Is your personal alarm ready for the digital landline switchover?

What is the digital landline switchover, and why does it matter to you?

For decades, home phones in the UK have run over the same copper wire network that also carries traditional personal alarms — the pendants and buttons worn around the neck or wrist that call a response centre at the press of a button. That copper network is being retired and replaced with digital phone lines that run over broadband instead. Most people will simply notice a new router or a slightly different dial tone. But some personal alarms were built to work over the old analogue signal, and a small number have stopped working properly, or failed to connect at all, when a household was switched over without anyone checking first.

This matters because an estimated 2 million people across the UK currently use a telecare alarm of some kind, whether that is a fall-detecting pendant, a community alarm provided by a local council, or a wearable button linked to a private monitoring service. For many people living alone, or supporting a partner or parent, that alarm is the thing that brings help quickly after a fall or a medical emergency.

Why was the switchover deadline pushed back to 2027?

The switchover was originally due to be completed across the whole country by December 2025. It was delayed after a small number of serious incidents, including deaths, were linked to telecare devices failing to work properly following early migrations to digital lines. In response, the Department of Health and Social Care worked with telecoms providers to slow things down and put stronger safeguards in place, moving the industry-wide completion date to 31 January 2027.

That extra time is meant to be used, not simply waited out. Individual households can still be migrated well before the final deadline if their provider is satisfied the telecare equipment is compatible — so a later cut-off date for the industry as a whole does not guarantee a later date for your own home.

What protections is the government putting in place?

The Telecare National Action Plan, published jointly by the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, sets out what telecoms and telecare providers are expected to do before any household with a registered alarm is moved over. The plan’s central commitments are:

• No telecare user should be migrated to a digital line until their phone provider, the user, or the telecare provider has confirmed the alarm is compatible and working.
• Providers should phase out reliance on older analogue-only devices in a planned way, rather than switching people over and hoping for the best.
• Telecare users and the people who support them should be told clearly what steps they need to take.
• Telecoms companies, local councils and telecare providers are expected to work together, rather than leaving it to the household to join the dots.

In practice, this generally means an engineer should test your alarm at the point your line is switched, and vulnerable customers should be offered a free battery back-up unit so the phone line — and the alarm — keeps working during a power cut.

How do you find out if your alarm is affected?

You do not need to wait for a letter to land on the doormat. The single most useful thing you can do is contact your telecare provider directly — this might be your local council, a charity such as Age UK, or a private company — and ask them plainly: “Will my alarm still work on a digital phone line, and has it been tested?” If you are not sure who supplies your alarm, the paperwork or sticker on the base unit usually names the provider, or a family member can often find this out on your behalf.

It is also worth telling your landline or broadband provider that there is a telecare alarm in the house, even if you assume they already know. This flags the address so an engineer visit and compatibility check are arranged before any switch takes place, rather than after.

What should you do if you support a relative who has an alarm?

If you are the one who arranged a parent’s or partner’s alarm, or you simply know they have one, it is worth raising this with them directly rather than assuming their provider has already been in touch. Many people who rely on these alarms live alone and may not think to query a phone company letter about “line upgrades,” not realising it could affect their alarm. A short phone call to check the make and model, and to confirm with the telecare provider that it has been tested on a digital line, is a small task that closes a real safety gap.

What if something goes wrong after your line has already switched?

If your landline has already moved to a digital service and you are unsure whether your alarm was checked, do not wait to find out the hard way. Press the alarm button as a test, following your provider’s instructions for testing rather than a genuine emergency call if possible, or phone the monitoring centre’s number directly to ask them to confirm the connection is working. If there is any doubt at all, ask your telecare provider to send someone out to check the equipment in person.