Technology enabled care is moving from a specialist service to something almost every housing provider and council has to buy, replace or commission. This page explains what the term covers, what public buyers are asking for right now, and where to start. It links to three practical guides on equipment, digital warden call and falls prevention services.
Key points
- Technology enabled care (TEC) covers alarms, sensors, monitoring and the services that respond to them.
- Recent public notices show demand in three areas: equipment frameworks, digital warden call replacement and falls prevention services.
- The digital phone switchover, due to complete by January 2027, puts analogue alarm equipment at risk.
- Plan from outcomes and response first, then choose equipment.
What is technology enabled care?
Technology enabled care, usually shortened to TEC, is the use of alarms, sensors and monitoring services to help people live independently and safely, and to help the people supporting them respond when something goes wrong. You will also see TECS, for Technology Enabled Care and Support, and TECC, for Technology Enabled Community Care. All three describe the same family of equipment and services. Telecare is the monitored alarm part of it: a device in the home or scheme that raises a call, and a person or monitoring centre that answers.
What are housing providers, councils and the NHS buying?
Public buyers describe their needs in published notices, and five recent ones show the range. We mention them as public evidence of demand. Altus is not named in any of them.
| Buyer | What the notice covers | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| Progress Housing Group | A framework for TECS equipment and services: personal alarms, falls detectors, environmental sensors, location devices, telecare hubs, medication reminders and activity monitoring | Equipment |
| NHS Supply Chain | A TECC framework: communication aids, environmental controls, mounting devices, patient alarms, sensors and lone worker safety | Equipment |
| Your Housing Group | Digital warden call equipment to replace analogue systems after the digital switchover | Warden call |
| West Sussex County Council | A falls prevention service delivering FaME exercise programmes for people aged 65 and over | Falls services |
| London Borough of Ealing | A healthy ageing and falls prevention service for residents aged 50 and over | Falls services |
Three themes run through them: equipment in people’s homes, alarm systems in grouped housing schemes, and services that prevent falls before any alarm is needed. Each has its own guide below.
What equipment counts as technology enabled care?
The Progress Housing Group notice gives a useful working list: personal alarms, falls detectors, environmental sensors for smoke, flood and carbon monoxide, GPS tracking devices, telecare hubs, medication reminder devices and activity monitoring systems, with installation, training, repairs and technical support alongside. The NHS Supply Chain notice widens it to communication aids, environmental controls and lone worker safety.
The hard part is not the list. It is deciding which device addresses which risk for which person, who answers the alert, and how the equipment is installed, tested and replaced. Our telecare equipment buyer’s guide works through each category and the questions to put to suppliers.
Why does the digital switchover matter for telecare and warden call?
The analogue telephone network is being replaced by digital lines. The government’s Telecare National Action Plan says the switchover will be complete for all providers by January 2027, and warns of a risk that some analogue telecare devices will not perform reliably on digital networks. The plan is written for communication providers, local authorities, housing providers, third sector organisations and commercial providers, so landlords and commissioners are expected to act.
Sheltered and extra care schemes are most exposed, because one warden call system may carry alarms for every flat in the building. Our guide to digital warden call systems explains what changes, what the standards say and how to plan a replacement.
Where does falls prevention fit?
A falls detector tells you someone has fallen. It does not stop the fall. Councils are commissioning services that work earlier: strength and balance exercise such as FaME, healthy ageing support, and routes into help. Technology and training sit beside those services. Good data shows where and when falls happen, and trained staff act on it.
Our guide to commissioning a falls prevention service sets out how exercise, technology and training fit together. For care settings, see our fall prevention page and the falls prevention technology buyer’s guide.
How should you plan a technology enabled care programme?
Start from outcomes and work back to equipment. A sound plan answers these in order:
- Who are we supporting, and which risks matter most for them: falls, wandering, fire, flood, missed medication, isolation?
- Who responds to an alert at each hour of the day, and how quickly can they reach the person?
- What do we already own, which of it relies on an analogue line, and when does it reach end of life?
- What must new equipment connect to: the monitoring centre, housing systems, care records, the building network?
- How will we install, test, maintain and replace it, and who holds the evidence?
- How will we know it is working for residents, not only that it is switched on?
Connectivity deserves early attention. Digital alarms depend on broadband, mobile signal and backup power, which makes them part of your IT and network estate. Where alerts come from several systems, our page on connected resident safety explains how they can be brought into one picture.
How can Altus help?
Our role in technology enabled care is advisory. We help housing providers, councils and care organisations set out what they need, turn it into a specification suppliers can answer, and evaluate what comes back. For grouped housing schemes we also supply or manage the move from analogue to digital warden call. For care settings we offer a falls review and CPD-accredited care training. We do not deliver exercise programmes; we work alongside the providers who do.
Technology enabled care planning checklist
- Have we listed every alarm, sensor and warden call system we own, with its age and how it connects?
- Do we know which equipment still depends on an analogue line?
- Is it written down who responds to each type of alert, at each time of day?
- Does every supplier confirm digital compatibility in writing?
- Are broadband, mobile signal and backup power adequate where alarms will rely on them?
- Do we review alert and falls data regularly, and act on what it shows?
- Do staff and residents know how the equipment works and what happens when it is used?
Frequently asked questions
What is technology enabled care?
Technology enabled care, or TEC, is the use of alarms, sensors and monitoring services to help people live independently and safely. It includes personal alarms, falls detectors, environmental sensors, location devices, telecare hubs and activity monitoring, together with the people and processes that respond when an alert is raised.
What is the difference between telecare and technology enabled care?
Telecare is the monitored alarm service: a device raises a call and a person or monitoring centre answers it. Technology enabled care is the wider term. It covers telecare and also activity monitoring, medication reminders, environmental controls, communication aids and the installation, training and support that keep the equipment working.
What do TECS and TECC stand for?
TECS stands for Technology Enabled Care and Support, the term Progress Housing Group uses in its framework notice. TECC stands for Technology Enabled Community Care, the term NHS Supply Chain uses. Both describe the same family of alarms, sensors and assistive devices, bought for people living in their own homes or in housing schemes.
Will telecare equipment work after the digital switchover?
Not always. The government’s Telecare National Action Plan warns of a risk that some analogue telecare devices will not perform reliably on digital networks. Ask each supplier to confirm in writing how its equipment works on a digital line, and test every device with the monitoring centre after the line is migrated.
Who is responsible for telecare in sheltered housing?
Responsibility is usually shared. The landlord normally owns the warden call system in the building, a monitoring centre answers calls, and a council or the resident may fund individual devices. Write down who owns, maintains, tests and pays for each part, because gaps between those roles are where failures go unnoticed.
If you are planning a technology enabled care programme, replacing warden call or reviewing falls, we can look at your position with you and give clear, practical recommendations. Book a TEC and falls review.