Digital telecare is fast becoming the industry standard, offering significant benefits over traditional telecare technology for both housing providers and the people you support. This guide is part of our series ‘Managing the Transition to Digital Telecare’, and looks at how to plan a successful digital telecare project and procure a solution that meets both your organisation’s and your customers’ requirements.
There has been a growing appetite for digital telecare over the past few years, with a number of factors coming together to boost the adoption of this as the new industry standard.
There is the fact that digital technology offers much greater functionality, is more reliable and can integrate with other services to broaden your customer offering.
Alongside this, customers’ expectations have changed as we have all become much more technology-savvy, while the thinking around the future of care and housing has created a new set of best practice guidelines and requirements for housing providers. And, of course, the ongoing changes to the telecoms network in the UK have a huge significance for the safety of our telecare services.
It is clear to see why digital telecare makes business sense for housing providers.
But the sheer scope of digital can also make the practicalities of the transition seem more challenging.
Once you have the green light to go ahead with a digital telecare project, what does the planning and procurement process actually look like?
In this guide, we look at how you can engage your customers with digital technology, covering:
– Getting started – the key areas to consider
– Defining your objectives, identifying key stakeholders and creating a project plan
– The procurement process
– Considering your options – what’s available?
– Choosing a supplier
– Evaluating different digital solutions – asking the right questions
– Future proofing
Part 1: Researching and planning your digital telecare project
Your telecare services are a vital part of your customer offering and have likely been in place for many years. Moving to digital telecare is more than simply swapping your equipment and systems – or, at least, it should be.
The most successful projects embrace the potential digital offers to redraw your telecare services and align these with your organisation’s wider goals.
It’s therefore crucial to allow time during the research and planning phase of your digital telecare project to assess your requirements, explore your options and create a project plan.
“Moving from analogue to digital TEC should be about more than just replacing existing technology on a like-for-like basis… A more fundamental redesign of the TEC offer has the potential to transform health and care services across the UK to the benefit of those people who rely on them.” TSA, Digital Shift: The Key Issues
Getting started – the key areas to consider
We know from speaking to many housing providers that the challenge is often understanding where to begin with your digital telecare project. These questions give you a useful starting point to help pinpoint your requirements.
What will the project cover?
Digital telecare encompasses several elements which all need to work together, so it’s important to have a good understanding of what this actually means. You may be looking for a solution that covers all of these elements or you may be dealing with them separately. Either way, you need to be aware of how they connect with each other and the implications this has for your requirements.
What systems and equipment do you have currently?
Make sure you know what telecare equipment you have in place now. Create an asset register with details such as the manufacturers, the versions of the equipment, the age, what they do. This gives you a better picture of your current system(s) and is also useful information to pass on to your supplier.
What is your budget?
This will obviously determine the options open to you. You’re unlikely to be updating everything all at once, so use your asset register to identify what needs addressing first.
What is your highest risk equipment?
This is generally going to be the oldest equipment or the equipment that requires the most maintenance. However, it could be determined by the protocols (i.e. set of rules or ‘language’) that equipment utilises to communicate, and whether these are experiencing a significant failure rate in your region. Also look at any equipment that is currently using SIM cards to connect to the mobile network.
Who will take ownership of the project?
Your digital telecare project will span several departments so these should all be represented in your project team – for example, this may include people from your procurement, services, IT and communications teams.
“It needs a bigger team of people than you may think. Senior management must understand and support the project, and a project team with a wide range of practical and technical expertise is required to ensure identification of any key project risks and to maximise the benefits of digital telecare.” East Renfrewshire Council Case Study, Digital Telecare Playbook
Your objectives – what do you want to achieve with digital telecare?
Being clear about your objectives will help you identify the right solution to meet your needs both now and in the future.
The safety of your telecare services is undoubtedly a key driver. With work well underway to switch our telecoms network from analogue to digital, housing providers may be feeling a sense of urgency to make the move to digital before their telecare services are compromised.
Despite this, it’s important to take a step back and consider what else you want to achieve before committing to a solution.
You may want to:
– Make sure your existing and future telecare equipment can work together
– Help your customers feel more connected and reduce isolation
– Provide better personal and building security
– Increase staff efficiency and reduce operational costs
– Enable integration with other digital systems across your organisation
– Meet your customers’ expectations and improve digital inclusion at your properties
Factor in your long-term plans. Consider where your digital telecare project can tie in with these to help you better support your customers and manage your organisation. This is all part of a bigger picture but should be considered even if the immediate drive for digital is to guard against the analogue switch off.
Of course, you also need to recognise the immediate practicalities and consider what you need to deal with first and foremost.
Keep in mind that your digital transformation can be a multi-stage process. You may not be in a position to do everything at once, but these initial decisions will affect your ability to continue this transformation later down the line.
Identifying your key stakeholders
Your stakeholders are a central part of your digital telecare project, so you need to make sure that you know who they are and how to involve them.
As the end users of your telecare services, your customers are perhaps THE key stakeholders. Collaborate with them during the research and planning phase to make sure you fully understand what they require. You will also need to raise their awareness and confidence with digital technology and provide hands-on training.
For more information on involving your customers in the project, see our guide Managing the Transition to Digital Telecare: How to Engage Your Customers.
Your staff form another important stakeholder group, so think about how you can bring them on board and harness their experience of working with your customers. You will also need to provide training so that they can support your customers and make the most of the new systems in their day-to-day roles.
For more information on involving your staff in the project, see our guide Managing the Transition to Digital Telecare: Engaging Your Staff with the Technology.
Creating a project plan
Once you have gathered information on your requirements, objectives, stakeholders and budget, you can then pull this together into your project plan.
This should also consider how you can:
Adopt best practice and follow the latest guidance
The TEC in Housing Charter includes seven pledges that highlight best practice when designing TEC-enabled services such as digital telecare, acting as a useful framework as you plan your project. Find links to other best practice resources at the end of this guide.
Learn from others on the journey
– There are many case studies from other housing and care providers who have already transitioned to digital telecare and it is useful to see the challenges and advice from similar organisations. Find links to case studies at the end of this guide.
Build in engagement with key stakeholders
– You will need to create an engagement programme and communications strategy to run alongside the technical aspects of your digital telecare project. Include key elements of this within your project timeline.
Be aware of relevant legal requirements
– For example, you may need to carry out a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) or issue a Section 20 (S20) notice of the installation works. Make sure you include these within your project plan at the appropriate points.
You will also want to create a project roadmap and timeline as part of your overall project plan to ensure you have covered all necessary elements and set out what you need to do at different points in the project. This simple roadmap is a useful starting point, with five key stages for your digital telecare project: define the baseline; plan, engage and commit; develop, test and evaluate; implement and scale; embed and exploit.
Part 2: The procurement process
Having completed the research and planning stages of the project, you will be ready to start the procurement process.
It’s important to recognise that finding the right digital solution will require a different approach to your procurement of analogue telecare equipment, which could be viewed in isolation and was likely part of a well-established system.
You may be using a tender process to invite bids from multiple suppliers or speaking directly to the sales teams at different suppliers. Either way, make sure you have prepared for the procurement process by considering the areas in the first section of this guide.
Create a procurement specification that:
– Makes your objectives and requirements clear
– Shows which elements are essential vs desirable – this will help when prioritising your budget
– Specifies your timeframes
– Outlines the legislation any solution must adhere to Unless your Procurement Manager is a technology specialist, you may need to include others across the organisation in a procurement team, such as your Head of Services or Assets.
Considering your options – what’s available?
Your digital telecare service is made up of multiple parts, combining the following elements:
– The alarms and devices carried by your customers or used in your properties. These are often referred to as peripherals and include wearable devices such as pendants and bracelets, or sensors such as fall detectors.
– The base unit, which sits in your customers’ home and acts as a hub for receiving signals from the peripheral devices. You may also see this referred to as a Dispersed Alarm Unit (DAU). In shared properties, where telecare services are provided to many residents, these are known as a hardwired/grouped scheme alarm, with the individual units routed through a central communications room, which then connects to the monitoring centre.
– The monitoring centre, sometimes referred to as the alarm receiving centre (ARC). This generally operates 24/7 and receives the calls from the base unit, with an operator able to speak to the person who has triggered the alarm and arrange the appropriate response.
An end-to-end digital telecare solution incorporates all elements of your telecare services. The advantage of this is that you will be dealing with one supplier and can feel confident that all parts of the system are fully digital and work together.
However, you may also deal with each aspect separately. This could be because you are taking a phased approach due to budget/timings or because you are dealing with multiple suppliers. In this case, you will need to make sure the different parts of your telecare system will be able to connect to each other and that the project covers everything that you need. Your procurement specification should reflect this and separate your requirements for each element.
A note of caution: while there are organisations offering hybrid solutions that convert analogue equipment to work on a digital network, this can be problematic. There hasn’t yet been enough live testing to be sure converted equipment will work correctly and there are potential issues around reliability and compatibility.
Choosing a supplier
Digital telecare can be complex, incorporating several elements. It’s therefore important that you choose a supplier that has specific industry experience to ensure their products do everything they need to.
Look for established, reputable suppliers
Ask how long they have been producing digital telecare solutions and request evidence, such as case studies, to show they have delivered successful projects.
Think about who you want to work with
Do you want an organisation who simply supplies digital products, or do you want a partner on your digital journey? An experienced supplier will start with the outcomes rather than assuming it’s just a matter of replacing one device with another.
Checking potential suppliers have conducted adequate testing on their equipment
BT has created a Digital Services Lab to replicate the ongoing changes to the network so your supplier should have visited to check their products. Ask to see evidence that their equipment worked properly in this environment.
Evaluating different digital solutions – asking the right questions
When choosing a supplier, you need to make sure that their digital telecare products will meet your requirements.
The following questions can be used as part of a checklist so you can be confident essential elements have been covered.
1. Safety and reliability of the equipment – does this meet the relevant standards?
Your telecare systems should conform to the latest safety standards, which ensure certain safeguards are in place so you can trust the equipment will work when needed.
Governed by the British Standards Institute (BSI) in the UK, the main series of standards for digital telecare are BS EN 50134, which relate to social alarm systems. These cover safety aspects such as the base unit and how this works, trigger devices, and requirements relating to power sources.
One important element of these safety standards is the provision of a back-up battery that means the telecare equipment will continue to work in the event of a local power failure. This battery life can vary from a few hours to 24 hours but obviously the longer this lasts, the better.
Telecare equipment in a scheme should also be permanently hardwired. It’s worth noting that some new products are portable; while this may seem more convenient, these products don’t actually meet this safety standard.
– Ask suppliers if their systems meet the British safety standards.
2. Compatibility – does the equipment ‘talk’ to the monitoring centre?
Your digital telecare system includes a main base unit that lives in your customers’ home. This then connects to a monitoring centre using what is known as a digital protocol – essentially the language or set of rules that digital systems use to communicate with each other.
There are actually two standard digital protocols relating to digital telecare, but your monitoring centre may only support one of these. If this is the case, you will only be able to operate telecare equipment that uses that same digital protocol.
– Ask whether the base units can use both digital protocols and/or if they are compatible with your existing devices, as this can give you the flexibility to focus on replacing the base units first, rather than upgrading everything at once. You should also check that the monitoring centre is fully digital.
3. Interoperability – will the systems and equipment work with those from other suppliers?
While analogue telecare systems can exist in isolation, the beauty of digital is that systems can operate together, offering a more joined-up solution. However, this isn’t automatically the case! Some digital telecare equipment will only work with other equipment from the same supplier, which can effectively lock you in to dealing with that one supplier for all elements of your digital telecare services.
– Check with suppliers whether their main unit will work with equipment from other suppliers. This means that you can use devices such as alarm pendants from Supplier X along with your main unit from Supplier Y, giving you more flexibility and a wider choice.
4. Security – how is the data handled?
Cyber security is a major consideration in today’s world and you need to make sure your telecare systems are not vulnerable. Some digital telecare systems have the relevant security built in while others will need your IT department to manage this. It’s also useful to consider what data you need to use within the organisation, how this is collated and how you can piece this together with other information.
– Ask how the data is handled and check what encryption levels are used.
5. Maintenance – how will you manage your telecare systems?
This is useful to know as you can then factor in the day-to-day practicalities.
– Ask how the equipment will be monitored and whether maintenance can be carried out remotely for certain issues.
6. Connectivity – how does the equipment send information?
It’s important to understand how your digital telecare equipment will connect with the monitoring centre. When considering Dispersed Alarm Units, there should be a minimum of two communications channels, such as broadband and the mobile network. You will also need to factor in any associated costs; for example, with use of SIM cards in devices.
– Check that the equipment supports Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to connect via broadband. There can be significant costs involved if you’re unable to utilise this, as the digital devices will use SIM cards instead and work over the mobile network with the associated charges.
– Make sure that devices are 4G compatible (and that they can fall back to use 2G). 4G capability is the standard, with UK mobile network providers switching off their 3G networks off over the next couple of years. 2G is likely to stay active for a while yet, as many industries still rely on this, particularly in rural areas.
– Ask if SIM charges are fixed so you can ensure costs are predictable and will not escalate.
A note on future proofing
Check whether your new digital telecare systems will be able to integrate with other digital systems in the future. This gives you the scope to create a much more powerful solution for your customers and your organisation; for example, by linking to your other IT systems or Technology Enabled Care (TEC) services to provide joined-up support and information.
Future innovation is part of the bigger picture and, depending on your budget and timescales, may well not be a priority right now. However, it’s important to lay the right foundations so you can keep up with the pace of technology and build in the flexibility to adapt your systems to meet those future requirements.
“You have to think big… There is the key date (of 2025), but at the same time you’ve got to think about what your service will be like in year 3, year 5, year 10, because you’re laying the groundwork for that now.” Stuart Harper, Head of Innovation and Technology, Central & Cecil
Translating the tech talk!
Technology often comes with its own language and digital telecare is no exception. There are a number of different terms used to describe telecare, as well as a potentially bewildering array of acronyms relating to digital technology.
This can make it a challenge to understand what different suppliers are referring to.
It’s useful to familiarise yourself with the terminology – have a look at our Glossary of Telecare Terms and the items within the ‘Useful Resources’ section at the end of this guide to help with this.
But also, don’t be afraid to ask suppliers to explain technical details and requirements in plain English, rather than blinding you with jargon!
The Appello approach – how we help you transition to digital telecare
We’ve been creating and delivering digital telecare for a long time now, so you can feel confident that we have all the essentials covered while also providing innovative and comprehensive solutions.
– Flexible products that can provide an end-to-end solution or operate with equipment from other suppliers
We want our customers to choose us because we offer the best products and services, not because we lock you in! While we are able to take care of all your digital telecare requirements, interoperability is also a priority for us and we use open standards in our solutions to enable this.
– Peace of mind that our products meet UK safety standards and best practice guidelines
Uniquely, with two team members on the British standards committees, we have an in-depth knowledge of what these standards mean and how they translate practically into our products. We know the importance these standards deliver in ensuring that safety of customers and the reputation of those providing these services.
– Confidence that our products are compatible with digital networks
We have built in support for both the digital protocols used for digital telecare services in our solutions and have tested our equipment at the BT Digital Services Lab, with the results independently verified.
– Comprehensive support in plain English at all stages of your project
We are on hand to talk you through the key elements of your project and have a tried and tested framework for the installation process, with clear communication to minimise disruption. You can log queries with our support desk and we have created a number of resources to help your staff and customers.
– A track record of successful digital telecare projects
Having developed the UK’s first fully digital telecare solution, we have supported many housing and care providers to transition to digital services, and thousands of individuals rely on our digital solutions daily.
Planning and procuring digital telecare – the key takeaways
– Moving to digital telecare is about more than a ‘like-for-like’ swap of technology and the most successful projects look at how digital can improve your customers’ experience as well as integrate with your organisation’s wider goals.
– Key questions to ask at the outset include what will the project cover, what do you already have in place, who will own the project, and what do you want the project to achieve?
– Your project plan should draw all of this together and provide a roadmap to keep you on track, while the procurement process will build on the research and planning phases of the project to create a clear specification.
– With many different digital solutions available, it’s important to evaluate these against a checklist of key criteria as well as your own requirements. Consider your options alongside your budget and choose your supplier carefully.
– Make sure that you are laying the right foundations with a digital telecare system that is ‘future proof’ and that you can build on to provide integrated services and information.
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