Launched today in the UK, SeNCit is a device with functions – and at a price point – that give it the potential to disrupt the pendant-oriented telecare market. It looks like a fairly standard PIR unit but its outer simplicity belies sophisticated functions. The device incorporates a mobile network connection (which can take a SIM from the operator with the strongest signal in the area) and has programmable software which alerts carers by SMS if no activity occurs in the monitored area during a time when it would be expected. It can also raise an alert if the room temperature is too hot or too cold or, being mains-powered, if there is a power cut. With an eye to the dementia-related market, with an additional sensor it can be set up to alert to unexpected front door opening.
The device is pitched at people with older parents for whom a pendant system is not acceptable or appropriate. However, at a price point of £207 excluding VAT for the system with door monitoring (£165 for the one without), and with minimal ongoing costs for pay-as-you-go text messaging, it will undoubtedly generate interest from telecare services. SeNd Technology, the company behind SeNCit, is a provider of similar monitoring alarm devices for industrial use and this is its first foray into monitoring specifically for the telecare market.