Phone Research

The second 3GSM Phone Congress took place in Barcelona, from 12th to the 15th of February 2007 (http://3gsmworldcongress.com/). The website presents several facts about the congress, including survey results from some 550 attendees; 82% of those surveyed believed that the congress was the most important event in the entire global telecommunications industry. It was at this congress that the Austrian firm Emporia Telecom (http://www.emporia.at/) unveiled a phone exclusively for older people. The shocking element of this development is not that such a product was unveiled, but rather that it took so long. Indeed it should be noted that most major phone manufacturers have not backed anything similar (although Vodafone are offering a new ‘Vodafone Simply’ service, not specifically targeted at older people but clearly keeping them in mind as a key user group (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4566809.stm)), and this public ‘breakthrough’ has been initiated by a firm traditionally dealing with phone accessories.

Searching the Internet for information I came across another phone specifically for older people, the Easy5, but this was so watered down that it could be considered more of a walkie-talkie than a phone (http://www.tekability.com/catalog/item346.htm). The Easy5 has 5 preset speed dials, but the phone numbers to be stored must be submitted at the time of purchase, giving the user very little flexibility or customization. The proposed phone from Emporia Telecom on the other hand is a shell of the kind of phones marketed to the mainstream public – there will be no inbuilt camera, Bluetooth, messaging (SMS and MMS) for example – but is considerably more like traditional mobile phones than the Easy5. Emporia Telecom’s phone will have just one extra feature to a standard old-fashioned landline phone – a button to call someone (family for example) in an emergency.

Reinhard Handlgrüber, the export manager for Emporia Telecom, justified the release of a phone for the elderly at the congress: “Our market research showed that the elderly have problems using complicated phones. What they want is a big screen, a big key pad and an easy to use menu.” (http://www.physorg.com/news90845123.html). The potential market is huge, which makes it all the more surprising that most of the big players have not attempted similar projects. More and more elderly people are carrying mobile phones around with them, be it through choice or from concerned family members. The take-off of the ‘silver surfer’ has changed perceptions of internet user groups, yet there has been no knock-on effect in the mobile phone industry. Emporia Telecom naturally carried out market research before the launch of this new phone, and came back with some interesting statistics, including the fact that there are 110 million people over 65 in Europe and Russia, yet only 17 percent have mobile phones (http://www.physorg.com/news90845123.html).

I would therefore conclude that the key areas in the design of phone technology for older people are:

- large icons/fonts/keys since deteriorating eyesight is a major problem
- simple menus with few features
- loud and clear ringtones/alerts to compensate for any deterioration in hearing.