Door and motion sensorsShipped
The shape of a day
Zigbee door and motion sensors show the kitchen in use, the front door opening and the landing light at night, with no camera.
Guide
Checking on an elderly parent without a camera
You want to know your mum or dad is alright without putting a camera in their home. Here are the options that do not use one, what sensors can honestly tell you, and what HuZe does and does not do.
Shipped running on production boxesIn beta on test boxesNext in development
Start here
Two different questions.
Checking on a parent usually means one of two things. The first is reassurance: is the ordinary day happening, is the kettle going on, is the front door opening, is anyone moving about. The second is an emergency: someone has fallen or is unwell and needs help now.
They need different answers. Reassurance can come from sensors and routine, quietly. An emergency needs a service with people on the other end of a call, and that is a different product.
Without a camera
What the house can tell you.
Wearable beaconShipped
A pendant with a button
A KBeacon wearable can be worn as a pendant or clipped to a chair, and a press sends an alert to the carers you name, by Telegram or SMS.
NotificationsShipped
Straight to your phone
Alerts by Telegram or SMS, sent by the box itself to the carers you name, before a dashboard or an app is opened.
Attention listShipped
The quiet things named
Devices that go quiet, are tampered with or have a low battery are listed under Needs attention, so a dead battery is not left unnoticed.
Tamper noticesShipped
If a sensor is disturbed
A sensor that is opened, removed or knocked raises a notice, which matters for a device left alone.
In development
Routines that notice the exception.
This is the part HuZe is being built for, and it is not available to buy yet.
Routine awarenessNext
The ordinary day, learned
The box is being built to learn the small signals of a normal day, the kettle in the morning and the landing light at night, so that when they do not happen somebody can be told.
The limits
What HuZe does not do.
HuZe is not a replacement for a professionally run alarm service, and in an emergency you should always call 999. It has no call centre watching a screen, it cannot send an ambulance, and it promises no response time. What it does is keep the ordinary signals of a home in the house and tell the family when they change.
If your parent needs a press answered by a trained operator, a pendant alarm is the right tool and worth keeping. A local hub can sit beside it without pretending to replace it.
Next step
Read how Wellbeing is being built.
The Household Wellbeing page walks through the routine engine, which is in development, and the escalation ladder, which ships today as messages. For a question about your own situation, write to hello [at] huze-automation [dot] co [dot] uk.
Questions
Checking in, answered.
How can I check on an elderly parent without a camera?
Door and motion sensors, a wearable beacon and the box's attention list show that the ordinary day is happening, without a camera pointed at anyone.
Will HuZe tell me if something is wrong?
It sends alerts by Telegram or SMS to the carers you name, and lists devices that go quiet, are tampered with or have a low battery under Needs attention. Routine-based checking of a whole day is in development.
Do I need broadband for this to work?
The box runs the home without the internet, but alerts to your phone need a connection. If broadband is down the box tells you it cannot reach you.
Is HuZe an emergency service?
No. It is not a replacement for a professionally run alarm service, and in an emergency you should always call 999.