My elderly mother depends on her direct connect to contact me (her only care-giver).

It is unreliable now in the Washington, D.C. area. When I called Sprint customer service, they didn't have much advice, other than to switch to another phone with a two-year agreement and slower (yes, his word) direct connect.

Who has the best direct connect in the cellular world? I need a phone with direct connect that my 80-year-old mother can easily use (we have the ic502 now). I may have to change carriers and phones.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Alan

PS: Here is my letter to Sprint CEO (so far, no response):

CEO Dan Hesse
Sprint Nextel Corp.
6200 Sprint Parkway
Overland Park, KS 66251

Dear Mr. Hesse,

My mother and I have been loyal Sprint customers since the days of Sprint PCS. We are also stockholders.

I am the only caregiver for my ailing 81-year-old mother. She has been especially dependant on the direct-connect feature supported by our Motorola IC502 telephones to reach me when she needs assistance. We have a small family and I am all she has to care for her.

During the past week, the direct connect has become unreliable to the point we cannot depend on the service. We live in the Washington, D.C. area.

Sprint customer service told me on Tuesday that the problem is because of “IDEN thinning” and we need new phones which require a two-year agreement.

We never had been notified of this change, and more importantly, although we would like to stay with Sprint, we should not be locked into a two-year agreement because Sprint decides to change technology. I hope the new Sprint service has reliable direct connect? That is the most important feature for us.

It would also be a challenge to copy the phonebook from these old Motorola phones which were hard to support, even when they were more common.

Can you offer any assistance?

Sincerely,



Alan Henney
alan@henney.com