Equipment – technical support

Electrical, power and network issues
Your alarm
Your pendant
GO Pendant
Phone lines
Epilepsy bed sensor

Electrical, power and network issues

Testing your equipment

We ask you to test your pendant once a month and tell the operator that you're testing the equipment. This ensures all the equipment is in fully working order and helps get you comfortable using it.

Please also tell them if you or your contacts or responders have changed details.

Network issues video

If, on rare occasions, the Herts Careline service is experiencing network issues, we sometimes find that powering your alarm unit OFF and ON again can help your equipment re-connect to the network. This should ONLY be tried if you have been specifically told to do this by a member of the Herts Careline team, or if this is mentioned on the telephone recording on our office telephone line 0300 999 2 999.

If you do follow these instructions, then it is essential that you make a Test call by pressing the alarm Help button within 24 hours. This ensures that your alarm unit is working correctly and ready to summon help. Failure to make a test call may mean that your alarm base unit and pendant / smart watch are not connected to Herts Careline’s control room.

The video instructions can be found on the Herts Careline YouTube channel.

Batteries – no need to change

Our community alarm and telecare devices regularly send a test to us to make sure all is working OK. We'll contact you if a battery is running low to replace it.

Each battery has a life of 3–5 years.

Please don't tamper with or change any battery yourself.

Pacemakers

Your Doro and Tynetec equipment won't affect your pacemaker. Your Chiptech Eva / SEVEN / GO equipment (white unit, white pendant or blue outdoor pendant) will affect your pacemaker. Please refer to the user guide which comes with your equipment.

Power cuts or if the alarm is unplugged

There's a 24 hour battery back-up in the community alarm base unit so if there's a power cut or you accidentally unplug the unit, you'll still be able to call for help.

If the unit has been unplugged, simply plug it back in.

Once the power is back on, make a test call via your pendant just to make sure all is working OK.

Our digital equipment does not require a telephone landline. However, if yours uses the analogue system and if you unplug the community alarm from the telephone landline, simply plug it back in and it should work again. Again, you should make a test call via your pendant just to make sure all is working OK.

Community alarm is saying "please check your mains power"

This is because the alarm is not receiving power from your power point.

Check that the alarm is plugged into the mains and the switch is on.

The alarm will continue to work using power from the back-up battery until the issue is resolved.

Make sure you make a test call via your pendant just to make sure all is working OK.

Your alarm

Identifying your alarm

Identify your alarm
SEVEN Manufactured by Chiptech	Eliza S Manufactured by Careium/Doro	Care IP Manufactured by Careium/Doro

What do the different lights on my alarm mean?

SEVEN

What do the different lights on the SEVEN alarm mean?

Power button

Green: on
Orange: the mains power is disconnected. Please attempt to reconnect the device.
Red: the battery needs to be replaced. Please contact us on 0300 999 2 999 to organise a replacement.

Connect button

Green: good connection.
Orange: the device is in the process connecting.
Flashing orange: only one of the sim cards is connected.
Flashing red: there is no connection. An alert for help will not work.

Info button

Press the button to hear any messages.

Green: no messages.
Red: a warning message for critical notifications.
Blue: the device needs to be tested by activating the alarm and informing the operator that you are testing.

SEVEN Branded

Eliza S

What do the different lights on the Eliza S alarm mean?

Alarm button

Red: normal operation.
Flashing red: alarm activated.

Power button

Green: mains power connected.
Flashing green: mains power failed.

Exclamation button

Yellow: network problem
Flashing yellow: the battery needs to be replaced. Please contact us on 0300 999 2 999 to organise a replacement.

Eliza S branded

Care IP

What do the different lights on the Care IP alarm mean?

Alarm button

Red: normal operation.
Flashing red: alarm activated.

Power button

Green: mains power connected.

Exclamation button

Red: mains power fault.
Flashing red: unit is running off battery due to mains failure.

Plus button

Red: the battery needs to be replaced. Please contact us on 0300 999 2 999 to organise a replacement.
Red and green: alarm activated.

Doro alarm

How do I activate my alarm?

SEVEN

To raise an alert for help, press either the button or your alarm unit, or press and hold the button on your pendant or fall detector (circled red) for a few seconds until you see your pendant light up and / or you hear your alarm activate. It will automatically dial through to our Control Centre – it will be responded to quickly.

Alarm SEVEN

Eliza S

Care IP

Doro unit and pendants with alarm buttons circled

How do I cancel a call for help?

SEVEN

To cancel a call for help on the SEVEN, press the button with a circle and a cross through it, labelled 'Cancel' below. When a button for help has been pressed, the cancel button will light up orange.

Eliza S

To cancel a call for help on the Eliza S, press the button with a green square on it.

Care IP

To cancel a call for help on the Care IP, press the button with a green square on it.

Your pendant

Testing the pendant - we ask you to test your pendant once a month and tell the operator that you're testing the equipment. This ensures all the equipment is in fully working order and helps get you comfortable using it.
Lost pendant - please contact us so we can give you a replacement pendant. There could be a charge but we can advise you of this first. Contact Herts Careline to arrange.
Signal range - your community alarm pendant should work up to at least 100 metres, in line of sight. It might not work if you have a long garden, for example. It's worth testing before going too far on your own. The technician will also show you the range on the day of installation.
Water resistant - community alarm pendants are water resistant. You can wear your pendant in the bath for up to 30 minutes or in the shower.

Why did my fall detector not trigger?

Some falls, mostly soft falls (controlled descents against a wall or chair) may not be picked up by the fall detector.

If you are able to, always press the button on the pendant to activate the alarm manually to make sure that the alert has gone through.

SEVEN alarm

After a fall alert has gone through, there will be a 15 second period where you can shake the pendant to cancel it. If during this period you move it is likely the fall alert will cancel.

Eliza S alarm and Care IP alarm

After a heavy fall, when the user is lying on the ground with or without activity, the fall detector will vibrate with a blinking LED for 20 seconds before sending an alarm. After a fall, if the user stands up and remains standing for more than 6 seconds, the alarm will automatically be cancelled.

Can I turn down the volume on my alarm?

Not in most cases. The alarm needs to be loud enough so you can hear us clearly even if you are not in the same room as the alarm. This helps to ensure clear communication between you and the call operator in the case of an emergency.

However, in some cases such has having a smaller living space or sensory sensitivities, we can make adjustments. If you think you could be eligible for this please contact us and we can advise.

How do I turn the alarm ON and OFF?

Occasionally a call operator may ask you to turn the alarm unit OFF and ON again to help the equipment to reconnect to the network. This should ONLY be done if you have specifically been asked by member of our team.

The video instructions on how to power each of our community alarms OFF and ON can be found on our YouTube Channel.

Video instructions

Do I need Wi-Fi to have a community alarm and pendant?

No – you do not. The digital alarm systems have their own SIM card and roam off the strongest five mobile networks to ensure a connection. If connection is lost, the control room will be notified automatically and will contact you.

How do I clean my alarm and pendant?

To clean your alarm and pendant use a damp cloth and a non-corrosive, non-abrasive cleaner. Please do not use abrasive or polishing cleaners, or immerse your base unit in liquid or position it in a place where liquids can be spilled on it.

GO Pendant

How to perform a system check on the pendant

Press one button on either side of the pendant to begin a system check. The pendant will flash blue then successfully activated.

The pendant will then check it's battery, cellular connection, and GPS.

Battery: A voice from the pendant will play saying "My battery is..." either "Excellent", "Good" (accompanied by a green light), "Low battery; please place me on the charger today" (accompanied by an orange light), or "Critically low battery; please place me on the charger immediately. An alert will fail." (accompanied by a red light)

Cellular Connection: Your device will then announce; "Checking cellular connection." The GO pendant will check the cellular coverage of your location and then preced to announce "The connection is..." either "Excellent", "Good" (accompanied by a green light), "Poor" (accompanied by an orange light), or "Unavailable" (accompanied by a red light).

GPS Coordinates: If the cellular connection is successful, the pendant will tell you it's "Finding your location". If successful, it will announce "Current location has been sent" and the device will return to normal operation. If unsuccessful, the pendant will announce "Location check unsuccessful" and the device will time out automatically. Although this sends the location of your device, always raise an offical alert on the pendant when you require help.

To cancel a system check, press and hold one button from either side of the pendant.

How do I activate the alarm?

Press and hold both buttons on each side of the pendant at the same time to activate the alarm sequence.

How do I cancel a call for help?

Press and hold either button on the pendant. The pendant will then announce "cancelled" when successfully completed.

How often will I need to charge the pendant?

With regular use, the GO pendant will need to be charged approximately once a month.

The device will notify you when it needs to be charged.

When the battery is low, the device will flash orange and announce "Low battery, please place me on the charger today."

When the battery is critically low, the device will flash red and announce " Critically low battery, please place me on the chrager immediately. An alert may fail."

Phone lines

Changing telephone provider

Changing your phone provider shouldn’t make a difference to your alarm unit. It especially should not make a different if your system uses the digital network (which the majority do) rather than the analogue network.

But do tell your new service provider’s engineer when they arrive at your property that you have a Careline alarm unit

Make a test call via your pendant before the service provider’s engineer leaves your property, just to make sure all is working OK

Please tell us if you change your phone number.

Going on holiday

Don't unplug your alarm unit if you go away.

Let us know when you're going away and we'll note this on your record. Press your pendant when you return home so we know you're back.

Leaving the phone off the hook

If the phone is left off the hook, it will only affect your alarm unit if your alarm unit relies on your landline telephone. However, most alarm units do not use a telephone line anymore.

Numbers on your phone bill

Your system makes calls to the Herts Careline control centre on a local rate number which begins with 03. If you have a digital alarm unit you will not incur a charge.

If the alarm can't call this number, it will use an alternative number with the prefix 01462 (which is charged at your phone provider's local rate, but if you have a digital alarm unit you will not incur a charge).

Your alarm unit regularly sends a test to us to make sure all is working OK. If your equipment develops a fault, it will send us a message and this call will incur a charge.

Answerphones and multiple handsets at home

A separate answerphone shouldn’t affect your alarm unit, especially if your system uses the digital network rather than the analogue network (which most now do)

Community alarm is announcing "please check the telephone line"

Our community alarm units no longer need a telephone landline so shouldn't make this announcement. Of the few customers that remain on the analogue system, the announcement will mean that the base unit alarm can't detect a phone signal if connected to a landline telephone.

Please contact your phone provider and tell them you have a lifeline / community alarm as this means they should treat your issue as a high priority.

There is a Guidance on landline telephone repairs sheet in your Welcome Pack, received upon installation or we can email you or post you a copy.

Epilepsy bed sensor

Troubleshooting for Convulsion Monitor

This is a pressure sensitive mat that alerts to a seizure. The mat detects excessive movement of an individual whilst in bed. The light will flash Blue and Red on the control box to indicate the sensor has been triggered and will alert the linked pager. If you are experiencing issues with the equipment, please try the below possible solutions.

Connections and Mat

Check the connections - check that the black air tube is connected to the mat at one end and the control box at the other end.
Check the mat is inflated - allow the mat to inflate on the floor for 20 mins. Put it back under the mattress making sure it is plugged in to keep the air in. Check there is no damage, for example holes or cuts, that would result in deflation therefore lowering the pressure and stopping the sensor from detecting movement.
Mat position - generally the mat is placed under the full length of a single mattress. For use with a double bed the mat should be positioned under the side most used by the individual.

Control box

Low battery - check the batteries in the control box are not flat. Try replacing them with 2 x AA Alkaline batteries. The Red light on the control box will be less bright when the battery needs changing.
Press the Yellow test button on the control box and ensure the pager activates. It will only test if the batteries are working.
Side switch - check that the switch on the control box has not accidentally been set to Off.

Pager

Check the pager battery indicator on the screen - the power level is indicated by a black bar on the screen of the pager.
Check the sensitivity dial is not turned down all the way therefore detecting no movement.
Try to imitate movement on the bed to initiate a full test this could be movement continuously for up to 15 seconds.
If the pager is sounding and it cannot be stopped, remember that button 1 on the pager needs to be pressed twice to stop the sound and clear the pager. Just pressing button 1 once snoozes it for 5 minutes, then it will re-trigger and sound again. It will then repeat this cycle every 5 minutes until the button is pressed twice to clear it. It must be pressed twice to stop and clear the sound.

If you need further help, call Herts Careline 0300 999 2 999.