What
Assistance calls let caregivers ask for extra help. They can simply press the button on their Badge or tap Request assistance in the Nobi Mobile App. This works during a fall escalation, while supporting a resident, or for tasks that are not about a resident. Nobi starts the assistance call right away.
There are four ways to request an assistance call:
- Pressing the Badge.
- Pressing the Badge after claiming an escalation in the Nobi Mobile App.
- Requesting assistance in the Nobi Mobile App from the home screen.
- Requesting assistance in the Nobi Mobile App after claiming an escalation, with the Assistance button on that escalation.
The first two are Badge-triggered assistance calls. The last two are app-triggered assistance calls.
Each way of requesting an assistance call has its own priority level. The priority shows colleagues how urgent the assistance call is:
- Critical: pressing the Badge after claiming an escalation
- Normal: requesting assistance in the Nobi Mobile App after claiming an escalation
- Low: pressing the Badge, or requesting assistance from the home screen of the Nobi Mobile App, without being assigned to an escalation
This means that an assistance call made while you are assigned to an escalation gets a higher priority than one that is not tied to an escalation. If you press your Badge while your app-triggered assistance call is still open, Nobi raises that assistance call to the Badge priority when this is higher. For example, if you are assigned to an escalation, the assistance call becomes Critical.
Each assistance call is a separate escalation. It is not merged into the escalation you are handling. The color of the card shows the priority:
- Critical: a red card with white text
- Normal: a white card with an orange border
- Low: a white card with a blue border
When assistance is requested during another escalation, the color shows that the two escalations are related. With the Badge, it is a red card. With the Nobi Mobile App, it is a white card with an orange border. An assistance call requested on its own is a white card with a blue border.
Requesting assistance in the Nobi Mobile App is not the same as Escalations via Nobi Mobile App. Escalations via Nobi Mobile App is how Nobi alerts care staff about an escalation. Requesting assistance is how a caregiver starts an assistance call from the app.
On both the Nobi Mobile App and the web application, assistance calls appear in a separate Personal & communal calls section. This section appears automatically when there is a person-based escalation, such as a wearable call or a Badge-triggered assistance call. Escalations from common areas also appear there. This is different from escalations tied to a housing unit, such as fall escalations and resident calls from a peripheral paired to the Nobi light. Those show on the card of the housing unit where they happened. Assistance calls and wearable calls are linked to a person, not to a housing unit.
An assistance call starts an escalation that available caregivers can claim with the Escalations via Nobi Mobile App feature, or through a phone call from Nobi.
Who can close a Badge-triggered assistance call remotely depends on the Close remotely setting in Preferences. If this is limited, close the assistance call in person: move near the Badge (proximity closing) or scan the Badge. Scanning a Badge with an active assistance call claims it (On my way) and opens the close screen. App-triggered assistance calls can always be closed remotely.
Why
Care doesn’t pause, even when extra help is needed.
A caregiver might need a colleague while helping a resident, handling a heavy object, doing a bed transfer, or responding to an escalation. Assistance calls give them a direct and discreet way to ask for support. They don’t need to step away, make a phone call, or stop to explain.
With a single Badge press, the assistance call is tied to a location. The Badge is detected by the nearest Nobi light or Gateway, which shows where the caregiver is. No one wastes time searching.
When the caregiver requests assistance from the home screen of the Nobi Mobile App, they choose the exact location and the cause themselves. When they request it from an escalation they have claimed, they only choose the cause. The location comes from the escalation. This works without a Badge, and colleagues know where to go and why before they arrive.
Unlike fall escalations, assistance calls don’t play a voice prompt or alarm at the location. A customizable sound plays on the receiving device, and the app shows who needs help and where. When the announcement sound is chosen in the escalation preferences, an app-triggered assistance call also reads the cause out loud. If the Escalations via Nobi Mobile App feature is not turned on, Nobi calls the first phone number in the escalation procedure.
Analysis, including live view, is not available for assistance calls, whether they are open or closed. To learn more about consulting images and video, read our guide on how to consult images and video.
A typical shift with Assistance Calls
A caregiver starts their shift by picking up their Badge and signing in to the Nobi Mobile App with one tap. Their presence is registered right away, and the Badge goes with them wherever help is needed.
Mid-morning, the caregiver is helping a resident after a fall and realizes they need an extra pair of hands. With their hands full, they press the button on their Badge. Within seconds, available colleagues receive an assistance call on their devices. The caregiver does not need to shout, leave the resident, or interrupt the moment.
Later that day, another caregiver is preparing a dining area and needs help moving a table. They are not in a resident’s room. The closest Nobi light or Gateway detects their Badge, and their assistance call still reaches the right team members quickly and accurately.
In the afternoon, a colleague without a Badge needs help repositioning a resident. They tap Request assistance in the Nobi Mobile App, pick the resident’s room, and choose the cause. Their colleagues see exactly where to go and why.
Each time, caregivers respond faster and with less stress. No one searches blindly, everyone stays focused, and care continues without interruption.
For a step-by-step guide on how assistance calls can support you and your care staff, learn more in How to Request an Assistance Call.
Want to learn how to assign a Badge using the web application? Read the step-by-step guide.
Want to learn how to assign one using the Nobi Mobile App instead? Read the step-by-step guide.
Found a Badge, but don’t know who it’s assigned to? Learn how to identify an unknown Badge.