HELP ME Phone.com

The pairing of Fortson Communications, Inc., and CELLtech^TM to bring you the very best in emergency 911 cell phones is the result of a fortunate chance encounter between two people who, for different reasons, were working to solve the same practical problem:  How can 911 and other emergency services be made accessible quickly, reliably and inexpensively to everyone. 

I'm Ed Fortson (with my Dad in the photo), president of Fortson Communications, Inc.--a full-service online marketing and website design firm in Grand Junction, Colorado.  I'm also an aging Baby Boomer, married father of two, and my parents are independent and active (sometimes frighteningly so) well into their '80s.

This HelpMePhone^TM website is my response to three big events:

• the 9-11 attacks

• the stock market slide

• and a recent visit with my parents (whose independence includes hopping in their car on a moment's notice and driving two hours on winding mountain roads to their beloved hideaway cabin.  It also includes living unassisted in their home.)

After 9-11, it's suddenly more important than ever to be able to communicate immediately with our loved ones and for them to be able to get help if necessary.  Besides 9-11, I just worry that my folks' car might break down, or there'll be an accident, some medical or weather emergency.  My kids are all over the place; my wife travels: what if they have a problem?  

Cell phones are the perfect answer.  But, like many of you, I'd need half-a-dozen phones to outfit my wife, kids and parents as well as myself.  I was dismayed when I asked AT&T, Verizon, Nextel and Sprint for their least expensive, emergency-only cellular plans.  The cheapest was $20 a month--per phone--with a $35 activation fee and you had to buy the phones, too!  That's $240 per year for the service, plus $35, plus taxes, plus the phone.  Multiply that by five or six phones.  Yikes!  And it didn't help that the stock markets were tanking. 

Enter CELLtech^TM:

That's when I read about Russell Taylor, founder of CELLtech^TM, in the Business Times.  Russ is a successful businessman, college teacher and electronics expert.  He's also confined to a wheelchair by Multiple Sclerosis.

Russ started CELLtech^TM based on an idea that came to him after a potentially serious wheelchair accident.  He was alone, watering his garden, when the hose nudged the chair's electric control and it tipped over.  Russ couldn't right the chair and get into it by himself.  But he had his cell phone and was able to call for help.

"I began to think about all the people who could benefit--even lives that could be saved--by having a cell phone within reach no matter where you are," Russ says, "But cost is a big factor, especially for people with disabilities or older people on fixed incomes."

So Russell Taylor spent the next year researching alternatives to expensive cellular service plans.  He learned how to program un-activated cell phones (ones that are not linked to expensive monthly calling plans) for best 911 calling capability.  (See FAQs for more details on this important feature.)  And because of his own situation, he wanted the phones to be extremely easy and reliable to use, especially by physically challenged or impaired people.  CELLtech^TM's Audiovox MVX 480 phone with 1-number 911 calling is the result.

Russell Taylor had developed just the cell phone I was looking for.  He agreed to meet me.  Now you can benefit from his expertise and integrity, too.

Thanks,

Ed Fortson