The COVID-19 pandemic has been troubling the world and causing unimaginable pain for over a year now. The restrictions imposed to curb the widespread of the virus have kept several people apart from their families, with no guaranteed time to return home.
Living in these conditions can be really tough for our elderly parents, who desire to have us around them. While you might not be able to meet them in person, you can always use different ways to reach out to them and see their faces.
What Can You Do?
When you think of something for your elderly parents, you might want to get something that’s as easy-to-use as it can be. Laptops and computers aren’t an option anymore, as someone would need to switch them on every time you call your parents. Also, running a laptop 24×7 wouldn’t be the most lucrative option to go with.
Similarly, if an issue occurs in these devices, getting help during the pandemic would neither be easy nor safe. Luckily, there is a solution to this problem: smart displays!
Smart displays are one of the best technological solutions to connect with your elderly parents. These systems are equipped with the latest technology and are low-maintenance while being easy to use. The best part is that if your parents ever encounter an issue, they can unplug and plug in the smart display to turn it back on again!
1. Purchase a Smart Display
There are numerous smart displays available for you to purchase as per your unique requirements. From the Google Nest Hub Max and Amazon Echo Show 10 to the JBL Link View and Lenovo Smart Clock, several products can help you connect effortlessly with your elderly parents.
Here are a few options that you might want to choose from:
- Google Nest Hub Max: With a 10-inch touchscreen display, strong speakers, and a good camera, the Google Nest Hub Max is an excellent choice if you plan to set up a smart home for your elderly parents.
- JBL Link View: Although it is slightly smaller than the Google Nest Hub Max and comes with an 8-inch display, it’s one of the best smart displays on the market. It doesn’t take up too much space, and you can watch videos, attend video calls, and view photos. Besides, you get a built-in privacy cover along with the best speakers to go with the JBL Link View.
- Amazon Echo Show 10 (3rd Generation): Using Alexa is much more fun on the Echo Show 10 (3rd gen) that comes with a 10.1-inch HD display, 13MP camera, and latest auto-framing and motion features, which follows you around, ensuring you are in the front and center of the screen at all times.
Setting Up a Smart Display
Once you have the device you want, you need to set it up. For any of Google smart displays, you can follow the steps below:
- Take the device out of the box and plug it in the room of your choice.
- Open the Google Home application on your mobile phone. You can download it for free from the Play Store or App Store.
- Click on the “+” icon and select Set up new device.
- Let the app scan, and then click on the name of the smart display you’ve bought. (For example, Google Nest Hub Max)
- Next, select the room of the house where the device has been set up.
- Connect to your parent’s Wi-Fi network. We recommend connecting all smart devices to the same network for seamless connectivity.
- Customize different specifications, such as theme, voice control settings, etc., as per your unique requirements.
2. Use Google Duo for Video Calling
After finding the optimum device, you might need to keep a few things in mind before you start setting it up. We recommend creating a new Google account for your parents, which they will only use for the smart devices in their home.
Doing so will drastically improve connectivity between all such devices and make it much easier to manage them remotely.
Secondly, get a new phone number for this Google account. This will be handy when you want to connect through Google Duo for video calls with your parents.
Add this number as the primary number for the dummy Google account, followed by adding your own primary account as a household member. This will ensure that you are able to manage the devices connected in that household too.
3. Set Up a Google Home Routine
You might need to focus a bit extra while customizing the video calling settings on the smart display at your parents’ home. If answering calls can be troublesome for them, you can program a routine in the Google Home application (the one connected to the smart display). This way, your parents will be able to call you regularly on your personal Google Duo account or phone number and answer the phone hassle-free.
You can choose to connect through the Camera feature on the Google Home app as well. Just click on it to access the camera on the smart display at your parents’ place and interact using the live feed.
While it is your choice between the two ways mentioned above to connect to your parents, we recommend using Google Duo for a better experience. Furthermore, you might want to connect on group calls once you know your way around the application.
Video Calling Your Parents: Additional Tips
We recommend setting up your smart display near a socket for ease of access while ensuring it isn’t hidden from your Wi-Fi router either. Placing the device around your router is guaranteed to avoid any connectivity issues you’d have faced had you set it up elsewhere.
Once installed, you can easily connect with your elderly parents, and they won’t have to deal with learning about the tech!