The short answer
Pontosense makes Silver Shield, a radar sensor mounted high in a corner of the room that notices falls, activity and vital signs without a camera or microphone, and alerts the agency's staff and the family through its app. Comfort Keepers sells it as Comfort360 SafeGuard, and some Assisting Hands offices offer it. The main alternatives for home care agencies are Senecta, which senses heat and sound, asks the client “Are you okay?” first and then calls the agency and the family, over its own cellular connection; Sensi.AI (audio); StackCare (motion sensors); and Circadia Health (bedside radar for vital signs).
At a glance
| Pontosense | Senecta | |
|---|---|---|
| How it senses | 60 GHz radar in a corner of the room; no camera or microphone | Low-resolution thermal sensing plus sound; no ordinary camera |
| Built for | Home care agencies and senior living; a version for families called Silvie | Clients in their own homes, through home care agencies |
| What it notices | Falls, activity and vital signs; it also flags wandering and changes in night-time activity | A possible fall in the room; it asks the client first, then calls the people in the response plan |
| What is kept | No pictures or sound; time-stamped occupancy of zones such as bed, shower and toilet, and breathing trends | Nothing, except the heat images and audio of an event classified as a possible fall |
| Who answers alerts | Agency staff and family, through its app and optional texts; we found no Pontosense monitoring centre | Your agency and the family's emergency contacts, by phone; no monitoring centre |
| Setup and connection | Mounted high in a corner of each room, on the home's Wi-Fi; no professional installer needed | Plug-in pods with built-in cellular; nothing to mount or join to the home's Wi-Fi |
| Whose brand families see | Pontosense's, or a partner's: it offers white-label and co-brand options to partners | Your agency's |
Pontosense facts from its website, home care page, solution page, privacy policy, terms of service, partnerships page, its FCC filing, Comfort Keepers' announcement, as read on October 21, 2026. Senecta's from our service agreement. Check each company's current terms before you decide.
How each one works
Pontosense uses radar. Its Silver Shield sensor goes high in a corner of the room and reads movement and breathing from 60 GHz radio waves, with no camera and no microphone. It reports falls, activity and vital signs, flags wandering and changes in night-time activity, and sends alerts through the Pontosense Care app and optional text messages. A caregiver can install it without a professional, and it connects to the home's Wi-Fi.
Senecta looks at heat and listens for events. A low-resolution thermal sensor sees a person as a warm shape, and a microphone listens for the sounds that go with a fall. The pair is built for one question, whether someone went down and stayed down, and the pod asks the client “Are you okay?” before anyone is called. If the answer is not a clear yes, it calls your agency and the family's emergency contacts in the order you agreed. How Senecta detects a possible fall explains the method and its limits.
What is kept, and the consent conversation
Neither captures pictures. Pontosense says its sensor never records pictures or sound; its privacy policy lists time-stamped occupancy of zones such as the bed, the shower and the toilet, and breathing trends. Senecta's thermal sensor sees a person as a warm shape and its microphone's sound is analysed as it happens; nothing is kept except the heat images and audio of a possible fall. The real difference is the microphone: it lets Senecta's pod ask the client whether they are okay and hear the answer, which a sensor without one cannot. It also means that in all-party consent states everyone the microphone could pick up has to agree. Our security and privacy page sets out exactly what Senecta keeps.
Who answers when something happens
Pontosense sends its alerts to the agency's staff and the family through its app, and by text to emergency contacts; we found no Pontosense monitoring centre, though some of its resellers add their own. Senecta has no monitoring centre either. The difference is what happens first: Senecta's pod asks the client “Are you okay?”, and only if the answer is not a clear yes does it call your agency and the family's emergency contacts, one after another, until someone answers.
Other alternatives to Pontosense
The other products agency owners most often name to us, and how each one works.
| Product | How it works | Built for |
|---|---|---|
| Sensi.AI | Audio pods that listen in the home and send insights and alerts to the agency's care team | Home care agencies and franchise networks |
| Circadia Health | Radar beside the bed for breathing, heart rate and bed exits, reviewed by its clinical team | Nursing and post-acute care; offered by some Senior Helpers offices |
| StackCare | Battery motion and door sensors that learn a routine and send app alerts when it changes | Home care agencies, senior living and families |
| Lifeguard Health | Wi-Fi motion, door, fridge and bathroom sensors with a 24/7 alert center; follows routines, not falls | Home care agencies; offered by some Griswold offices |
| Cherish | A plug-in hub with radar that senses through walls, microphones and a speaker; alerts the family and its response center | Families, through security dealers and AT&T; a wall version for facilities |
| CarePredict | A wrist band with room beacons: possible falls, activity trends, a help button and two-way voice | Senior living; families buy it as SilverKin |
| SafelyYou | AI cameras in residents' rooms; its remote team confirms each fall for community staff | Assisted living and memory care communities |
| Vayyar Care | Radar on the wall or ceiling, fitted by installers; alerts go to facility staff | Senior living and care facilities |
| Butlr | Thermal sensors on the ceiling, with no camera or microphone; flags bed exits, wandering and possible falls for staff | Senior living communities, in pilots in 2026 |
| Nobi | A smart ceiling light that takes infrared images; it asks the person, a reviewer checks the image, then staff are alerted | Senior living and care homes |
| TeiaCare | An optical sensor above each bed with infrared night vision; alerts staff to bed exits and falls | Nursing homes, mainly in Italy |
All of them compared on one page: Compare.
When Pontosense is the better choice
- You are a Comfort Keepers office, where it is the network's own system (Comfort360 SafeGuard), or an Assisting Hands office that already offers it.
- Your families do not want any microphone in the home.
- You want vital-sign and activity trends from the same sensor, beyond falls.
When Senecta is the better choice
- You want the client asked “Are you okay?”, and heard, before anyone is called.
- Your clients do not have reliable Wi-Fi, and you want pods that bring their own cellular connection.
- You want pods that sit on a shelf or table and plug in, with nothing to mount high on the wall.
- You want to offer cover under your agency's name, month to month, with no minimum number of homes.
Questions agency owners ask
What are the alternatives to Pontosense for home care agencies?
Senecta (heat and sound; it asks the client first, then calls the agency and the family, over its own cellular connection), Sensi.AI (audio pods), StackCare (motion sensors) and Circadia Health (bedside radar for vital signs).
Does Pontosense use a camera or microphone?
No. Silver Shield is a 60 GHz radar sensor, and Pontosense says it never records pictures or sound.
Is Comfort Keepers' Comfort360 SafeGuard made by Pontosense?
Comfort Keepers announced in June 2026 that Comfort360 SafeGuard is powered through a partnership with Pontosense.
Does Pontosense need the client's Wi-Fi?
Yes, it connects to the home's Wi-Fi. Senecta's pods have their own cellular connection and need only a power outlet.
Next step
Compare it on your own book.
Thirty minutes with your client mix: which homes, what you would charge, and how the response would work.
Book your agency demoSenecta makes one of the products compared here, so read our description of ourselves with that in mind. We have described Pontosense and the other products from their own public pages and their partners', as read on October 21, 2026, and linked each one; their offers may change. Senecta is not an emergency service or a staffed monitoring centre, does not replace in-person care, and no system detects every fall.