How Senso2Me and Combell are building a future-proof, ethical and human-centered elderly care together

Enjoying your golden years at home without worry, or enabling precise monitoring for residents in care homes — that’s the core idea behind the innovative sensor technology from Senso2Me. Since day one, the company has relied on Combell for its IT infrastructure. All data is hosted on our local cloud servers.

In Antwerp, we meet with Alain Van Buyten, who co-founded Senso2Me together with Richard Kleihorst. Alain speaks passionately and knowledgeably about the journey his company has taken:

“We started Senso2Me in 2015, and since then we’ve grown from a startup into a strong, healthy company. It’s not easy to explain what active monitoring really is, but in the end, it’s all about making life better for elderly people. That’s why we do what we do,” says Van Buyten.

When Alain and Richard founded Senso2Me, they began with a simple yet radical vision: technology shouldn’t replace care, it should enhance it.

What began as a concept around personal alarms has grown into a complete system of both active (with classic push buttons) and passive alarms (through smart monitoring), tailored to various care contexts:

VITAL by Senso2Me

The VITAL system (Home - Vital) collects objective behavioral data (lifestyle patterns) using discreet sensors that detect and record movement, presence, bathroom use, sleep patterns, and activity levels. With smart algorithms, subtle changes in lifestyle patterns can be detected like increased restlessness, a higher risk of falling, or early signs of loneliness.

Care staff can follow up on these evolving movement patterns (profiling). For instance, if it gradually takes longer for someone to move from the bedroom to the kitchen, it may indicate declining mobility.

This allows caregivers, informal carers, and family members to act both proactively and preventively, a major value-add of the technology.

24/7 active and passive monitoring

Alain explains it in human terms: “Is your grandfather sleeping enough? Or is he hardly getting out of bed anymore? By placing a sensor above his bed, we can analyze his living patterns.

We do the same with mobility. We check whether it’s deteriorating, and also if someone is still moving to the bathroom regularly to care for themselves.

Our sensor technology ensures both active and passive monitoring 24/7,” Alain continues. “Active monitoring is like a personal alarm, seniors pressing an emergency button. Passive monitoring enables prevention.”

Senso2Me is a sixth sense, an extra conscience.

Alain Van Buyten - Medeoprichter Senso2Me

Revealing what often remains hidden

Senso2Me doesn’t aim to be Big Brother. The collected data is valuable for family, caregivers, and medical staff, and helps prevent hospitalizations.

Alain: “Prevention is the best care, it avoids more serious issues. Our smart sensors act as a sixth sense. They reveal what often goes unseen. It’s not a replacement for care, it’s an extra pair of eyes and ears for caregivers.

It also offers peace of mind to those living alone. You’ll be alerted if something goes wrong - like a fall - or is about to go wrong.

Let’s say our app shows your grandmother is suddenly using the bathroom more often at night, that might signal a urinary infection. Or maybe the data shows your father isn’t sleeping well or going outside. You could then casually check in: ‘Hey Dad, are you sleeping okay?’

We want family and caregivers to stay two steps ahead regarding falls, mobility, loneliness. The communication becomes much deeper and more meaningful.”

Saving lives

Senso2Me’s sensors and alert systems can literally save lives, Alain knows from experience.

“It happened with my own mother. I saw from our sensor dashboard that she’d been in the bathroom for four hours. That couldn’t be right. My siblings were at work, so I rushed from Leuven to Koksijde.

Turns out my mother had fallen and had been on the floor for hours. That’s when I realized the impact we make. Without the monitoring, no one would have checked in.

Several colleagues have since installed our sensors in their own grandparents’ homes. Once you’ve used our system, you don’t want to live without it.”

Hyperscalers? They’re just buttons, not people who support you.”

Alain Van Buyten, Co-Founder of Senso2Me

In Homes, residential facilities and assisted living

Alain is proud that more and more seniors and care centers are adopting their sensors. Senso2Me has even partnered with Zorgbedrijf Antwerpen.

“This allowed us to expand our sensor tech to care homes and service flats,” Alain explains. “Senso2Me works mostly with residential care centers, semi-controlled environments like assisted living, and fully private home care.

The beauty is, you can use our tech in any care setting. It’s designed so that not IT staff, but nursing staff can follow everything easily. No tool overload - just a simple, cost-efficient system.”

Combell as key strategic partner

To ensure the system runs smoothly 24/7, Combell’s services play a key role.

Alain doesn't beat around the bush: "I said from the outset that we needed a reliable IT partner who could support us. Some partners suggested we use the AWS or Microsoft cloud, but we have always been opposed to that.

Why? They are buttons, not people. In the American cloud, there is no one to guide you through the next steps. That is why we chose Combell from day one.

With everything happening globally around data at AWS and Azure, we’re very happy with the decision we made years ago. A lot of companies are now walking back from those choices.”

“Trusted partner”

The cloud servers powering Senso2Me’s infrastructure are anything but lightweight. They need to provide instant access to data at all times, with top-level security. Alain and his team rely on Combell’s highest SLA.

“If our servers go down, care stops. Thanks to Combell, that’s never happened in ten years. Our systems and dashboards have always kept running, not many can say that,” says Alain.

Combell has helped us take the next step with Senso2Me.

Alain Van Buyten, Co-founder of Senso2Me

“Combell is a trusted partner we can count on, offering independent advice. Yes, those services cost a bit more but DigitalOcean or AWS can’t deliver that kind of continuity.

Plus, our bylaws explicitly state that we do not commercialize data. That’s why we think it’s essential our data stays local - here in Belgium.

Combell supports small players too

In addition to server power, Senso2Me also relies on Combell's managed services. In other words: maintaining the entire IT infrastructure. The result? A robust partnership in which infrastructure and healthcare vision go hand in hand. Combell is not a passive supplier, but an active partner that grows alongside Senso2Me's social mission.

With redundant datacenters, constant monitoring, and ironclad cybersecurity, including DDoS protection, Combell was ready from day one. Alain says:

“You sat down with us from the start. As a startup, we didn’t have all the hosting expertise in-house, but we appreciated that you supported even the smaller players. Combell sees the potential in small initiatives that can grow big.

Three years in, we had some backend issues and needed to reassess our infrastructure. I remember how much your colleague Stijn helped us take the next step. We came out of that much stronger.

European patent

With ongoing support in areas like lifecycle management, proactive monitoring, and expert advice, Combell will continue helping Alain and his team grow in the years ahead. And there’s no shortage of ambition:

Alain: “Senso2Me recently received a European patent for its technology and we’re expanding into markets like the Netherlands. In Flanders, we collaborate with partners like Zorgbedrijf Antwerpen and many others.

Next up? Outdoor monitoring to detect social isolation, wandering behavior, or disorientation. Loneliness is a major issue, and this will give us a complete picture of someone’s living situation.”

I’m happy to promote Combell, our partnership is a truly great story.

Alain Van Buyten, Co-founder of Senso2Me

“Combell provides us continuity, trust and discretion”

Alain Van Buyten has one piece of advice when it comes to working with a hosting partner: ‘Choose your IT partner with the same care as you choose your healthcare partner. Combell gives us continuity, trust and discretion. That is priceless in healthcare.’

Anyone who uses technology in healthcare has a social responsibility. That is why Senso2Me shows that it is possible to innovate, scale up and put people first at the same time. A noble goal that has Combell's full support.

Alain nods in agreement: ‘We are very satisfied with Combell's data management. Our customers appreciate that we communicate openly about where our data is stored, and we are happy to promote Combell. If you ask me, our partnership is a very beautiful story.’

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