Nationwide Digital Monitoring Co. of Freeport, N.Y., just launched a Mobile PERS offering for its dealers. The solution, manufactured by Numera, provides end users with a hands-free, GPS device that they can incorporate into their lifestyle, whether at home, on the golf course, or on the road. The remotely managed, two-way voice device has built-in fall detection, and is a great fit for end users that have active lifestyles, according to Howard Avin, vice president of sales and marketing at Nationwide Digital.

“We’ve been looking for a product like this for at least a year and a half,” Avin said. “I really believe that this is where the industry is going in terms of PERS. This is ideal for so many seniors who are very active and who need something that they can take with them. This is going to lend itself to people who are more active and probably a little younger in age than the average PERS user right now. It will open up a lot more opportunities for alarm dealers.”

Dealers can purchase the devices directly from Nationwide Digital, and the dealers themselves come up with a pricing structure that suits their company. Nationwide Digital plans to start offering marketing and sales materials for dealers targeted to the end user very soon.

The monitoring company has been offering a traditional landline PERS service for about 15 years, according to Avin. The push to cellular offerings across the alarm industry as a whole created a demand for cellular PERS offerings, and a completely mobile offering is the next logical step, Avin said.

“This is a huge marketplace and alarm dealers should really look at the mobile PERS service as an add-on sale to almost anything they are doing,” Avin said. “Almost any end user has a parent or aunt or somebody that could benefit from a product like this. It’s a much less expensive alternative to assisted living. If it can help keep someone out of assisted living for six months or two years, the savings are huge and create a great opportunity for the dealer.”