Back in Autumn 2022, Housing LIN and Appello asked how ready the telecare industry was for the digital switch. The short answer at the time: there was a long way to go. The Digital Telecare Briefing was formed and took an honest look at what progress the industry had made in moving to digital services.
With Openreach extending the switchover from December 2025 to January 2027, many organisations have slowed their pace on moving to digital. Therefore, almost two years later, the short answer is still: there is a long way to go for the telecare industry to be ready for the digital switch.
What are the stats?
We have crunched the numbers and predict that there are around 18,000 group schemes yet to move to digital within the UK. Even with the recent switchover deadline extension announced by Openreach, there’s a considerable time pressure to complete such a large number of upgrades.
In the meantime, the rollout of the digital network is ongoing, communication providers are continuing to switchover as we speak. We’re already seeing the effects of this: as more and more of the country is migrated to digital, there’s been a corresponding rise in first time telecare call failures (FTCFs). Appello have been reporting on FTCFs and released a monthly report outlining the average failure rate. In 2024 the FTCF rate averaged 20% across analogue warden call devices.
Alongside schemes not switching to digital, there are over 100 out of the c.176 Alarm Receiving Centres (ARCs) in the UK, still only able to monitor analogue calls.
This is a significant barrier for housing providers planning their move to digital telecare. With a current average of 20 platform upgrades delivered per year, there’s a lot of work needed to bring monitoring centres up to date.
Can analogue to digital converters relieve the pressure?
Perhaps one of the biggest changes since the 2022 briefing is the increase in analogue to digital converters on the market.
Analogue to digital converters offer a way for housing providers to bridge the gap during their transition to digital. These may be a useful stepping stone as part of a wider digital transformation strategy – but there are limitations that make these unsuitable as a long-term solution.
One thing is clear, though: whether you decide to use analogue to digital converters to become digitally ready or implement an end-to-end digital system, doing nothing is not an option.
The uncomfortable truth is the transition to digital telecare is not moving quickly enough.
The challenges highlighted in the 2022 digital briefing are not only relevant today but are heightened as we get ever closer to the analogue switch-off dates, with the added danger of a spike in first time call failures as more areas are moved onto the digital network.
As the TSA warns, any analogue equipment ‘in the field’ has the potential to “bring critical risks to end users”.
It’s vital to start your digital journey today to avoid industry capacity and related issues, minimise the risk of call failures and ensure the safety of your telecare services now and in the future.
Simplifying the switch to digital telecare
Our goal at Appello is to provide all the facts on the digital phone switchover, so you can make decisions with confidence.
Talk to us about your next steps for a pain-free transition to digital telecare. We’ll audit your current system and provide recommendations for cost-effective, future-proof digital telecare solutions that meet your needs.
You can find more details on the issue of first time call failures in our latest guide, which is available to download now
Talk to us to discuss your requirements and find out about our cost-effective and future proof digital solutions.
