How to Choose the Right Trusted Person

If you’re protecting yourself with Phonely and CallGuard then you have the option to nominate a trusted person or people. We realise it can be daunting or uncomfortable to ask for help. And we know it’s important that you feel independent and not be seen as a burden to anyone. So we’ve put together this blog. It explains what a trusted person does, and how to choose the right person for you, and for them. And most importantly, how to approach the person you decide upon.

The concept of a trusted person is to ensure that anyone can feel protected from phone crime without asking someone to look after them. At Phonely we see the Trusted Person as backup, or just in case. This means that they don’t need to be on call for you 24/7. And you don’t feel you’re asking them to give up all their time for you.

The role of a trusted person

Depending on your needs, a trusted person can assist you as much or as little as you need. Or as little or as much as they reasonably can. For instance, a trusted person can,

• Help you set up & continually monitor your account
• Block numbers for you
• Create & customise your contact book
• Listen back to & download your call recordings
• Read & download your call transcriptions
• Receive notifications when suspicious keywords have been said during a call
• Get live alerts when you have picked up a withheld or international call or have been on the phone for an unusual amount of time
• Join in live calls or be invited to do so should you be experiencing difficulties
• Receive a notification should your internet become disconnected

The benefits of a trusted person

Even when technology claims to be easy to use, it can still be tricky to get your head around. So if you’d rather have someone you trust set your account up on your behalf, then that’s not a problem. If you have a mobile phone with our Call app installed, they can even create your contact book and customise it with photos from their own Trusted Person app or your online account. They don’t even need to be in the room with you! Of course, you can do this yourself if you’d like, or our UK-based support team are on hand to help.

If you’ve been on a call and felt that something wasn’t quite right, your trusted person can easily, and at any time, revisit that call to listen (or read a transcript) for themselves. If something untoward has happened, you have evidence of the fact. This can be used to assist the police should you wish to involve them.

Alerting your trusted person to keywords such as bank, sale, or credit card, after a call is especially useful if you’ve felt pushed into an uncomfortable direction to give out sensitive details over the phone. Your trusted person will know to listen to the call recording to investigate what took place.

Remember, this type of call can happen to anyone at any time and even the most on-the-ball of us can easily get caught off guard and fall prey to a scam. If you suspect you’re talking to a scammer and feel worried or scared or need help then you can invite your trusted person to join your call to assist by pressing #9. In addition, your trusted person will be alerted in real-time should you have picked up a withheld or international call or if you’ve been on the phone longer than normal. This will allow them to barge in on your call to make sure you are ok.

There’s more…

Because VoIP relies on the internet and electricity to work, if you have a power cut you could feel cut off and isolated, especially if you have an emergency. There are ways to ensure you stay connected though. You could invest in a UPS (uninterruptable power supply) which connects to your router for power backup. If you have a mobile phone with an adequate signal you could temporarily rely on that. You can even make calls from your home number via the Call app. But if you have neither of those or they fail too, then you can have peace of mind that someone knows you may be feeling vulnerable – your trusted Person. Your trusted person will receive an alert when your internet connection is interrupted. This allows them to make alternative arrangements to ensure you are safe and well until your power returns.

How to choose the right trusted person.

A trusted person can be anyone that you trust, and you can have more than one. They should also have a mobile phone as they will need the Trusted Person app. You could consider,

• Your son or daughter
• An adult grandchild
• Your sibling
• A close friend
• A caring neighbour

If you’re worried about how you would approach someone to be your trusted person then we recommend sharing the following link with them: https://www.phonely.co.uk/how-it-works/buying-for-someone-else

Explain to the person(s) who you’ve selected, that you’d like to feel more protected from telephone crime, and wondered if they could help if you were ever to need it. By reading the contents of the link above, they will understand their potential role as a trusted person. They can then let you know if they feel they could be part of your Phonely and CallGuard plan.

If you have more questions on the role of a trusted person or how to choose someone, then you could check out our FAQs page, call our friendly UK team on 0800 112 5000, email hello@phonely.co.uk or use our live chat.