AN HONEST COMPARISON
What to do when they call all day
Six things a family can actually do, what each really costs, and who each one suits. Most of them are not us.
We built Everline because one of these options finally worked for our family. That does not make it right for yours. Below is the whole field as plainly as we can put it, with prices we checked in July 2026 and sources at the bottom so you can check them too. Where something else is the better answer, we have said so.
Taking the phone away
FREE
The most common advice you will get in any caregiver forum, and often the first thing a facility suggests. The phone goes missing, or the plan is quietly suspended, and the calls stop.
WHO IT SUITS
Families where the phone has become genuinely unsafe: 911 called repeatedly, money given away to scammers, strangers dialed at 3am. Sometimes it really is the right call, and nobody should feel guilty for making it.
WHAT IT COSTS YOU BEYOND MONEY
It ends the calls without answering the fear underneath them. The reaching usually does not stop; it moves to the nurses, the neighbors, the front desk. For someone whose main comfort was hearing a familiar voice, losing the phone can feel like losing the family.
A call-blocking phone service
ABOUT $46 TO $80 A MONTH, PLUS A $60 ACTIVATION FEE
Purpose-built phone services for dementia, teleCalm being the best known. They replace the home phone line and let you limit who can be called, block repeat dialing, and switch off calls late at night from an app.
WHO IT SUITS
Families whose main problem is the outgoing calls themselves: the 2am dialing, the repeat calls to a sister who is at work, the scam numbers. It is a genuinely good product and it solves a real problem well.
WHAT IT COSTS YOU BEYOND MONEY
It shapes when and whom they can call, not what happens when they do. A blocked call still leaves the worry unanswered, and it works with a home phone line rather than the mobile many people carry now.
Hiring a companion
ABOUT $35 AN HOUR, ROUGHLY $80,000 A YEAR AT 44 HOURS A WEEK
A paid non-medical caregiver who visits or lives in: company, meals, errands, someone actually in the room.
WHO IT SUITS
Almost everyone, honestly. A real person present is better than anything on this page, and if you can afford it and your loved one accepts it, this is the strongest answer here. It also helps with everything else, not just the phone.
WHAT IT COSTS YOU BEYOND MONEY
The price, for most families. Even three hours a day runs past $3,000 a month. And many people with dementia refuse a stranger in the house, which no amount of money fixes.
An answering service
COMMONLY $135 TO $450 A MONTH FOR BUSINESS PLANS
A live operator answers when you cannot. Built for businesses, but some families use one so no call rings out into silence.
WHO IT SUITS
Very few families, in our honest opinion. We include it because people do ask about it.
WHAT IT COSTS YOU BEYOND MONEY
A stranger answers. For someone with dementia who called because they wanted their daughter, an unfamiliar voice can raise the fear instead of settling it, and the operator knows nothing about their life.
Sharing the load across the family
FREE
A rota. Siblings, cousins, grandchildren each take a window so the calls do not all land on one person.
WHO IT SUITS
Every family that can manage it. This should be tried before anything on this page is bought, and it costs nothing to ask.
WHAT IT COSTS YOU BEYOND MONEY
It needs a family that is willing and nearby, and it is often exactly what has already broken down by the time someone starts searching for help. It also tends to quietly reconcentrate onto whoever says no least often.
Everline
$79 A MONTH WITH 200 MINUTES, OR $99 WITH 400
A phone line of their own that answers in a family member's own recorded voice, knows the family's real world because the family taught it, and never tires of the same question.
WHO IT SUITS
Families whose person is calling for reassurance rather than for anything they can be helped with, where a familiar voice is the thing that settles them, and where nobody can pick up every time.
WHAT IT COSTS YOU BEYOND MONEY
It is comfort, not care. Nobody is in the room. It cannot cook, or check a stove, or notice a fall, and it is not an emergency service. If the calls are about real unmet needs rather than reassurance, this is the wrong tool.
PLEASE DON’T BUY THIS IF
When Everline is the wrong choice
Your loved one needs someone physically present. No voice on a phone substitutes for a person in the room, and if that is what the calls are really about, spend the money on a companion instead.
The calls are about real problems you can fix. If they are calling because they are hungry, in pain, frightened by a specific thing, or their needs are not being met where they live, the calls are information. Answering them more smoothly would only hide the signal.
You want monitoring or an emergency service. Everline is neither. If a call sounds like real distress we text you right away and gently encourage calling 911 or a person nearby, but it will never be the thing that keeps someone safe.
Your family is not comfortable with it. Everline requires that every family member is told exactly what it is. If that conversation ends in no, that is a legitimate answer and we would rather you kept the money.
Questions families ask us
Should I take my mom's phone away if she calls constantly?
Sometimes yes, but it is worth asking what the calls are for first. If she is calling 911, giving money to strangers, or dialing people at 3am, safety wins and the phone may have to go. If she is calling for reassurance, taking the phone removes her main comfort without touching the fear underneath, and the reaching usually moves to nurses and neighbors instead. Limiting who she can reach, and making sure those numbers actually answer warmly, is gentler and often works better.
What is the cheapest way to handle a parent who calls all day?
Sharing the calls across the family costs nothing and should be tried first. After that, a call-limiting phone service runs about $46 to $80 a month plus activation, Everline is $79 to $99 a month, an answering service is commonly $135 to $450 a month, and a paid companion is about $35 an hour, which is roughly $3,000 a month even at three hours a day.
Is an AI voice better than hiring a companion for an elderly parent?
No. A real person in the room is better than anything a phone can do, and if you can afford a companion and your loved one will accept one, hire the companion. A voice companion like Everline is for the hours nobody can cover and the calls that keep coming after everyone has gone home, not as a replacement for human presence.
How is Everline different from a call-blocking service like teleCalm?
They solve opposite halves of the same problem. A call-blocking service controls when and whom your loved one can call, which is the right fix when the dialing itself is the danger. Everline does not block anything; it makes sure that when they do call, someone familiar answers. Some families use both, and that is a sensible combination.
When is Everline the wrong choice?
When your loved one needs someone physically present, when the calls are about real unmet needs rather than reassurance, when you are looking for monitoring or an emergency service, or when your family is not comfortable with it. Everline is comfort and connection, not care, and it is not a safety device.
WHERE THESE NUMBERS COME FROM
- teleCalm plan pricing, checked July 2026
- CareScout / Genworth Cost of Care Survey, 2025 data released March 2026
- Everline pricing, published in full
Prices for other services are quoted from their own published pages and can change. If you find something out of date here, tell us and we will fix it.
Still deciding? The reason behind the repeated calls is worth understanding first, whichever option you choose.