A new online service will allow families to keep in contact with their elderly relatives more easily, giving increased connectedness and peace of mind for those who live far away from their loved ones.

The initiative is based on the 'three rings' code from days gone by, when to give someone a call and hang up after three rings let them know all was okay.

In today's tech-obsessed society we have a plethora of ways of keeping in touch, but these sometimes bypass the older generation, making it difficult to check up on parents and grandparents, particularly as over half of us live more than half an hour away from our aging relatives.

3rings.co.uk is updating the code for the internet generation with a new app that only requires gran or granddad to have a working landline. They make a call to 3rings, which then sends 'green alerts' via an app, SMS, emails or calls to their family network.

If for some reason a call isn't made, 'red alerts' are sent out, which change to amber when a family member investigates by making a call or home visit to the person in question, and then back to green when they have made sure everything is okay.

This keeps everyone connected to one another and ensures that any problems that may arise are dealt with swiftly.

Founder Steve Purdham was inspired to create the system by his 82-year-old mum, Iris.

"We wanted to create a simple solution which answered the question, 'are my parents okay today?" he explains.

"The objective is to help loved ones maintain their independence and not feel like a burden. 3rings isn't meant to be a replacement for personal calls and visits but helps ease the worry caused by distance and hectic lives.

"We strongly believe that this offering can be a catalyst for the changing family care of ageing parents in the UK."

The system is timely.  A report commissioned by 3rings revealed that more that 25 per cent of those with parents over 65 found the Christmas period stressful, with the elderly needing more assistance and day-to-day help. 

Forty per cent of those questioned said they were considering steps to support their parents more over the next year while almost half (48 per cent) currently rely on neighbours, friends or local family members to check up on elderly relatives.

The service is available now and a free trial is currently available.