When Swedish entrepreneur David Padgrotksy’s mother suffered a stroke, the idea was born to create a solution similar to Skype, but one that could also be used by people who are not comfortable with computers and other complicated electronic gadgets . The idea was that that anyone should be able to communicate with picture and sound regardless of technical ability.

From this idea, “Joice, the world’s easiest TV-Phone” was born and launched in Scandinavia in December 2008. The service is steadily gaining ground among consumers. In parallel, senior care and home care service providers are doing large scale testing of the service as a way to do virtual visit with clients and to stimulate social interaction among the elderly or disabled. 

The product consists of a set-top box, a web camera and a remote control that is connected to the TV and broadband in the elderly person’s home.  With this set-up, the user can make video calls to friends who have the same equipment in their home, or to computer using relative and friends who only need a standard computer, a web camera and the Joice PC software.  A person from anywhere in the world can from his/her PC make video calls straight to grandma’s TV screen in Sweden.

“With Joice, your grandparents or parents in Sweden can connect with friends and family living near or far away right on their own TV screen ” says Peter Holmertz, Country Manager for Joice in North America and member of SACC-Texas in Austin. “Our most senior user is a 95 year old man in Gothenburg. He uses Joice to see and talk to his great-great-grandchildren who live in Canada. For him and his family this service has opened up an entirely new world” continues Holmertz.  “Also, it’s a well known fact that older people often suffer more from being isolated and lonely than they actually suffer from their physical aches and pains. Joice is the first solution to make this type of communication easily available for the people who need it the most” continues Holmertz.  

myJoice is now preparing to launch Joice on the US market. “In the US people travel and move around a lot with their jobs and many find it difficult to visit and stay in touch with their older parents and relatives. Joice helps families bridge some of the distance that far too many people struggle with today” concludes Holmertz.

SPECIAL OFFER: SACC Members can take advantage of a special offer from Joice. For more information visit: http://www.myjoice.com/se/sacc