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Drumbeat's avatar
Drumbeat
Dialled in
2 months ago

Telecare Alarm System / Digital Phone Upgrade

Hello,
Yesterday I received a letter from the council that provides a Telecare alarm service to this property. Currently the Telecare alarm works via a Virgin phone socket. 
Yesterday I spoke to a Virgin agent on the phone regarding the digital switchover but, to be honest, I am still unclear about what I should do, or who I should be informing at Virgin about this matter.

The council's letter reads: If your telephone provider contacts you to arrange a digital upgrade, ask them to put a marker on your account to ensure they are aware that you have a Telecare alarm service. Please also request a free charge battery back-up unit from your telephone provider if you currently have a Telecare alarm.

Nobody from Virgin has contacted me yet, but I don't want to leave this until the last minute. How do I make Virgin aware that I have a Telecare alarm system.?

One more thing. The landline is downstairs, the router is upstairs. What happens in this situation? 

I'd be grateful for anyone to help me out with this matter.

Thank you.

Doug. 

4 Replies

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  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    2 months ago

    Modern Telecare / Care Alarm solutions work via a SIM card / mobile network, this means they will function during a power cut and the do incur the cost of an keeping an analogue phone line.

    It is possible to connect the VM Router phone service to internal phone sockets,
    equally it is possible for VM to relocate the VM Hub in your home and the fee for that
    is often only £25.

    Do question what is proposed to be powered by a battery backup, if it is the VM Hub, then there is no guarantee the service from the street cabinet will continue during a power cut.

  • nodrogd's avatar
    nodrogd
    Very Insightful Person
    2 months ago

    VM are moving to a hub based landline service on a rolling area-by-area basis. If you have registered an email address with them they should give you 3 months notice of the final switchover date for your area. This is your opportunity to get any wiring changes or alternative arrangements with Telecare sorted out.

    • Drumbeat's avatar
      Drumbeat
      Dialled in
      2 months ago

      Thank you for explaining this to me.  Appreciated.