In-home medical alerts systems are great for people who rarely leave the house, but if you live an active lifestyle there's no reason why you shouldn't have access to the same 24/7 emergency response service that you get from your home-based system when you're out and about. Enter the Bay Alarm Medical Mobile GPS Help Button ($29.95 per month), a highly portable medical alert device you can take with you wherever you go. With the touch of a button it will put you in contact with a live agent who will dispatch emergency responders if you need help. It delivered solid response times in our tests, but it's significantly more expensive than our Editors' Choice, the GreatCall Lively Mobile, and lacks some of the features it offers.

Design, Features, and Pricing

The black and silver Mobile GPS Help Button measures 2.7 by 1.8 by 0.7 inches (HWD) and weighs just 2.1 ounces. It has a small 0.6-inch square Help button in the center of its face and above that is a small (0.6-by-0.3 inch) speaker. On the right side is a power button and around back is a removable panel that protects the AT&T cellular SIM card. At the top of the device are two holes for attaching an included lanyard.

Below the Help button are four LED indicators for Power, Cellular, GPS, and Bluetooth (which is disabled), and below the LEDs is an embedded microphone. The Power LED glows solid red when the battery is at 30 percent or less, and glows yellow when it is being charged. A blinking yellow power LED indicates a full charge. When the cellular LED is solid yellow it means a voice connection has been established. A fast blinking LED means the device is searching for a cellular network, and a slow blinking LED means it is connected to a cellular network. The GPS LED also blinks quickly when searching for a GPS network and blinks slow when it is connected.

In addition to cellular connectivity, the button has built-in GPS circuitry. It is powered by a rechargeable battery rated to last up to 72 hours before requiring a recharge, and the enclosure is IPX5 waterproof, which means it can withstand jets of water from all sides. Included in the box are a lanyard, a charging cradle, a USB power adapter and cable, a black case with a belt clip, and a user guide.

The Mobile GPS Help Button costs $29.95 per month and the price is the same whether you choose to pay monthly, quarterly, or semi-annually, but as with the Bay Alarm In-Home System, if you go with a semi-annual payment plan you'll get a free lockbox. The lockbox holds a spare set of house keys and hangs on your doorknob. If emergency responders are dispatched to your home, they are given the combination beforehand so that they won't have to break down your door if you are unable to let them in.

A fall detection upgrade will cost you an additional $9.95 per month, and you can get Caregiver GPS tracking capabilities for another $4.95 per month. By way of comparison, the GreatCall Lively Mobile portable help button costs $19.95 per month for basic emergency response service and carries a $49.95 device fee. It also offers two enhanced subscription plans ($24.99 and $34.99 per month) that give you GPS tracking via a web portal as well as a mobile app, fall detection, and an urgent care service that provides 24/7 access to registered nurses and certified doctors.

Bay Alarm's Caregiver Tracking option allows professionals such as nurses and in-home aides, as well as family members, to keep tabs on your whereabouts using a web portal. The portal shows the current location of the device on a map, as well as a history of movement in 15-minute intervals. If the button has been pressed, a red SOS icon appears next to the time and date. Click on any timeline box to see where the device was at that point in time on a map. The portal also offers a geofencing feature that allows caregivers and loved ones to receive text or email alerts when you leave the preset perimeter, and it has a section where you can add contacts and change account information. However, Bay Alarm Medical does not offer a tracking mobile app, nor does it offer extra services such as urgent care that you get with the GreatCall button.

Installation and Performance

The Bay Alarm Mobile GPS Help Button works right out of the box. All you have to do is charge it for three to four hours until the power button flashes amber, make sure the cellular LED indicates a connection, and perform a test call before hitting the road. In my tests, the button never failed to connect me to a live emergency response agent, but the average wait time of 59 seconds was relatively high compared with the average 13-second wait time I saw with the GreatCall Lively Mobile device. And, while the Bay Alarm service was always able to pinpoint my location using the GPS feature, it typically took 30 seconds to do so, whereas the GreatCall service verified my location immediately. Two-way audio communication was excellent, with good volume and no distortion.

Conclusions

The Bay Alarm Mobile GPS Help Button is a good choice for those who need access to an emergency response center no matter where they are. It's very easy to use and always maintained a good cellular connection in our tests. Moreover, voice communication with the response center was consistently loud and clear. But while it never failed to connect me to a live agent, it was not quite as fast as the response time garnered by our Editors' Choice for mobile medical alert systems, the GreatCall Lively Mobile, nor does it offer as many extra services. If you don't need a mobile device, the Bay Alarm In-Home is our top pick.

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