Put the right people around the question

One of the less visible challenges of the digital switchover is the number of organisations involved. Your business telecoms supplier may provide the line. An alarm company may provide the device. An alarm receiving centre may handle alerts. A landlord may own the building equipment. Your own staff may be responsible for responding when help is requested.

No one should expect a care manager to resolve all these engineering questions alone. The manager does need to know whom to contact and which answer has been confirmed.

Understand: different responsibilities, one care outcome

A communications provider should explain what is happening to the line it supplies. An alarm manufacturer or telecare integrator should explain equipment compatibility. An ARC should confirm how alerts are received and interpreted. A landlord or estates team must consider its building systems and associated responsibilities. The care service needs arrangements that allow staff to act on relevant information and follow the agreed escalation process.

Ofcom's consumer rules and the voluntary PSTN charters provide specific safeguards for vulnerable customers and telecare users. They do not mean that a care provider can assume its telecoms company already knows about every relevant line or that every separate supplier has tested the entire route. DHSC's October guidance specifically asks housing providers to notify communications providers of grouped scheme telecare lines and participate in appropriate data sharing where relevant. ^{S01 S03 S06}

What providers are reporting

The LGA's survey of councils found uneven data sharing and gaps in the ability to establish whether telecare users had been matched to communications providers. The survey is about councils, not a representative measurement of all care providers. Separately, a February 2026 TSA-hosted interview with Onward Homes described navigating several supplier systems, funding choices and uncertainty about long-term technology. These are useful insights into the work around the device, not proof that any named care home has the same problem. ^{S07 S11}

One useful action

Arrange one short conversation with the people already responsible. You do not need a new committee. Ask each participant to answer one question: 'What do you own, what can you confirm, and what do you need from us?'

Record the answer as confirmed with evidence, action agreed, awaiting confirmation or not applicable. Do not replace a missing answer with an assumption.

A helpful first message

'We are reviewing our care-related phone and alarm arrangements ahead of the digital switchover. Could you confirm which services at [site] you are responsible for, whether they are affected, what action is planned and who will provide evidence that the full alert and response process works afterwards? Please also identify any other supplier we need to involve.'

When the answer crosses a boundary

If one organisation says another supplier must confirm the equipment, ask them to name that organisation and the specific question. A useful escalation route is more valuable than a generic reassurance. If responsibilities remain disputed or safety is in doubt, use the relevant contractual, commissioning and safety escalation arrangements.

Keep this one record

One accountable internal owner, one contact for each supplier, one agreed next action and a date for follow-up. The separate supplier conversation sheet in our resource pack uses these same fields.

Connected reporting