FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT EARLY BIRD ALERT AND EASYCONNECT
What is Early Bird Alert, Inc.?
What is EasyConnect?
How does EasyConnect work?
How will EasyConnect help me?
Will EasyConnect cost me anything?
Will EasyConnect interfere with my home phone line?
Can I use EasyConnect for emergencies?
How do I get started with EasyConnect?
What information will I need to register?
How will my registration be confirmed?
How will EasyConnect be installed on my phone or Internet connected device?
How does EasyConnect Assist work with my telephone or cell phone?
How does My EasyConnect (Application or Apps) work with my smartphone, tablet, PC or Internet-connected TV?
What icons are available on My EasyConnect (Applications)?
What are the main things I can do using either version of EasyConnect?
What are “ALERTS” and “REMINDER CALLS”?
Can my home caregiver or close family member subscribe to EasyConnect?
Is EasyConnect available in languages other than English?
How will EBA stay in touch with me?
Will there be advertising on EasyConnect?
Will EBA ask me for other information besides the registration information?
How does EBA use the information it collects?
What about my privacy?
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What is Early Bird Alert, Inc.?
Early Bird Alert, Inc. (EBA) is the company that developed the EasyConnect System™ to help people take better care of themselves. EBA’s EasyConnect gives you a simple way to participate more effectively in your daily healthcare routine. EBA makes EasyConnect available to you free of charge.
What is EasyConnect?
The EasyConnect System™ is a versatile, two-way communications service – a personalized “healthcare hotline” – to keep you and the people you rely on for your healthcare better connected. EasyConnect makes it simple for you and your doctor, hospital, clinic, pharmacy, home caregiver, case manager all to stay in touch with each other. For EasyConnect, better communication means better care.
The personalized EasyConnect™ service helps seniors, the chronically ill, families with critically ill children, veterans and the disabled better manage their own health care by making the connection to and regular communication with their healthcare providers push-button easy. EasyConnect™ also delivers daily medication or medical appointment reminders to patients, connects seniors to transportation services, and offers health-oriented messages, community activity information, even entertainment, all at a button push, mouse click, or screen touch. Patented and advertising-supported, the EasyConnect™ service operates via a home push-button landline telephone or cell phone and via the Internet through computer, smart phone, tablet or TV.
How does EasyConnect work?
The EasyConnect communications system comes in two versions:
• EasyConnect Assist is for people who prefer using a standard landline push-button home telephone or regular cell phone.
• My EasyConnect (Applications or Apps) is for people who can connect to the Internet through a computer, smart phone, tablet or Internet-connected TV.
Once you register with EBA, EBA will remotely activate your free EasyConnect service for you. No installation is required and no one comes to your house. You don’t have to buy any new equipment, nor do you have to read through any confusing instruction manuals.
How will EasyConnect help me?
Whether you’re at home or on the go, EasyConnect helps you to be actively engaged in your own healthcare every day. Using EasyConnect keeps you connected with the people you trust to help you with your health needs.
EasyConnect helps you by:
• Remembering and dialing important phone numbers for you – to your doctor, your pharmacy, your care manager, and even alerting your caregiver to call you. All you do is push a button to be connected.
• Reminding you to take your medications through the medication Reminder Call feature.
• Alerting you, for example, to keep an appointment, go in for a flu shot, or bring your child in for vaccination.
• Allowing your healthcare providers to get in touch with you easily.
• Making current information about medical conditions and medications available to you – EasyConnect puts discussions, conversations and surveys on health issues right at your finger tips.
• Sending newsletters to you and your registered home caregiver that offer healthcare-related information, articles to interest and amuse you, games for prizes, and valuable coupons.
• Allowing your voice to be heard on healthcare related issues, including service satisfaction, by those who guide our country in business and politics.
Fundamentally, EasyConnect is designed to improve patient-provider communication because experts agree that better communication means better care.
Will EasyConnect cost me anything?
The Assist and My EasyConnect (apps) versions of EasyConnect are provided to you free of charge. And there is no monthly fee for using EasyConnect.
Will EasyConnect interfere with my home phone line?
No. EasyConnect does not interfere with the normal operation of your telephone or internet devices. If you are using EasyConnect and have CALL WAITING, you can take other incoming calls just as you ordinarily do. If you are not using EasyConnect, your telephone and Internet devices will work as usual.
Can I use EasyConnect for emergencies?
No! EasyConnect is not an emergency device! Always use your home or mobile phone to dial 911.
If you are using EasyConnect at the time of an emergency, hang up immediately and dial 911.
How do I get started with EasyConnect?
First, you must register with EBA.
On the Internet, go to www.earlybirdalert.com and click on either of the two links that you will find there. Either “See Why You Need EasyConnect” (if you wish to get EasyConnect for yourself or “See How EasyConnect Helps Caregivers” (if you wish to get EasyConnect for someone in your care. These two links will bring you into the EasyConnect registration process.
If you are not an Internet user and wish to use EasyConnect with a telephone standard cell phone, you may call EBA’s Call Center toll free at 1-877-517-5521 for customer service.
If you are a patient or member of one of EBA’s partner healthcare organizations (such as the National Rural Health Association), you may register at your local clinic or healthcare facility. Your registration form will be forwarded to EBA.
What information will I need to register?
You will be asked for basic information starting with yourself – your name, address, telephone number, date of birth, gender, email address (if you have one). You will be asked for names and contact information about your home caregiver and other healthcare providers. You will be asked if you would like to give your home caregiver permission to follow your EasyConnect activities and to interact on your behalf with your other healthcare providers. And you will be asked for your agreement to accept EBA’s disclosure statement and the privacy policy under which the EasyConnect System operates.
How will my registration be confirmed?
Once EBA receives your fully completed registration form and information, you will receive a telephone call (if you are using the Assist version) or an email (if you are using the My EasyConnect version) to confirm receipt. Responding to the phone call or email will activate your access to EasyConnect.
If you give your home caregiver permission to view your activities or to interact on your behalf with your healthcare providers, your home caregiver will also have to register for EBA and acknowledge acceptance of this responsibility. Only then will EBA share information with your home caregiver. In some cases, your other healthcare providers may ask you to confirm that you have selected them during the registration process to be on your EasyConnect System.
Once you are registered, EBA will send you a “Welcome Kit” containing an EasyConnect instruction sheet and laminated guide for Assist (to be kept by your home phone), your initial issue of “The Alert” newsletter and some “thank you” coupons for discount purchases.
How will EasyConnect be installed on my phone or Internet connected device?
As mentioned above, no installation is needed for EasyConnect. No one will visit your home. Once you have registered and your registration is confirmed, your access to EasyConnect will be activated remotely. Then you simply begin using the service.
How does EasyConnect Assist work with my telephone or cell phone? What buttons are available on EasyConnect Assist?
Whenever you want to use EasyConnect Assist on your landline phone and/or your cell phone, you first dial toll free: 1-855-4MY-ASSIST (1-855-469-2774).
We recommend that you set your phone to speed dial this number so you don’t have to dial it every time you want to use EasyConnect Assist.
EasyConnect Assist - sample button assignments
When you dial the number above, EasyConnect Assist will:
• Recognize you by name.
• Read the Welcome Menu that may have five options – Alerts, EasyConnect, Care-O-Gram, Health Reports and My Points. (Please note that the Care-O-Gram and Health Reports will be available by subscription only. If you wish to have these programs, please contact Early Bird Alert for subscription information).
• Read existing Alerts to you – these are important messages from healthcare and service providers.
• Allow you to respond to the Alerts or to call your healthcare providers either by pressing the button indicated on your laminated instruction card or by just saying the contact’s name – for example, say “doctor” or press 2 to call your doctor’s office.
• Read to you the list of contacts if you don’t happen to have your numbered EasyConnect guide near your phone.
• Remember and dial any of your contact numbers for you.
• Allow you to send a daily Care-O-Gram report about your health and needs to your home caregiver or family members if they have subscribed to this service
How does My EasyConnect (Application or Apps) work with my smartphone, tablet, PC or Internet-connected TV?
Once you have registered with EBA, you will receive an email containing an access link and log-in user ID/password that allows you to access My EasyConnect (Apps) from your preferred Internet devices.
When you have EasyConnect on your device, you will see the welcome screen that displays icons for the persons, facilities and services you can reach through the system. For example, there are icons that:
• Allow you to contact your healthcare providers (i.e. doctor, pharmacy, etc.) by web-phone or any other means you choose.
• Provide you with your reminder calendar.
• Alert you to important messages posted by your healthcare providers or home caregiver.
• Allow you to contact a transportation company or connect with concierge services.
• Provide you with that day’s weather or news headlines.
• Offer you access to a health information library and videos on your medical condition or medications.
Touching or clicking on an icon connects you to your selection. Once connected, you’ll be able to place a call through your primary phone or have web connectivity at your disposal.
What icons are available on My EasyConnect (Applications)?
The My EasyConnect Main Menu (please click on the image below to see it full size)
The EasyConnect Menu (please click on the image below to see it full size)
After you have EasyConnect installed, the best way to understand the icons is to play with them. Just touch or click an icon and see what happens. It’s fun, and you really can’t hurt anything.
What are the main things I can do using either version of EasyConnect?
Your designated healthcare providers will be able to contact you directly or leave important messages for you.
Once you have listened to or read a message you can ask EasyConnect to dial the provider who left you the message.
If you do not respond to messages left by providers through EasyConnect within a certain period, EasyConnect will advise the provider who called and/or your caregiver to check in with you.
You can call a provider either by pushing a button assigned to a contact or by saying the contact’s name – for example, say “doctor” or press 2 to call your doctor’s office.
EasyConnect does not interfere with the normal operation of your telephone or internet device.
EasyConnect makes calling your healthcare providers very easy. But as is true for any telephone call, EasyConnect cannot guarantee that the office number it is dialing for you will be attended by a live person.
What are “ALERTS” and “REMINDER CALLS”?
“Reminder Calls” are actual calls made at your request by EBA to the landline phone and/or cell phone you designated as “primary” at registration. The calls come at the times and days you requested to remind you to take your prescribed medications.
“ALERTS” are not calls. They are messages left for you by your providers on EasyConnect. If you are using Assist, Alerts are the first thing you hear after dialing in and being greeted. If you are using My EasyConnect (Apps), Alerts are reached by pressing the ALERTS icon.
MORE ABOUT “ALERTS”
ALERTS will most often include a call to action – for example, “make an appointment with your doctor,” or “pick up your prescription.”
If the action is something you can do through EasyConnect, you can do it right away – in the example, the Alert will say “to make an appointment now, push button # 2. When you are done, the ALERT will be archived.
If the action is something you have to do elsewhere, such as pick up a prescription, the ALERT will be archived when you have done so.
ALERTS have an internal deadline date. As illustrated above, if the ALERT contains a specific call for action (“please make an appointment”), the ALERT will be archived when the action is performed or when its deadline passes. If there is no call for action, the ALERT will be archived when its deadline passes.
The ALERTS that come up first on Assist can be temporarily bypassed.
If you want to move on to another ALERT, just say “CONTINUE.”
If you want to get right to a provider/service button to complete an action or place a call, just press the button or say the title of the provider you want to reach.
Bypassed ALERTS remain in place and can be reached by saying “Alerts” when you are done with your contact. Of course, the ALERTS will simply come up again when you next dial in to Assist or press the icon in My EasyConnect (Apps).
MORE ABOUT REMINDERS
Subscribers who want REMINDER CALLS must request them through the designated Call Center:
At present, the “take your medication” REMINDER CALL is the only one offered. It is available up to 4 times a day.
When you answer the call, you’ll hear “This is a call for (your name). If you are (your name), please say your full name.”
If you say your full name, the reminder message is delivered — you’ll hear “This is your medication reminder for (time and date), brought to you by the folks at (company name). who wish you good health.”
If the call is not answered, or if someone or something else (answering machine, voice mail system) answers, EasyConnect hangs up and calls back once in 50 minutes.
If the follow-up reminder call is not answered, EasyConnect places an ALERT where you can hear the missed REMINDER CALL for another hour.
If all REMINDER CALLS go unanswered for 24 hours, EasyConnect triggers a “check-in” message to your home caregiver or doctor.
Can my home caregiver or close family member subscribe to EasyConnect?
Yes! Just identify your home caregiver or family member on your registration form. EBA will make registration and use of EasyConnect available to that person on the same basis as it comes to you – free of charge and fully supported.
Your home caregiver will receive all EBA offers, services and rewards for use that you do, including a monthly newsletter with caregiver tips and other valuable information. Once registered, and with your permission, your caregiver can help you to receive the care you need by viewing your EasyConnect activities and using EasyConnect to interact with your healthcare providers on your behalf.
NOTE: With your permission if your family member, home caregiver or someone else close to you wants more information about your wellbeing, you may let that person know that EasyConnect can deliver a Care-O-Gram, a daily, customized report on your health, to that designated person for a modest monthly subscription fee.
Is EasyConnect available in languages other than English?
Yes. EasyConnect is currently available in English and Spanish. The EasyConnect service will be made available in other languages as determined by customer demand.
How will EBA stay in touch with me?
EBA will send a newsletter to you twice a month, and will send a newsletter to your home caregiver once a month. The newsletter will arrive by mail if you use the Assist version of EasyConnect, or by email if you use My EasyConnect (Apps).
Each newsletter will contain health related and other articles to interest and entertain you, along with advertising and coupons, games and puzzles for prizes, the schedule of events on My Button, and much more.
All of EBA’s information and services are available on EBA’s website – www.earlybirdalert.com
Will there be advertising on EasyConnect?
Yes. As with radio broadcasts, advertising makes it possible to provide EasyConnect and all of its basic services free of charge.
Most EasyConnect connections will include a brief tag line identifying the sponsoring company. The Daily Specials button will have slightly longer presentations of products along with a consumer opinion question. You can receive free samples, coupons and opportunities to purchase items at a discount just for listening and answering questions.
EBA’s newsletters and website carry advertisements and coupons. If you let us know your preferences and interests, EBA will try to present products, services, ads and coupons that could be of interest to you.
Will EBA ask me for other information besides the registration information?
If you choose to participate in other activities or services offered by EasyConnect (such as surveys and discussion groups), you may be asked for other personal information.
How does EBA use the information it collects?
We collect certain information to be able to provide our EasyConnect subscribers with the services, products and programs they request. We ask for information when you register so we can activate your EasyConnect service, send you newsletters, and provide you with information, coupons, and special offers that may be of interest to you. We store collected information in our secure computer files and use it to develop, improve and manage our services. We may also use information in an anonymous form for other purposes; for example, to analyze how people are using EasyConnect, or to refine our research efforts.
What about my privacy?
A detailed statement of our information privacy and security policy is provided to you as part of the registration process. We urge you to read it and the disclosure statement that accompanies it. These statements come with the registration form, and they are available on our website if you are registering online. You can read our privacy policy here.
In general, we can assure you that:
• All the information you share with us will be protected pursuant to our privacy policy;
• We will not sell the personal data you share with us to telemarketers, mailing list brokers, or any other companies;
• You may always correct, update, and delete the personally identifiable information you provide to EBA;
• If you decide not to accept EasyConnect, or to opt out after having opted in, we will remove your personally identifiable information from our files.
These FAQs were updated on on January 30, 2012