HomePod HomePod phone calls without in-range iPhone?

[dmaxdmax]

Sorry for the remedial question but here goes:

I was looking for a Life Alert style monitor for my 89 year old mother - lives with us - but I know that she wouldn’t use it because she wouldn’t want to be a bother. (Seriously - if she had fallen with a broken hip she would wait for us to come home.) She needs something where she can contact us or 911 but it has to be hands-free. Bad arthritis and failing vision rule out a cellphone.

I know that some nursing homes are outfitting rooms with Echo Dots but the issue is probably the same. Would she need to have a functioning iPhone with its own data plan to make a call with a HomePod? What about an IP call? What about an iMessage with WiFi? Or something else?

Siri/Alexa would have to pick her up from all of 6 feet away so that should be fine.

Thank you.

 

[chabig]

An Apple Watch on her wrist would be ideal. Since your primary interest is at home, you wouldn't even need an LTE Watch. A Wifi only watch would be enough. Still, the LTE might bring nice peace of mind for $70, since it can call 911 even if she goes out of the house. You don't need to have a cellular plan to use 911.

 

[dmaxdmax]

I just read on another site:
“
A Limit of the HomePod: Speakerphone Only
When it comes to using the HomePod for phone calls, there's one major, annoying limitation: you can't actually place phone calls on the HomePod. Unlike for text messages, which you can read and send on the HomePod just by speaking to Siri, you can't start a phone call via Siri. So, there's no option to just say "Hey Siri, call mom" and start speaking to your mother.

 

[chabig]

That's correct. HomePod can't place calls.

 

[dmaxdmax]

An Apple Watch on her wrist would be ideal. Since your primary interest is at home, you wouldn't even need an LTE Watch. A Wifi only watch would be enough. Still, the LTE might bring nice peace of mind for $70, since it can call 911 even if she goes out of the house. You don't need to have a cellular plan to use 911.

Good thought but we tried getting her a watch for Christmas and she wasn’t a fan. She likes her old Dino-watch and didn’t want to switch.
[doublepost=1529510194][/doublepost]

That's correct. HomePod can't place calls.

Can it receive calls? She could text us and we’d call back.
[doublepost=1529511685][/doublepost]I hate leaving the ecosystem but the best solution might be Google Home with Google Voice

 

[dmaxdmax]

24 hours later: I set up a gmail acct, google voice #, and Google Home for mom. Easy, cheap, and flawless.

I bought a HomePod too. Sounds amazing in our kitchen/living room. Probably keeping it too!