Healthcare Technology Featured Article

January 13, 2014

Medical Alarm Concepts and JTT-EMS Get Together for New Chinese-language Service


For senior citizens living in Canada and the United States that speak Mandarin Chinese or Cantonese, getting access to communications and emergency contact services wasn't always easy, if it was even available at all. But a new collaborative effort between Medical Alarm Concepts and JTT-EMS, with a little help, will bring a new service into play that puts that valuable language connection into the hands of seniors throughout a hefty chunk of North America.

More specifically, the service in question will take a dedicated radio channel from D100, that's set to provide Cantonese language programming specifically for senior citizens. From there, Medical Alarm Concepts' MediPendant product works with said programming by providing several points for seniors to activate the “easy call-in button” contained within the MediPendant's operations. Points of interest in the programming in question will include things like certain product offerings or just local events, and when the senior in question finds something interesting, can get more information about either just by triggering the MediPendant response. The conversations, in turn, are routed through a call center that has not only a language translation service on hand to help translate the incoming Mandarin and Cantonese, but also has a direct link to a Hong Kong operator should the translation software prove overwhelmed.

Reports indicate that the new service will start life in Toronto and Vancouver, followed up by an expansion starting in San Francisco, but quickly moving to other cities throughout the United States and Canada. The addition of Cantonese, meanwhile, represents just an addition to Medical Alarm Concepts' currently lineup of spoken-language services, which according to CEO Ronnie Adams include Danish, English, Mandarin and Spanish. Given that the D100 programming in question has, at last report, over 300,000 Chinese-speaking subscribers, the market for the new service should be substantial. Word from JTT-EMS' general manager Alex Pui, meanwhile, notes that the company plans to market the device just as soon as the first shipment of MediPendant units arrives.

There's no denying that the Chinese market in general is substantial to say the least. With huge numbers on hand, getting even a small slice of a Chinese market is like having a major swath of even an American market, and that's hard for anyone to turn down, particularly in these days of overall economic slowdown. So providing a service geared toward Mandarin or Cantonese speakers is likely to be well-received, and likely to see some substantial incoming cash flow, particularly if those Mandarin or Cantonese speakers are located in an area where neither Mandarin nor Cantonese is a widely-spoken language. The JTT-EMS / Medical Alarm Concepts co-production is likely to get a first-mover advantage on this one, and be at least among the first to offer such a service to users in the region.

It's a safe bet that the newly-minted service will be well-received, and in all likelihood put to good use. That's going to be a relief for the Mandarin and Cantonese-speaking senior citizens in the regions where this service arrives, and will likely give the duo involved in its production a boost as well.




Edited by Cassandra Tucker
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