The Genus

This release focuses on Flexible Nurse Calling improvements, expanded device support, and quality-of-life updates across the Professional App and Community Portal.

New BLE alarm buttons (Genus Assist)

We’re introducing a new range of BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) alarm buttons designed for use inside care homes. These buttons support reliable alarming and (where enabled) indoor location tracking.

Available button types

• Wrist button
• Pull cord (ideal for toilet/bathroom use)
• Wall buttons (fixed buttons for rooms, hallways, etc.)

How to pair an alarm button

1. On the Genus device go to: Menu → Connect → Devices → Add new device 
2. In the redesigned selection menu, choose Genus Assist 
3. Hold the button close to the Genus device
4. Let Genus search. Genus will automatically detect and set up the button once found.

Indoor location tracking

In care homes where each room has a Genus device, you can enable indoor location tracking to help caregivers respond faster.

How it works

• Each Genus device can be assigned a room number.
• When an alarm button is pressed (e.g., in a hallway), nearby Genus devices communicate with each other to determine which one is closest.
• The Professional App will show a clear location hint, for example:
  “Assistance requested near room 2 & 3” 

Enable location tracking

• Go to the Community Portal → Community Settings
• Enable Location tracking 

Coverage for areas without nearby rooms (Gateways)

For locations such as a restaurant or public toilet where no room-based Genus device is nearby, a Genus Gateway can be deployed:

• The Gateway can be assigned a location name, so alarms can show:
  “Assistance requested near the restaurant”

Current availability

• At this time, Gateways must be deployed with configuration support from the Genus development team.
• In a future update, Gateway deployment / configuration will be added to the Deployer App so integrators can manage this independently.

Flexible Nurse Calling — Device visibility

Connected devices are visible in the Professional App, the Community Portal and the Genus device. For every device the battery status is shown as well as the last time it was seen. 

Family access controls (Community Portal)

Healthcare communities can now control what family members are allowed to access when they connect.

You can allow family members to use communication features only, such as:

• Sending photos
• Messaging
• Starting video calls

…without granting access to:

• Assistance requests
• Sensor insights

How it’s managed

• Configure in Community Portal → Community Settings (Insert screenshot)
• For care organisations, this is restricted by default.
• If a care organisation wants to grant full access, an admin can toggle full access in Community Settings 

Changes to alarming

This update improves clarity, reliability, and the client experience during alarming.

What’s new

• Text-to-speech confirmation: the client is informed that the alarm was sent successfully.
• Text-to-speech for alarm reactions: additional voice feedback during alarm handling.
• Caregiver alias (client-facing name): caregivers can set an alias (e.g., “Caregiver”) shown to the client instead of their personal name .
  Example: “Caregiver is coming soon” instead of “Thomas is coming soon”

• Improved text-to-speech voice stability.
• Repeating assistance notifications: notifications now repeat until handled. This is configurable per team 

Professional App updates

• Assistance requested system notification is removed when the assistance request is solved (for a cleaner notification experience).
• Improved date / time formatting for different countries / locales.
• Video calls now automatically switch to speaker mode.
• Added historic notifications (view past notifications)

• New / updated Profile page.

• Support for unrestricted battery usage (to improve background reliability where permitted).
• Faster notifications (improved delivery speed).

Community Portal updates

• Teams added to the client overview
• New team filter to quickly find and manage clients by team

Manual of the Professional App

A manual for the Professional App was created and can be found here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13OkPckYxuJzTsTCnMmSQGiGIPTx6HAxJ 

This update adds support for paired smoke detectors to improve safety and ensure smoke alarms reach caregivers and family members quickly—even if the Genus device is temporarily offline.

New: Pair a smoke detector with Genus

Smoke detectors can now be paired to a Genus device using the device connection flow.

How to pair

1. On the Genus device, go to "Menu" > "Connect" > "Add a new device", select the Smoke detector" and let the Genus device start scanning for nearby devices.
2. Put the smoke detector into pairing mode by pressing its button 3 times quickly.
3. Genus will discover the smoke detector and complete setup automatically.

After pairing: smoke detector works independently

Once paired, the Genus device will configure the smoke detector’s Wi‑Fi. After that, the smoke detector can operate independently of Genus.

This means:

• Smoke alarms will still be delivered to professional care even if the Genus device is offline.

Smoke alarm experience (client, family, and care teams)

When smoke is detected:

In the client environment

• A warning message is shown on the Genus device
• The warning is also spoken out loud to alert the client
• The smoke detector triggers a traditional siren alarm locally

For family and professional care

• Alarm notifications are sent to phones so recipients can act immediately.

We’ve added video support to Genus, making it easy to share guided content directly with clients. Videos are ideal for physiotherapy exercises, daily movement routines, and activities that help elderly clients or people recently discharged from hospital stay active, supported, and engaged right from their own environment.



🎥 New Features

📤 Video Uploads & Messaging

• Videos can now be uploaded to the Community Assets Library.
• After uploading a video, the Genus platform will resize the video to match the resolution of the Genus and optimize the file size.
• After a video has been processed, it can be attached directly to messages sent to the Genus.
• Clients can choose to postpone videos and watch them at a later time.
• When a client presses play in a message, the video starts automatically.
• After playback, the client can either close the video or watch it again.

🔊 Improved Volume Controls

• Added new volume sliders for improved media control. Clearly differentiating the different volume types you're adjusting.
• Media volume can now be configured in Genus settings, both in the portal and on the device.

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Various bug fixes and stability improvements.

In addition to locking specific UI elements on the Genus device, you can now hide them completely.
This behaviour can be configured directly in the Community Portal, giving you more control over the user interface and experience.

For example, if your organisation doesn't want to use the Call Me functionality, you can hide the Call Me button in the photo overlay and in the main menu.

Other Genus updates

• Greek translations have been refined

We’ve introduced several improvements to enhance device reliability, streamline testing, and support troubleshooting.

Battery Health Monitoring

A new battery monitoring capability has been added to help ensure device stability.

• This feature is primarily intended for support teams to verify whether a device’s battery is performing as expected.
• If the battery behaves abnormally, the system may automatically trigger a remote reboot under specific conditions to keep the device stable and active.
• Only a small number of devices are expected to be affected by this safeguard.

Faster PIR & Radar System Tests

To simplify testing procedures, the duration of the PIR and Radar system tests has been reduced from 10 minutes to 5 minutes.

• A successful 5-minute test now confirms proper sensor operation.
• No further extended testing is required, making system checks quicker and more efficient.

Enhanced Logging

Logging has been improved to give support teams better insight during troubleshooting and diagnostics.

We’ve introduced a new stress monitoring feature in Genus to help caretakers proactively support their clients’ wellbeing.

What’s New

You can now create a “How are you feeling?” question in the Community Portal. This question uses a predefined reply type with four options:

• Relaxed
• Restless
• Tense
• Panic

How It Works

When a client responds with anything other than Relaxed, caretakers automatically receive a notification. This allows them to quickly follow up, either by calling or visiting the client, to ensure they're doing well and to help prevent rising stress levels.

This enhancement enables earlier intervention and contributes to improved client care and safety.

New Voice, Smarter Speech

• Introducing a new Text-to-Speech voice with improved clarity and natural tone.
• Now better understands multiple languages, seamlessly switching between them.
• Clearer Dutch and English pronunciation for more natural conversations.
• Enhanced volume balance — speech messages now match your ringtone volume more consistently.

📅 Calendar Improvements

• Fixed an issue where calendar items around midnight were displayed incorrectly in the Day Structure view.
• Past events are now removed from the display instead of being struck through, keeping your calendar cleaner and easier to read.
• When a new event starts, it now automatically dismisses any overlapping event for a smoother experience.

📱 Connectivity & Performance

• Fixed an issue where the Genus app would not update properly over eSIM connections.
• Improved sensor connectivity for Genus Routines, ensuring faster and more reliable updates.

🎥 Video Calls & Devices

• In multi-room video calls, Genus device camera views will no longer appear on other Genus devices — care takers will continue to see both camera views as intended.
• Fixed an issue where the EV04 battery level was not being displayed correctly.

We’ve added a new security feature that allows organizations to restrict access to certain parts of the Genus app.

New Features

• PIN-Code Protection – Lock specific sections of the Genus app using a PIN code.
• Configurable via Community Portal – Administrators can select which settings are locked and can configure the PIN code in the Community Portal.
• Temporary Access – When accessing a locked setting, users are prompted to enter the PIN. Once entered, all restricted options remain unlocked for 5 minutes.

Configure it in the Community Portal by going to "Community Settings" > "Default Genus configuration"

This release includes important bug fixes, stability improvements, and new device support.

Bug Fixes & Improvements

• VOIP Calls – Fixed issues with VOIP calls after the echo cancellation update. As a temporary workaround, sound level monitoring is temporary disabled when using VOIP.
• Security Enhancements – Improved authentication security for external APIs.
• Stability Improvements – Enhanced reliability of alarm escalation restoration after alarm server reboots.
• Community Portal Updates – Serial numbers are now displayed in the user detail page.
• Invoicing Integration Fixes –
  • Invoicing customer selection fields are no longer shown when no invoicing integration is connected.
  • Fields for linking resellers or customers to external invoicing systems are now separated for clarity.
• Addons & Subscriptions – Fixed naming issues for addon and subscription types.
• Zigbee SOS Buttons – Added support for Zigbee SOS buttons.

We’ve upgraded the alarm system to make alerts more informative and customisable.

New Features

• Text-to-Speech for Alarms – Alarm messages and reactions are now spoken aloud using the Genus Text-to-Speech engine.
• Custom Message Reactions – Personalise the response messages for different alarms.
• Online Alarm Documentation – Access comprehensive alarm information and guidance through the online documentation. The documentation can be found at https://genus.care/docs/alarm-api 

We’ve enhanced the device calendar to make scheduling and event reminders more visible and interactive.

New Features

• Full-Screen calendar display – The calendar now occupies the full screen and is always visible on the device.
• Automatic event removal – Completed events are automatically removed from the display.
• Event reminders with the Genus Text-To-Speech engine –
  • 10 minutes before an event, the device announces that the event is coming up.
  • When the event starts, the device announces the event
• Configurable on device and portal – Calendar display can be activated directly on the device or through the Community Portal.

Configure it on the Genus by going to "Menu" > "Settings" > "Display" > "Screen addition" and selecting "Day overview"



Configure it in the Community Portal by going to a user > "Genus settings" > "Display settings"