This month, our Business Development Executive, James Ashcroft, joined industry leaders at Housing LIN's inaugural TAPPI Hour webinar to discuss how housing providers can use the analogue to digital switchover as a catalyst for delivering better, more connected later living services.
The session demonstrated Everon's ongoing commitment to supporting housing providers through digital transformation by not just replacing legacy technology, but by helping organisations create safer, more resilient and resident-centred environments that are fit for the future.
While the January 2027 deadline is drawing closer, the conversation is increasingly shifting away from compliance and towards opportunity. The analogue to digital switchover should be seen as more than an infrastructure upgrade; it presents a chance to rethink how technology supports residents, empowers staff and enables more proactive approaches to care.
So, where should housing providers focus their attention?
Too often, digital transformation begins with specifications and equipment. Instead, housing providers should begin by defining the outcomes they want to achieve.
Whether that's improving resident safety, supporting independent living or enabling staff to respond more effectively, technology should be selected to support those goals and not the other way around.
By designing services around residents' needs first, organisations can ensure digital investment delivers lasting value beyond compliance.
Moving to digital provides an opportunity to create connected, interoperable environments that are capable of evolving as resident needs change.
Fully digital, cloud-based platforms provide greater visibility across schemes, improve resilience and enable information to be shared more effectively between housing teams, carers and alarm receiving centres.
Rather than simply responding when an alarm is raised, providers can begin using data to identify patterns, recognise early indicators of risk and make more informed decisions before situations escalate.
Importantly, this isn't about replacing the human element of care. It's about giving staff better information and greater confidence to deliver the right support at the right time.
Digital transformation shouldn't be something that's done to residents or frontline teams; it should be developed with them.
At Everon, this principle is reflected in our partnership with East Kent College, where students test products in realistic care environments and provide valuable feedback that helps shape future innovation.
Similarly, our work with Home Group and Progress Housing Group demonstrates the value of designing solutions around real operational needs. Both organisations recognised the importance of creating fully digital platforms that not only support today's requirements but also provide a foundation for future service development.
The digital switchover is the beginning of a new chapter, not just the finish line for advancing standards.
Providers that invest in flexible, standards-based digital platforms today will be better positioned to adapt as resident expectations, workforce pressures and care requirements continue to evolve.
By focusing on collaboration, co-design and data-driven insight, housing organisations can move beyond simply replacing legacy systems and begin building safer, more connected and more proactive environments for the future.
At Everon, we work with housing providers to design fully digital, cloud-based solutions that support resident safety, operational resilience and proactive care.
Get in touch with our team to learn how we can help you build a future-ready digital here: everon.net/contact-support/
We're delighted to announce a new partnership with national housing association Home Group, which will see Everon Group deliver a fully digital telecare equipment upgrade for the majority of its sheltered housing schemes.
Work will begin imminently, with Everon Group's UK division responsible for completing the contract, which will run until 2029. This digital upgrade will ensure that Home Group's technology is not only fully compliant ahead of the analogue-to-digital switchover scheduled for January 2027, but also aligns with its long-term plans for service design and delivery.
As part of the programme, Everon Group will supply and install digital telecare hubs, providing Home Group with a robust, cloud-based solution designed specifically for independent living environments.
As a cloud-based wireless solution, the system operates using a mesh network that continuously monitors signals from the telecare units installed in each home and the communal areas of the scheme. Tenants can wear a pendant or wristwatch that sends an alert signal when pressed, either to Home Group’s Alarm Receiving Centre or to the independent living coordinator when present on-site, enabling them to communicate or get help if it’s needed.
By moving to Everon's digital platform, Home Group will also benefit from enhanced monitoring capabilities, providing greater visibility across its schemes and enabling the earlier identification of potential incidents, such as falls. This supports a more proactive, preventative approach to resident safety and wellbeing.
Peter Kerly, Managing Director at Everon Group UK, says: “We’re proud to be partnering on this contract with Home Group - one of the UK’s largest housing associations. We look forward to working with the team to enhance tenants’ quality of life as well as bolster Home Group’s digital systems ahead of the analogue switch off, due early next year.
“We'll be providing Home Group with 3,500 of our digital hubs to ensure digital readiness and ongoing resilience for alarm systems. Everon’s vision is centred on building scalable, interoperable digital solutions that align with long-term public sector needs.”
Andy Hall, Regional Director at Home Group, says: “We are pleased to have agreed this contract with Everon to deliver upgrades to our sheltered housing schemes.
“It is very important to us that our customers can continue to live independently in their homes, while remaining safe and able to alert us if they need assistance. Technology like this helps us ensure we have robust systems in place and improves our customers’ quality of life.”
With the analogue to digital switchover only a few months away, housing associations are entering a critical phase. What was once considered a long-term infrastructure upgrade is now an immediate operational priority, with real implications for resident safety, service continuity and future care delivery.
The UK’s transition from analogue to digital networks will be completed by January 2027, impacting millions of homes and services across the country. For housing providers, particularly those supporting older and vulnerable residents, the question is no longer if they need to act, but rather how quickly and effectively they can prepare.
So, what does “readiness” actually look like? Our Managing Director, Peter Kerly, shares his advice on how housing and care providers can prepare for the upcoming changes.
Understanding which residents rely on analogue services, and what systems are already in place, is the foundation of a safe transition. Without this visibility, it becomes difficult to identify risk and prioritise action to ensure no one is overlooked in the transition. Digital platforms that centralise data and provide real-time oversight can play a critical role here, helping providers move from fragmented information to a clear, actionable view of their estate. For many residents, telecare systems are essential to their safety and wellbeing. Any disruption could have serious consequences.
Providers must take proactive steps to identify those at risk and ensure appropriate support is in place throughout the transition. This is where more advanced, insight-led solutions can add real value by combining monitoring, data and alerts to support faster, more informed responses when it matters most.
The move to digital is not always straightforward. Compatibility, connectivity and power dependency can all impact performance. Testing systems end-to-end and putting contingency plans in place is essential to maintaining continuity of service. Our Everon products are unique in that they are all cloud-based, designed with resilience in mind and don’t require expensive renovations to fit into existing buildings or infrastructure , which puts us as the leader in the conversation of enabling more reliable, scalable service delivery.
Communication is key to a smooth transition. Keeping residents informed and supported helps to build trust and reduce uncertainty about the introduction of new technology. Alongside this, adopting new digital solutions, such as discreet monitoring technologies like Night Owl, can help demonstrate the benefits of the transition, providing reassurance while enhancing safety and visibility without compromising privacy.
While meeting the switchover deadline is critical, it should not be treated as a tick-box exercise. The transition to digital presents a much broader opportunity to future-proof systems and build more sustainable models of care. Digitally connected solutions enable greater visibility, real-time insight and more proactive approaches to support. By combining technologies such as remote monitoring, mobile alerts and AI-driven insight, housing providers can move beyond reactive models and towards more preventative, resilient services.
Taking a longer-term view means investing in systems that are not only fit for the switchover, but adaptable, scalable and capable of evolving alongside changing resident needs. In doing so, providers can create environments that support both operational efficiency and the long-term wellbeing of residents.
The analogue to digital switchover is more than a technical upgrade, it’s a shift in how care and support can be delivered. With the deadline fast approaching, the focus must now be on taking practical steps to reduce risk, protect residents and ensure systems are fit for the future.
Want to understand how prepared you are? At Everon, we support housing providers at every stage of the digital transition, from auditing existing systems through to delivering fully digital, insight-led solutions.
Get in touch to find out how we can support your journey to the switchover today.
We take great pride in shining a spotlight on the incredible team that contributes to our company's success and makes a meaningful difference to the industry.
This month, we caught up with Richard Hosier, Group Product Owner for Everon Group.
With nearly two decades of industry experience, he has been instrumental in the migration of many clients from analogue equipment to digital solutions as we approach the digital switchover in January 2027.
Honestly? I fell into it- as many of the best careers seem to go!
As a young lad, I joined my local authority's alarm service, working my way through roles as an installer, alarm centre operator, assessor, team lead and more over about six years.
From there, I was approached by a manufacturer, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Decades later, what still drives me is simple: the tangible difference this industry makes to people's lives. That’s what led me to Everon. The business offers a genuinely exciting opportunity to make a real difference to people.
The talent in our solutions, development and R&D teams is exceptional, the ideas we have for how technology can help people are genuinely inspiring and I’m proud to be a part of such an innovative and impactful team.
Our use of AI to work smarter is already making a real difference and where we can take this next is something I find incredibly exciting.
I'm the Group Product Owner for Everon's product solutions spanning legacy, current and next-generation solutions, the products that sit inside a person's home.
My role covers everything from the look and feel of the devices through to specifying the features and functions we offer and continually finding ways to improve.
What excites me most is what's coming. The preventative and proactive monitoring capabilities we're developing will genuinely and meaningfully improve outcomes for the service users and patients who rely on us every day. That's not a small thing, and it's a privilege to be part of designing it.
This one means a lot to me. As Group Product Owner across multiple markets, a huge part of my responsibility is staying ahead of the constantly shifting infrastructure landscape, network degradation, analogue switch-off, operator sunset dates and building strategies to ensure our connected service users are never left without support.
I'm particularly proud that through careful planning and execution, across multiple operators and multiple countries, we navigated every single sunset date so far without one service user losing connection to their alarm receiving centre, carers or support staff. When you consider what that connection means to the people depending on it, that's one result I'm very proud of.
I've been happily married for 27 years and have two children - though I use that term (children, not happily) loosely these days! My son is 21 and got married in May 2025 and my daughter is nearly 20.
Life is very much in a new chapter. After years of being the "needed dad," I'm adjusting to an empty nest, a house move on the horizon, and the exciting, if slightly daunting, prospect of rediscovering hobbies. Watch this space!
Interested in joining our team? Please see our live vacancies here: https://everon-group.careers.haileyhr.app/
