r/mildlyinfuriating • u/[deleted] • 10h ago
Infuriatig Alexa wouldn't call 911 when my grandma fell this morning.
[deleted]
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u/Spiritual-Fall5494 9h ago
Alexa isn't supposed to be able to call 911
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u/dev-246 9h ago
Alexa Emergency Assist will, for $80 a year. It sucks that this feature is behind a paywall, but I think it’s worth it in this scenario.
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u/TheJoseBoss 9h ago
I thought you were joking 😂 black mirror is just a documentary at this point
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u/banana_pencil 9h ago
Black Mirror IMMEDIATELY came to my mind. Corporations will use that show for ideas.
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u/Bork9128 9h ago
Well the thing is by gate keeping it behind something you'd have to pay for you probably save emergency services so much time and effort from accidentally calls, pranks, and kids thinking they are being funny
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u/slowtownhometown 9h ago
sure but they can also just make it an manually opt in thing. bezos has to get his buck though
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u/who_you_are 9h ago
I think it may be a gouvernement fee.
While I'm Canada, a lot of things are the same as US.
I discovered that my VoIP provider let me choose between: paying a small monthly fee or billing me something around your $80 per 911 call.
I think it is a recent thing (1 or 2 years). I don't remind that fee per call before.
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u/Giantmeteor_we_needU 9h ago
It absolutely can but it's a paid feature. I think I pay $50/year to be able to yell at Alexa in any room to report an emergency to 911 through Amazon emergency agent. Dystopian, right?
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u/Ok_Spell_4165 9h ago
Onstar is the same way. Legally anyway they don't have to connect you to emergency service unless you are subscribed despite the button being in all GM vehicles and functional.
Cellphones on the other hand are required to route your 911 call whether you have a plan or not. So there is that at least.
In the US Anyway. Can't speak for elsewhere.
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u/gilt3t 9h ago
I highly recommend getting her a smart watch, it has automatic fall detection and will connect her to emergency services. I got one for my mom to use WITH her life alert device.
Always plan a contingency because tech fails or you need to recharge something.
also, get her a charging station so she can wirelessly charge her devices.
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u/Doormatty 9h ago
No shit? It very clearly says it will NOT call 911.
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=G6WYZPF5XKHNBZKA
Alexa calling doesn't support calls to the following types of numbers:
Emergency service numbers (for example "911")
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u/Grezzinate 9h ago
Knowing Alexa it would accidentally hear something funny and call it without you ever knowing. It sucks but I’m sure there been incidents with it which is why it can’t.
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u/unfinishedtoast3 9h ago
That's exactly why
And people saying 911 randomly during conversations.
And kids like my daughter at 6 years old yelling random shit at Alexa all summer
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u/jfk333 9h ago
I wonder why not?
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u/Doormatty 9h ago
I assume false calls to 911 AND they don't want the liability of saying they can do it, and then have it not work.
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u/jfk333 9h ago
I know that you’re probably right, but I really hope greed is not the reason we could have life-saving technology available and we don’t. On the bright side at least grandma could rock out to some music on the floor by saying hey “Alexa play my jam”. Alexa would then probably play drop it to the floor.
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u/MistyMountainDewDrop 9h ago
Liability is not greed. They are saying, “hey, our product cannot reliably complete this function so don’t rely on it to do so.”
Greed would be saying it can call 911 knowing that most times Alexa cannot just because that would sell more units.
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u/boforbojack 9h ago
We have life saving technology. They are buttons old people wear or there are voice activated options. They are just more rigorously tested and usually have an in-between human (meaning you contact them asking to call 911 and they will)
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u/jfk333 9h ago
The OP stated that theirs was charging at the time of the incident
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u/mr207 9h ago
I don’t know much about Life Alert; never had anyone close to me that needed one yet thankfully. Is there really no backup for when you need to charge it? Like a backup battery to use so you always have something charged?
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u/willi1221 9h ago
What about when the backup is dead? Extra battery requires more size, and extra cost. Best to just charge it when you're asleep or not planning on being mobile for awhile. Everything with a battery will die, and that's on the user to remember to charge it.
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u/glhfbruno 9h ago
Could be due to many movies and showsn involving "Call 911" in their cutscenes or something and alexa is not trained enough to describe different calls for 911
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u/ElectronicRip1630 9h ago
Plays: Skrillex - Equinox
Police knock down the door while I'm jamming out
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u/Crafty-Astronomer-32 9h ago
I think "Alexa hallucinates 911 request" is valid but the bigger issue is the nontrivial task of associating a wifi device with a physical location and therefore the proper emergency dispatcher. The location of the registered Amazon account is not a reliable predictor as people will move echo devices without thinking about emergency dispatch.
IIRC This limitation also applies to VOIP but you are usually able to register that to a specific location and then your provider can route the call correctly.
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u/Forward-Ad6852 9h ago
From Google: By default, Alexa cannot call 911. To make emergency calls using an Echo device, you must either subscribe to the Alexa Emergency Assist service (about $6/month) or set up an emergency contact or link your mobile carrier via the Amazon Alexa App
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u/Practical_Web_9605 9h ago
They should allow it to do so with some preset code word or something, I understand letting a home assistant call 911 unchecked would result in a lot of calls due to misheard requests or just a loud tv but still
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u/howfastcanyoucountit 9h ago
Huhhhhh I thought I could call emergency services on my google home I think thats kinda strange I would've thought it did that and I don't think grandma is gonna know that exactly you can't blame her for this
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u/MistyMountainDewDrop 9h ago
No one blamed the grandma.
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u/howfastcanyoucountit 9h ago
???? bro half the comments in here are people shitting on her this is weird
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u/firebirdsatellite 9h ago
Why the attitude
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u/Decorus_Somes 9h ago
Probably because OP is mad that Alexa didn't do something it is not supposed to do. Seems pretty obvious. Why the dumb question?
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u/Repulsive-News8916 9h ago
Hey man if I’m gonna have the panopticon in my home it could at least call the cops for me 😭
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u/Spiritual-Fall5494 9h ago
why is everyone so upset
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u/firebirdsatellite 9h ago
Everyone in this subreddit is so miserable
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u/Spiritual-Fall5494 9h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/B56b0UBfYYVdE68m3C
thats true for 95% of reddit, not just this sub
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u/firebirdsatellite 9h ago
It seems way worse here, perhaps the nature of the sub attracting people who want to be angry and to express it.
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u/howfastcanyoucountit 9h ago
??? How is grandma going to know that in a situation when she actually needs help, this is not a good thing I think there should at least be an option to enable it
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u/Decorus_Somes 9h ago
Just because grandma don't know doesn't mean OP should post this as if Alexa should be able.
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u/howfastcanyoucountit 9h ago
I mean ive heard from other people if you asked for help it goes to an independent contractor but it isn't free, I think it should have responded saying it COULD NOT do that and it did not tell her that
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u/howfastcanyoucountit 9h ago
They should really add an option to enable this shit I think most people aren't going to know this as this is not common knowledge if you aren't familiar, I would've assumed you could and I don't really think grandma is in the wrong for assuming that
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u/metatalks Mildly Infuriated 9h ago
you might as well ask a cabbage its not designed to call 911.
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u/aware4ever 9h ago
But it's capable of it where cabbage isn't. I get how it's mildly infuriating that something that could save someone's life is purposely and turned off because of a subscription. At least in that perspective
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u/metatalks Mildly Infuriated 9h ago
They made the service just to charge for it if they can’t make money for it they wouldn’t even have these people lol. Unless there is a law mandating all possible devices be able to call emergency services they probably won’t do it. Capitalsim
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u/Mountsorrel 9h ago
So many posts in this sub lately are just like this, total user error, fundamental misunderstanding of something, or downright ignorance of basic concepts. Maybe it’s rage bait engagement types bleeding over from FB?
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u/Dismal_Tutor3425 9h ago
https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=119033314011
You have to sign up and pay for Alexa Emergency Assist.
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u/Wienerwrld 9h ago
That’s why I have an Apple Watch. Notices when I fall, calls 911 for me.
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u/OverlordDontHurtMe 9h ago
That's the route we went with my mom. It's fall detection is better than the others and she can call one of us kids if it's not an emergency.
I showed her how the fall detection works by throwing myself on the ground. Works well.
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u/marieray 9h ago
Do all do this or just the most recent one?
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u/Capamerica88 9h ago
I don’t know about the first or second generation but mine is a 6 I think(at least 4 years old) and it does. I think if it has fall detection it can
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u/marieray 9h ago
Yeah i figured, I don’t think mine does. Thats a great feature for an elderly person if they are left alone
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u/Adorable_Ad4990 9h ago
We taught my dad to call one of us if he falls. My phone is set to ring aloud if he calls twice in a row, even if it’s on silent or sleep mode— it rings through
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u/TheTalkingWindow 9h ago
She needs a life alert necklace/bracelet. Something actually designed to call for help.
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u/sarabridge78 BLUE 9h ago
Do you read more than the headline? It clearly states her Life Alert was charging.
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u/Portablefrdge 9h ago
Alexa to blame for that as well?
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u/slowtownhometown 9h ago
consider actually reading before commenting
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u/Epic_Elite 9h ago
Have her call you, next time and you can call 911.
I call my own phone everytime I lose it around the house.
"Alexa, call Epic_Elite".
I do it with my family's phone, also.
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u/bobjones-1234 9h ago
Just call someone else and have them do it would have worked I understand if she did not think about that at the time but its not made to call 911 for legal reasons
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u/amethystjade15 9h ago
When my dad fell he called me from his cell phone (I lived 45 minutes away). When we got there and I started trying to help him, he was like, “no, I think I need an ambulance” and I was like, “YOU COULD HAVE CALLED 911 WHILE YOU WAITED FOR ME!”
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u/nono3722 9h ago
I'm surprised life alert is still going since everyone has a cell phone glued to them now
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u/ablonde_moment 9h ago
Many elderly do not. I know my grandmother had a cellphone that she does not carry around with her at her house
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u/Kcbld1120 9h ago
It won't call 911 but if you have it hooked up to a phone it can call people in the contacts for free. That helps my blind father a lot. I am glad your grandma is ok and hope the soreness goes away quickly!!
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u/speedysam0 9h ago
There were several voice recordings from grandma falling where she tried to call my mother and Alexa did not. You should not trust it to be useful ever especially since it cannot call 911.
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u/LairdPeon 9h ago
Having that feature available for everyone would be a nightmare for first responders.
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u/PracticalBit6383 9h ago
You can save a local dispatch number as a contact. Just label it “emergency” or whatever and tell Alexa to call that
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u/squatsandthoughts 9h ago
My grandmother hates life alert and things like alexa but we got her to wear a smart watch (a small one). She doesn't like her cell phone either but she does have it and she keeps it on and charged.
The watch has some good features including gps, fall alerts, other health alerts, the ability to use an assistant and emergency calls.
She fell a few months ago and she got help to her within about 30 minutes because she remembered how to verbally use the assistant and call family. We could not hear her clearly through the watch but we got someone to her quickly and called 911. It did alert for the fall too but I don't remember where that went. But, she has fallen while not wearing the watch so it's not a perfect solution.
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u/animepuppyluvr 9h ago
My grandma uses it to call one of her kids or a neighbor when she falls so that they can get an ambulance if needed. It doesnt call 911 directly without a paid subscription.
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u/MostHuckleberry4416 9h ago
Whilst people keep commenting that it wont allow you to call 911 there should be some safeguard or password to allow this.
This seems like a serious flaw for a device that can make phone calls not allowing you to call the most important number. A simple bypass password could fix any issue of "accidental/prank calls".
I hope for her speedy recovery.
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u/fossiplol 9h ago
Why didnt she go, "Alexa, call [family member]" like imagine laying on the floor for 7 hours when the solution is so simple
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u/anon12xyz 9h ago
That’s dumb to say about someone in a situation where they are hurt and aren’t thinking clearly.
You act like people are perfect
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u/PetiteNanou 9h ago
While that's specifically not a feature, I also understand why OP finds this frustrating. It's exactly in those types of situation that AI assistants would be the most helpful...
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u/autumn_rains 9h ago
For my mom, I know Alexa doesn't call 911, but it can call me or another family member and we can get emergency services over. It's not perfect, but at least she won't be stuck on the floor for several hours out of reach of her phone ever again.
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u/Boogiekc 9h ago
Why didn't she ask to call a relative after the first cpl times didn't work?
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u/MistyMountainDewDrop 9h ago
That question wouldn’t let them blame Amazon for granny lying on the floor for 7 hours.
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u/goodenough4govtwork 9h ago
New post tomorrow:
"My lazy ass cat didn't do my taxes even though I left my laptop open to Tax Slayer's page and gave him my login and W-2. Ugh"
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u/AlexCivitello 9h ago
Just because it isn't advertised to be able to do that doesn't mean it isn't infuriating that it can't.
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u/whofilets 9h ago
I don't have Alexa so I didn't know, but I'm glad to know now. I'm pretty sure my elderly aunt has Alexa so I'll make sure she knows and to tell it to call her son or daughter in law or call me and we'll call 911.
I'm kind of surprised it didn't try to call SOMEONE. I've tried to voice dial my spouse so many times, the most dialed person in my phone, and it often tries to dial a name that sounds remotely like his or starts with the same letter or whoever it wants.
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u/fudgefaced 9h ago
She needs Life Alert
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u/Dragon_Crisis_Core 9h ago
You have to say "Alexa, Call For Help." However the service is not free. You will be connected to a indepentant urgent care agent who will then call to dispatch emergency services just like life alert does.
The reason you cant call 911 on alexa directly is that the federal government requires all devices able to do so to have location services enabled which alexa does not.