The Digital Switchover for Careline Alarm Users

Our national telephone network is going digital.

In 2017, BT announced that Openreach will be switching off the analogue telephone network by 2025 and replacing it with a fully digital network.

At the time, they said the old networks made up of copper wires (often referred to as the PSTN or ISDN networks) were no longer fit for purpose and that they needed to be updated in order to keep up with future demands.

As a result of the digital switch, by 2025 every telephone call in the UK will be digital with calls being made using the internet. More specifically, calls will be made using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology¹.

Have you received a letter, SMS or email from your provider about your landline telephone service being upgraded? Has your landline already been upgraded to a digital one? If the answer to either of these questions is ‘Yes’ and you also use a personal alarm or careline service, please keep reading this guide.

If you are a Telecare24 customer, please wait until you receive a date for your switchover from your phone service provider. Once you receive your switchover date, get in touch as quickly as possible and let us know.

So that we can easily identify your account, we’ll ask you to tell us the name of the service user and their postcode.

Customers of other careline services (i.e. not Telecare24) should contact their careline service provider.

Once you have your switchover date, give your broadband service provider a call and inform them you have a careline alarm installed. They will be able to advise on what you need to do next with your careline alarm.

What you need to do with your equipment depends on the type of broadband router you have at home, which is why we don’t have ‘one size fits all’ instructions here that everybody can follow.

Rest assured, your broadband provider will be aware of the digital switchover and they will be able to help you.

Please note, when your careline alarm is connected to your broadband you will no longer hear a dial tone when you trigger your alarm.

Don’t worry. If you do not have a broadband connection at home yet and have already received your switchover date – just contact your telephone service provider. Say “I don’t have broadband and I have a careline alarm” and that you would like to delay your digital upgrade until you have broadband in your home.

Your supplier will then be able to talk you through your options for taking out a broadband package.

Also, some devices that currently rely on a phone line may not work if the line is digital – and digital services may not always work during power outages.

Some telecom companies will provide vulnerable customers with a battery backup that will ensure digital phone services will work for an additional hour if an outage occurs. It will however depend on your provider as to whether your backup battery pack will work with your personal alarm.

Additionally, you can delay switching to Digital Voice until you receive a battery backup. But bear in mind, this isn’t a long-term solution as analogue telephone lines will no longer be maintained after 2025.

If you have our GO! GPS alarm or our Buddi alarm, great news – you don’t need to do anything to keep your personal alarm working. Your equipment doesn’t plug into the master telephone socket, as it works using the advanced mobile technology instead of physical landlines.

If you’re not a Telecare24 customer yet but you are looking into GPS alarms like the GO!, you can rest assured that the digital switchover won’t affect how your equipment works so long as the device you choose uses the mobile network to operate.

If you are a Telecare24 customer, give us a call as soon as possible on 0800 180 85 40. We’ll guide you through what to do over the phone.

Customers of other careline services (i.e. not Telecare24) should contact their careline service provider.

Rest assured, we are here to support you during the digital switchover and will do everything we can to make sure you continue to enjoy peace of mind with 24/7 access to our care team.

As time has moved forward so has our dependence on the internet. Today, a fast connection to the web is a necessity for most people and businesses across the world.

Over the years, the internet added extra strain to the ageing ‘analogue’ systems that are based on old networks of copper wire. Calls have taken longer to connect, and the sound quality has degraded.

Maintaining the traditional networks is also costing more, with replacement parts for old equipment getting more expensive.

We’ve also become less patient when using the internet; we expect web pages to load quickly, we expect calls to connect instantly, and we expect calls to sound clear and of high quality.

The new digital telephone network will enhance your careline alarm service in several ways, ultimately resulting in a faster and more reliable lifeline that gives you even more peace of mind.

• Instant connectivity to our careline operators. As soon as you press your pendant you will be instantly connected to an operator. No more waiting for dial tones before getting the help that you need.
• Faster response to emergencies. Operators will be able to assess you much more quickly, getting you the help you need with no delays.
• Higher speech quality. Speech will be carried over a superfast digital network with crystal clear quality
• A more reliable service. Control Centres will be able to access the alarm remotely to resolve faults with the equipment.
• Enhanced features. New technology will enable many new telehealth solutions to assist users in their home.

Everyone who uses a traditional landline telephone will be affected by this change. In order to make calls on a home phone, you will need to have a phone that plugs into your broadband hub instead of the socket on the wall.

People moving house or getting new home phone lines will also be affected. In 2021, BT stopped offering analogue lines to new customers².

Careline alarm users who have equipment that plugs into a master telephone socket on the wall will be affected. The equipment will need to be plugged into your smart hub or broadband router instead.

By modernising the telephone network and switching from analogue to digital, your phone calls should connect to the other end faster than before.

You should also notice your calls sound clearer. If your copper phone line has degraded over time, you may notice crackling noises when you make calls today. After the switch, your calls should sound of a higher audible quality.

These changes may be especially noticeable if you make long-distance calls and you find that they take longer to connect, or that they sound distorted or quieter than normal phone calls.

Openreach aims to finish the upgrade of all lines by 2025. To ensure a smooth transition, we know that BT will be upgrading their landline customers using a phased approach as and when the digital service becomes available in your local area. They will be in touch to let you know exactly when your switch over day is⁴.

If you are with a different service provider such as Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin, you can expect to hear from them directly to let you know when your switchover will be happening.