It’s just over a year to go until communication providers replace the technology they use to provide fixed telephone networks in the UK. The analogue landline network has provided a vital lifeline for millions of people using personal alarm pendants or buttons for reassurance at time of need.
The switch to digital is set for January 2027. It is focusing the minds of those working in adult social care settings who are still reliant on legacy analogue systems for these telecare devices. The clock is ticking. So how ready are housing associations, care homes and other grouped care settings for the necessary upgrades and investment that will be required?
This article highlights the experience of Clarion Housing, which Everon Group has supported with its digital transformation, and of our colleagues in Finland and Sweden. These are countries which switched off analogue more than a decade ago. It also explains why investing in systems that capture data, trend and insight are the future for person-centred technology enabled care.
Supporting housing associations to go digital
Our partners in the UK such as Clarion Housing, one of the country’s largest housing associations, are well advanced in being digital ready. They manage 125,000 homes and support 350,000 people across the country. We continue to support them with phase one of digital transformation, a cable-free system with central data portal at its heart that is no longer reliant on hard wired cabling or analogue telephone lines. This supports their strategy for a true connected approach to services, using data, trend and insight and is already making a difference to over 7,000 residents.
From conversations with supported housing providers at industry events such as the International Technology Enabled Care Conference (ITEC) there are still a number who have yet to press go on replacing their existing legacy analogue systems. Many have digital transformation strategies in place but have yet to act. There is still time – with no cause for panic, yet - but with just over a year to go the time has arrived to move on from market testing.
Of course, it’s important to make the right decisions. These are big investments that require careful thought. The risk of making the wrong call doesn’t bear thinking about. The government’s policy paper on its Telecare National Action Plan for England published in February 2025 highlights the increasing unreliability of the old analogue landline network. It also states:
“We must avoid a situation where someone’s care line fails during a fall in the middle of the night because nobody made sure it worked properly with new technology.”
We couldn’t agree more.
Learning from our experience in the UK, Finland and Sweden
As a company, we are fortunate to have experience in two countries where digital transformation has been in place for over a decade. Everon Group began in Finland and later expanded to Sweden. Our experience in these markets is helping us to support our UK housing and adult social care partners.
The key learning for all is the impact cloud-based services gathering data, trend and insight can bring. These give providers the capability to increase capacity quickly; allowing them to ramp up and deliver services to meet demand. A key driver is the capability to centralise numerous data sources to create a central source of insight and dashboard trend. We are the biggest, by far, provider of wireless, cloud-based solutions for supported housing in Europe. That’s not something we take for granted and we’re looking forward to sharing more exciting news in the coming months on new products and partnerships. We’re not ones for standing still.
The difference between digital transformation a decade ago and today is how far technology has advanced. That said, cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) is nothing new and are trusted in sectors from banking and energy to travel and parking. While the NHS has created some fantastic apps, not least during the Covid pandemic, there is greater scope now than ever before for the UK to adopt a SaaS approach to meet the ambitions of both government and decision-makers across supported housing and adult social care provision to deliver a prevention led model of care. Technology has a huge contribution to make.
The power of data, trend and insight
Cloud-based services are more robust now than they have ever been with the capability to upgrade and evolve. With the help of advances in machine learning we can analyse data better than ever before and provide care providers with data, trends and insights that will help them to become more efficient, better able to prioritise and, through early intervention, support better outcomes for those in their care.
For those care providers still deciding how to proceed with their digital transformation this should be a key factor when deciding how best to achieve their long-term goals using technology to analyse data, pick our patterns and step in early, where necessary.
It's time to get away from waiting for people to have a fall at home or push their pendant in a crisis. We have the ability now to be able to be proactive not reactive, keeping people out of hospital or residential care for longer and in their own homes. The future is here. Its not about technology, that’s just an enabler and will change, its about data, its about trend and it’s about insight. That will be the key.
Everon Group works directly in the UK with commissioners of grouped or supported housing services – from housing associations to care home networks, local authorities to integrated care boards.
We specialise in cloud-based wireless technology that analyses data to provide insight for early detection of health issues. Everon Group has supported the likes of Clarion Housing, Hyde Housing, Community Housing and Jewish Care, working in continued partnership on the digital transformation of their estates.
To find out more about how Everon Group can support your organisation book a consultation and we’ll be in touch.
