Monday 19 October 2020

Are tech changes putting the elderly at risk?

When will organisations learn that technological changes are hated by older people?
I have been telephoning a couple of people once a week for the last five years under a scheme set up by Dame Esther Rantzen.
Originally known as Silverline it used an automated online system whereby us volunteer friends logged into a virtual call centre (VCC) and selected who we wanted to call.
My phone would then ring. On answering, I would hear a ring tone and within a few seconds my friend would answer. Simples.
Making the call through a VCC meant we were both anonymous – no telephone details for each other, which of course is vital to personal safety.
Earlier this year the Silverline friendship calls scheme was absorbed into Age UK.
Which is when the problems started with one of my telephone friends.
Debbie, as I shall call her, is in her late 70s. She lives on her own and has had a few run-ins with scam callers. As a result her daughter, who lives on the other side of the country, installed a call screener for Debbie.
Under the old system the screener told her it was Silverline calling and she would answer the phone, knowing it was me.
Then Age UK took over. It involved a new system whereby when I rang her, via another VCC, she would answer the phone and have to press 1 to do this, press 2 to the other etc.
She persevered the first couple of times I called but was quite vociferous about her dislike of the new system, asking me why they had to change it.
The last two occasions I attempted to call Debbie were met with an automated “We are sorry but we cannot connect you to your friend”.
I have reported this to Age UK as after five years of chatting with someone every week you do get concerned for their welfare.
The response was they would attempt to call Debbie and ascertain what the problem is.
I think I know what her answer will be.