lower quality. Bay Alarm Medical’s customer service is consistently top-notch and their emergency monitoring centers are Five Diamond Certified by CSAA. That means their emergency centers undergo an annual certification process, commit to strict quality standards, and agree to random inspections by Underwriter’s Laboratory.
Key Points
- Our 2024 ratings give Bay Alarm Medical an overall ReliaScore™ of 9.8 out of 10, making it one of the best medical alert companies on the market. Read our reviews below to find out why.
- The company has a stellar reputation for service and gets excellent reviews online.
- Their emergency monitoring centers are 5 Diamond Certified.
- Bay Alarm Medical offers the best medical alert smartwatch on the market.
- All of their medical alert systems are affordable, with a first year cost that falls at or below the average of the systems we tested.
For a more detailed review of the company including a video, please see our full Bay Alarm Medical review here.
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| SOS Home Landline | SOS Home Cellular | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly Subscription | $25.95 / mo | $31.95 / mo |
| Fall Detection Cost | $8/month, plus $30 equipment fee | $8/month, plus $30 equipment fee |
| Key Lockbox | Yes - $30.00 | Yes - $30.00 |
| Shipping Cost | $12.00 standard shipping | $12.00 standard shipping |
Bay Alarm Medical "SOS Home Landline" Overview
As a full-service medical alert system provider, Bay Alarm Medical offers options for every need and lifestyle. Its options include basic landline systems, cellular based systems, GPS-enabled systems, and medical alert smartwatches. The company has an excellent reputation for affordable pricing, responsive customer service, and fast, reliable response times.
Bay Alarm Medical promises to provide top-tier service at affordable prices – and they deliver. That’s why we are choosing this system as our 2024 Editor’s Choice for home landline medical alert systems.
The Bay Alarm Medical website is well-designed and packed with information — including user documentation, troubleshooting guides, and short videos that explain how each system works, how to set it up, etc. It makes it easy for shoppers to compare systems and prices. The sales representatives seemed just as interested in helping us choose the right system for our needs rather than “making a sale,” and urged us to visit the FAQ and video sections before making a decision.
Bay Alarm Medical registers your medical alert in their system during checkout. When you perform your first test, they already know who you are. Instead of waiting on hold to “activate your system” and provide your name, address, product serial number, etc., you’re ready to test immediately after set-up.
The unboxing and testing process is quick and easy. Only five minutes after opening the box, we were ready to test the system.
During testing, we successfully reached the base system from 1,000 feet away. Help button tests showed fast response times of approximately 40 seconds from pushing the button to connecting with the monitoring center.
Bay Alarm Medical’s optional fall detection is outstanding. We weren’t able to trick the system by knocking the device against a desk or doing jumping jacks. Yet when we actually simulated a fall, the system immediately alerted the monitoring center. Considering that falls are the most common reason for emergency calls, reliable fall detection is essential.
We strongly recommend adding fall detection to whatever medical alert device you select. It’s an important safety feature, particularly for those living alone or in remote areas.
Users can wear the Bay Alarm Medical help button as a pendant or wristband. The pendant necklace strap is adjustable (a safety concern if you’re of shorter stature). Fall detection requires a separate pendant, so it may be more comfortable to wear the basic help button on the wrist strap.
Bay Alarm Medical’s SOS Landline System is very similar to Medical Guardian’s Classic Guardian system. Medical Guardian offers add-on options that allow users to create a more personalized system. Those extra costs can add up quickly however, and Medical Guardian’s basic service is already more expensive than Bay Alarm Medical’s.
We believe that Bay Alarm Medical’s affordability and positive customer service are a winning combination for people who need a landline medical alert system.
Read our full, hands-on review of the SOS Home medical alert system.
| SOS Mobile | |
|---|---|
| Device Cost: | $63.90 + $12.00 shipping |
| Shipping: | $12.00 |
| Monitoring Service: | $34.95/month |
| Fall Detection: | $10.00/month |
| Total 1-Year Cost: | $620.70 |
Bay Alarm Medical SOS Mobile
The SOS Mobile medical alert may be our favorite of Bay Alarm Medical’s systems, and it is our #1 pick for the Best Mobile Medical Alert System. The system provides manyfeatures at a fairly low price point, making it a good value.
While we don’t like the $99 hardware cost paid up-front, Bay Alarm Medical charges only $29.95 for monthly monitoring. That’s $20/month less than other companies charge for the same service. With an additional $10 per month for optional fall detection (something we highly recommend), that brings the first-year cost of owning the system to $578.40. Among the systems we tested, only Lively Mobile+ costs less than this.
The SOS Mobile offers a compact, sleek design, with the option to wear the device around your neck or on your hip. We like that automatic fall detection is integrated into the device and doesn’t require you to wear a separate pendant just for that optional feature. We found the automatic fall detection to work well, setting off alarms on hard falls but not triggering false alarms for minor bumps.
While we had some minor issues with the initial setup, everything else about the system was easy to use. We found its GPS location tracking to be responsive and accurate, though we wish it showed your street address in addition to latitude/longitude coordinates.
The Caregiver Tracking portal is somewhat buried under the company’s online account management. However, it does a good job of showing the wearer’s location. We found that GPS reported our location to within 100 feet of our true position.
| SOS Smartwatch | |
|---|---|
| Device Cost: | $111.30 |
| Shipping Fee: | $12.00 |
| Emergency Monitoring: | $34.95/month |
| Automatic Fall Detection: | $10.00/month |
| Charge Time: | 4 hours |
| Battery Life: | Up to 24 hours |
| Service: | Excellent |
Bay Alarm Medical "SOS Smartwatch" Overview
Bay Alarm Medical has an excellent reputation when it comes to its pricing, customer service, and product reliability. Our experience with the SOS Smartwatch did not disappoint. We chose Bay Alarm Medical’s SOS Smartwatch as our pick for both Best Value Smartwatch and Best Overall Smartwatch.
The SOS Smartwatch has added automatic fall detection using an algorithm powered by artificial intelligence, a key feature missing from most medical alert watches. Using AI to reduce the risk of false alarms, we think this feature is a game changer and may make the SOS Smartwatch the best medical alert system of any type.
Bay Alarm Medical is a full-service medical alert provider. They offer home landline and cellular home medical alert systems as well as the SOS Smartwatch. The Bay Alarm Medical sales representatives were friendly, knowledgeable, and eager to help us choose the correct system for our needs. There was no hard sell and no pressure to purchase extra add-ons or upgrades.
The unboxing and set-up process couldn’t have been easier. The smartwatch arrived charged and ready to use. Even better, Bay Alarm Medical completes the product registration during check-out. The first time you push the SOS button, the operator already knows who and where you are. If you’ve ever spent a frustrating amount of time on hold waiting to “activate” a product or service, you’ll appreciate Bay Alarm’s system even more!
The smartwatch itself is easy to use and comfortable to wear. The sleek black design doesn’t look like a medical device – just a regular smartwatch. This is an important consideration because a medical alert device only works if you actually wear it. The SOS Smartwatch is a good option for someone who is reluctant to wear a medical alert pendant or clunky wristband.
During our tests, Bay Alarm Medical’s monitoring center responded within 15 seconds after we pushed the SOS button. The operators were helpful – even calling back to ensure that everything was ok.
Our testing of the watch’s automatic fall detection feature also found it to do a good job of distinguishing between false alarms and hard falls that signal an emergency.
Medical Guardian’s MG Move Smartwatch is the nearest competitor to the SOS Smartwatch. It offers additional apps and a robust Caregiver Portal that makes tracking the movements of your loved one easier. We do wish that the Bay Alarm SOS Smartwatch offered similar options. But the SOS Smartwatch now offers automatic fall detection, while the MG Move does not have this key feature.
The first-year cost difference between the SOS Smartwatch and MG Move is also substantial: $662.70 for the SOS Smartwatch compared to $811.85 for the MG Move. Medical Guardian’s monthly monitoring charges are also higher than Bay Alarm Medical’s.
We think that Bay Alarm Medical’s excellent service and affordable price structure make it a better value than the MG Move.
Read our full, hands-on review of the SOS Smartwatch.