Understand
Find the service, its dependencies and the people who can confirm the facts.
Care Circle Network / Independent flagship programme
The Digital
Switchover Reset
A clearer path through the telephone changes affecting care.
You have a service to run, people to support and more than enough decisions competing for attention. You should not need to become a telecommunications expert to understand whether the national phone switchover affects you.
Start with what you know today. We will help you understand what matters for your service, who can help and what a sensible next step looks like.
Start with one question ↓01 / Start from your actual position
Where is your service today?
There is no score and no wrong starting point. Choose the question closest to yours.
01
I’m not sure if we’re affected
Find the right person and one useful question.
Find your starting point →02We still have analogue systems
Confirm what changes and who owns each part.
Follow the connection →03Our installation is under way
Agree what the completed work will demonstrate.
Choose with confidence →04We have already moved to digital
Understand continuity and find the test evidence.
Review what works →05Someone else manages our system
Clarify the relationship and who tells your team.
Bring the right people together →If an alarm is unreliable or a migration is imminent, contact the relevant provider now. Known safety concerns must not wait for a particular chapter.
A flexible editorial journey
Take the part that helps you today.
Prepare
Make a decision you understand and agree how people will be supported through it.
Prove
Keep the test evidence, the outstanding questions and the next review together.
These are editorial stages, not a timetable for your service. You are not behind: start where you are. Openreach’s stated PSTN closure milestone is 31 January 2027; confirm your actual service and migration date with your provider.
Use the first-seven-days guide →02 / The guided provider chapters
A useful answer, one chapter at a time.
Start where you are
Before you make a plan, find out what you already know.
Read chapter 1 →Follow the connection into care
The important question is not just which line you have. It is what the line helps people do.
Read chapter 2 →Put the right people around the question
A complicated system becomes easier to manage when each organisation can explain its part.
Read chapter 3 →Choose a solution you understand
A good buying decision starts with the care service, not a catalogue.
Read chapter 4 →Keep care going when technology is unavailable
The best continuity plan is one staff can understand on an ordinary night shift.
Read chapter 5 →Know what has been proved
Readiness is not the length of the action list. It is the confidence supported by evidence.
Read chapter 6 →Evidence reviewed 11 November 2026
Latest Developments and What They Mean for Providers
Source dates describe the developments. The explanations below were first published on 11 November. We update this record when meaningful evidence changes the decision.
A stronger commissioning framework
What changed: DHSC published three digital telecare commissioning guidelines covering personal alarms, grouped living devices and receiving centres.
Who is affected: Commissioners, housing providers and services buying or reviewing telecare.
What to do differently: Use the document for your actual system type. These are non-statutory guidelines; a product claim still needs local acceptance evidence.
Follow the provider explanation →Read the original source ↗Limited continuity after the network milestone
What changed: Openreach confirmed the 31 January closure and set out temporary emergency voice and eligible broadband safeguards.
Who is affected: Services with remaining PSTN-dependent lines, including some business connections.
What to do differently: Confirm your provider’s migration plan. EVAc cannot be reserved and does not establish telecare compatibility.
Follow the provider explanation →Read the original source ↗Telecare safeguards and a November review point
What changed: Ofcom secured BT process improvements. Its statement said final changes were expected by the end of November.
Who is affected: Telecare users and organisations coordinating relevant BT migrations.
What to do differently: Confirm local checks and fault escalation. This was not a finding of breach; completion of the final measures remains a later verification question.
Follow the provider explanation →Read the original source ↗03 / Go deeper when you need to
Independent investigations, connected to the next decision.
Why knowing the switchover deadline does not settle the next decision
Published research suggests that the barrier is not simply getting the message out. For many housing and support organisations, the harder part is choosing confidently, with enough time and the right expertise.
Read the investigation →What documented provider experiences teach us about digital migration
The government has published examples of housing organisations taking different routes through grouped living telecare migration. Their common lesson is not a particular product. It is the importance of understanding the people, the building and the whole response.
Read the investigation →A one-hour phone backup is only part of the care continuity question
Ofcom's emergency-calling protection is important, but it is often confused with resilience for the wider network of alarms, routers and care systems. Providers need a service-specific answer.
Read the investigation →Different services, different responsibilities
Guidance that begins with your care setting.
Care homes and nursing services
Start with the systems your service owns: telephone lines, resident calls and any linked building equipment. Include night-shift response and competent care, estates and safety leads.
Homecare and supported living
You may depend on equipment owned by a council, landlord or family. Clarify the provider, permission to discuss it and how your care team hears about a change.
Grouped housing and multi-site services
Map each building’s actual alarm and receiving arrangements. Identify common suppliers without assuming every site has the same installation or responsibilities.
04 / One continuing record
You do not need five new forms.
Keep one short record of what the system does, who is responsible, what is confirmed, what is awaiting evidence and when it will be checked again. Begin with one building or one essential service.
Download the editable readiness record ↓“What do we know,
who can confirm it,
and what happens next?”
05 / Questions, answered without jargon
Make the next step clearer.
Does every care home need to buy a new telephone system?
Not necessarily. The right answer depends on the services and equipment used and the migration plans of the relevant providers. Your communications and equipment suppliers should confirm the actual position.
Is this only about care homes?
No. Relevant services include residential care, supported living, sheltered or extra-care housing, retirement schemes, domiciliary care and other organisations relying on telecare. Their roles and equipment differ. The substantial national grouped-alarm findings relate especially to housing schemes, not all care homes.
We have fibre. Does that mean we are ready?
It may be an important part of the solution, but it does not prove that a separate alarm line, lift phone or building system has been identified and tested. Start with the actual care activity and who owns each part.
Will everything digital stop during a power cut?
No universal answer is possible. Some systems have batteries, independent connectivity or an agreed fallback; others depend on powered network equipment. Ask about the complete service, not only the phone handset.
Can our existing analogue alarm work on a digital connection?
Some transitional arrangements exist, but reliability depends on the particular device, signalling, network and alarm receiving centre. Government guidance favours fully digital solutions in the longer term and emphasises testing and monitoring of interim measures. S01
Is the Ofcom one-hour backup a rule for our care alarms?
No. Ofcom's emergency-calling guidance applies to relevant voice service customers in a power cut. Care alarm and network continuity need their own assessment. S06
Who should I contact if we do not know where to begin?
Start with the company that supplies the telephone or connectivity service, and identify the alarm provider or building-system owner. You can also ask Care Circle an editorial question or request an introduction to an appropriately scoped specialist. Neither route replaces your urgent fault or emergency arrangements.
Is this programme independent if a telecoms company supports it?
Yes. Any nominated commercial partnership will be identified. Care Circle retains editorial decisions, source standards and the right to question or correct any technical claim. A request for help is shared with a specialist only with an appropriate, explicit permission and transparent explanation of the recipient.
A question is a useful place to begin
Would it help to talk this through?
You can ask even if you are not sure. Choose the route that fits what you need.
Ask Care Circle a question
Tell our editorial team what is unclear. Your question stays with Care Circle and may help us improve the guidance.
Ask the editorial team →Request specialist support
Explain your situation and the assistance you need. We identify any proposed specialist and ask for your permission before sharing details.
Request specialist support →No nominated telecoms partner has yet been appointed. These routes are not monitored for emergencies or live faults. If an essential alarm or communication route is failing, use your service’s urgent arrangements and contact the relevant supplier or alarm receiving centre.
How the story developed: our earlier investigations
The continuing story
How our reporting brought us here.
January is approaching: will every care connection still work?
Digital telecare now has a procurement test
The phone migration is progressing. Can your care service prove it is ready?
Digital continuity: can the care service depend on its systems?
When care systems fail, who tells whom?
Care runs around the clock. Does your IT contract?
How we report this programme.
We distinguish verified official information, documented experience and our practical interpretation. A new announcement becomes a new requirement only where its source supports that conclusion. Original publication dates remain visible when later evidence adds to the story.
The programme is independent. No nominated telecoms partner has yet been appointed. Readers can use every chapter and resource freely.
Read the sources, their limits and our editorial method →