Telephony Issues at a Specific Location

If a caregiver is consistently experiencing telephony problems at one specific location, and the caregiver is experienced and you don't think that they are making errors in the documentation process, there are a number of possibilities that could cause this issue.

If the caregiver presses the correct buttons  and the system is not recognizing them, it could be the cause of some mechanical or electrical interference on the phone at that customer’s site.  Some possibilities include:

• Telephone Wiring at the Customer's Site
  • There may be issues with the phone wires coming into the house from the pole
  • There could be a loose screw on the phone jack that the phone is plugged into
    • In this case, try another phone in the house that is plugged into another jack?
  • If the customer has DSL in the house, and the filters are not working like they should, the internet could be interfering with the interpretation of the button presses.
• The actual customer's phone could be defective
  • It may be outputting incorrect DTMF tones so the system thinks that you are pressing a different button than you are
  • The buttons may be dirty and causing multiple presses to be registered in error

Obviously there are a number of possible reasons for this that could be site specific, but sometimes there may not be a solution.  In this case, you should consider putting a Validator in the home and have the caregiver use their cell phone for that location.