It's a pre-paid phone. A Samsung Galaxy J1. It has a tactile button on the bottom that, when you hold it for 2 or 3 seconds, it takes you to the "OK, Google" prompt. This seems to work so long as the phone is powered on and awake, no matter what other app or menu item is active on the phone. So that's definitely going to be helpful for her.

I'm setting it up with Google Voice, so she can use it off the WiFi in the house (ergo, no added monthly bill). Now, I can add whatever contacts she needs in gmail, and they'll be there for her to use.

The phone itself was $99. I had to pay a $35 activation fee, a $45 fee for the first month of service (which is, unfortunately mandatory), and then tax, of course. All told, it was $199 out of the store, but with no further monthly fees, and no contract.

I still have to finish setting it up for her, and see how she likes it. The tricky part might be setting up both the Google number, and the house phone to ring simultaneously on both numbers. One or the other is easy enough, but doing it on both might cause some sort of loop that creates a rift in time and space. We'll see.

The reason for all of this, of course, is to facilitate mom's ability to dial friends, family and local businesses without having to remember all the phone numbers.

Anyway, just wanted to put this idea out there in case this might help anyone else. I'm sure many of you have your own systems that are way beyond this, but for any who might be looking for ideas, this is mine.