Livewell Alert review

Much like other medical alert services we’ve reviewed, Livewell Alert features the MyTrex MXD in-home systems for both landline and cellular options. Known for its loud speakerphone, the MyTrex system is a good choice, though not greater than the MobileHelp CBS-02. We also like that the company offers two mobile medical alert systems, the Belle Mobile Alert and the Numera Libris, which features fall detection.

There’s not a lot we can say about Livewell Alert that we haven’t said for most other medical alert services. And that’s sort of the problem. Sure, your senior loved one will get an excellent system with good monitoring at a decent price. But they get this with most medical alert services. And unfortunately, Livewell Alert just doesn’t do anything exceptionally better than the others.

Medical alert systems

The MyTrex MXD is a very popular medical alert system for using inside your home. It has a pendant range of about 600 feet (though it averaged roughly 77 feet in our tests). And it has a speaker that blows the lid off other medical alert systems, which is a good thing to have when you’ve fallen in a room on the other side of your house than the base station. That said, the loud speaker tends to lead to blown speakers.

We’ve tested many different MyTrex systems from many different services and the consistency of the audio clarity ranges from perfect to terrible. We suspect this has something to do with the circulation and age of the system. When a customer cancels their subscription, they have to return the system, which is cleaned and resold. After years of use, you can expect a system’s audio quality to deteriorate. As such, we recommend you test the quality and return if it is not sufficient.

Livewell Alert sells three mobile systems, the Belle and Numera Libris are widely used among other services. The iHelp 3G is a relatively new mobile medical alert system. The iHelp 3G is not much different from the other mobile systems. It simply offers something a little different. As with the others, it includes GPS tracking and fall detection. It also includes text alerts to family members if you press the help button.

As a mobile alert device, the Numera Libris is the most popular mobile medical alert system we’ve tested. It has a great speaker and the audio quality is excellent. In addition, the fall detection sensor is very good. The GreatCall Lively Mobile is the only mobile system on the market with better performance.

One downside to consider with the Numera Libris is the size. It’s very big for a mobile medical alert system and comes with an awkward belt clip that was difficult to use and uncomfortable to wear. You can wear it around your neck, but the size of it also makes it uncomfortable around your neck and lacks discreteness.

Emergency response center

Livewell Alert’s call center response time wasn’t impressive, but it wasn’t terrible either. “Average” is a good way of putting it. During the first round of three-week daily tests resulted in an average time of 56 seconds. While this was faster than the overall average, it wasn’t much faster. And by comparison to GreatCall’s 20 second average, it’s just not able to keep up.  On the second round of testing, LiveWell Alert improved to 47 seconds on average. But again, this was only barely faster than the overall average. Also, GreatCall improved to 15 seconds per call on average. 

The quality of the monitoring center’s calls was good, but not exemplary. There was little to complain of in any of the calls we made. The operators weren’t bored or disinterested. They spoke clearly and at a good pace. And the operators always asked if we were okay multiple times. The only complaint was the lack of identity confirmation. We preferred monitoring centers who asked to confirm our identity. While this might seem like a small issue, it’s a security risk. A medical alert system can be used to alert operators discretely to a home invasion or senior abuse situation. By confirming the identity, the operators are looking for red flags that might signal that your senior loved one isn’t in a compromised situation.

Medical alert service

Livewell Alert is a mid-sized company based in Minneapolis. While the company may not offer anything different from most other medical alert services, the resources the company provides are exemplary. Many medical alert companies sell you a product and then ignore you. With Livewell Alert, they want to be your source for information related to senior living, aging in place and medical alert systems. The LiveSmart page on the website is an excellent source of information about medical alert systems and independent living for seniors. It’s clear that the company doesn’t just want to sell you medical alert systems, but they want to help you live independently and with a high quality of life. 

We were also impressed with the customer service. Livewell Alert certainly goes out of their way to make sure you have all the information you need. We were never pressured to buy unnecessary add-ons and we weren’t funneled into an upsell call when we wanted to cancel the account. Overall, if one thing stands out with Livewell Alert, it’s the customer service. 

Cost comparison

Livewell Alert’s pricing structure is easy —  the basic landline system is $29.99 per month; the midrange mobile Belle system is $39.99 per month; and the premium Numera Libris mobile package is $49.99 per month.  The new iHelp 3G is $33 per month.  

By comparison, these monthly prices are all right at the average industry cost for month-to-month subscriptions. You can save an average of $6 per month if you pay annually or semi-annually, which makes the price more comparable to the most affordable options on the market. That said, this all means little when you compare it to the GreatCall Lively Mobile, which costs just $25 per month for the best rated medical alert system on the market.  

Final Verdict

Livewell Alert features the popular MyTrex in-home medical alert system for it’s landline and cellular options. This is a good option with a loud speaker, but you have to be careful about the quality of the audio, which is often good and often terrible. 

Livewell Alert offers three mobile medical alert systems and each is a good option, but none of them are priced as well or perform as well as the GreatCall Lively Mobile. That said, the new iHelp 3G is the most affordable option, though the cost increases significantly if you add fall detection. The Belle has a good speaker and is averagely priced while the Numera Libris is an excellent mobile medical alert system with great fall detection, though it might be a bit too big for some. Overall, Livewell Alert offers good medical alert systems with above-average performance, but the company doesn't do anything great. And that's the problem with choosing them for your loved one.