Electrical and power issues
Testing your equipment
We ask you to test our service by pressing your pendant, each piece of telecare equipment or your Herts Bernie device once a month and tell the operator that you're testing the equipment. This ensures all the equipment is in fully working order.
Please also tell them if you or your contacts or responders have changed details.
Pacemakers
Your equipment won't affect your pacemaker.
All of the equipment meets European regulations and operates on a different frequency to pacemakers.
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.
And if you unplug the community alarm from the telephone landline, simply plug it back in and it should work again. Again, it's worth making a test call via your pendant just to make sure all is working OK.
Batteries – no need to change
Our community alarm and telecare devices regularly sends 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.
The Herts Bernie device alerts your responder or contact if the device is running low on battery.
Please don't change any battery yourself.
Lights and alerts - community alarm / Herts Bernie
Community alarm is announcing "please check the telephone line"
This is because the base unit alarm can't detect a phone signal.
Press the round green button to delay the message and contact your phone provider.
Tell your phone provider 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 a copy.
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.
Press the green button to stop the message until power is restored.
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.
Lights on your community alarm unit and Herts Bernie device
- Steady green light – your alarm unit is working correctly.
- Flashing amber light – there's a fault on your alarm unit. Call us on 0300 999 2 999.
- Steady red light – there's a call in progress from your pendant or alarm unit.
- Flashing yellow light – on a Tunstall alarm, this means the alarm is in 'Away Mode'. You can fix this by pressing and holding the yellow button until the alarm says "Home".
Away Mode can be used when you're away for a period (for example, on holiday) to stop the alarm triggering calls. Please tell us if you're going to be away for a few days, and press your pendant when you're home to tell us you're back.
Lights on your Herts Bernie device
- Single rapid green light flash every 3 seconds – your device is connected
- Green light is solid – no SIM card is detected
- Solid blue light – device is charging
- Blue light is blinking quickly – battery power is below 15% - place on charge
Refer to your Service Pack for further details.
Your pendant
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Lost pendants – we can give you a replacement for £50. Contact Herts Careline to arrange.
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Signal range – your community alarm pendant should work up to 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 engineer will also show you the range on the day of installation.
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Waterproof – community alarm pendants are water resistant. However, we recommed you put your pendant within reach when you're in the bathroom, in case you fall or need help from the bath or shower.
Phone lines
Changing telephone provider
Changing your phone provider shouldn’t make a difference to your alarm unit.
But do tell your new service provider’s engineer when they arrive at your property that you have a Tynetec 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
Do tell us if you change your phone number.
Answerphones and multiple handsets at home
A separate answerphone shouldn’t affect your alarm unit.
But if you have an answering service (provided by your service provider) that tells you a message is waiting for you, this might affect calls from your alarm unit.
Make sure you listen to and delete any answering service messages as possible.
If you have more than one landline phone at home, it could affect your alarm unit.
Generally, if you have more than 3–4 handsets in your home, we suggest you disconnect one.
Going on holiday
Don't unplug your alarm unit if you go away.
You can press your ‘Away button’ – the silver button with the yellow edging around it on the alarm unit. This stops the alarm trigerring calls while you're away.
Press the ‘Away button’ again when you return home.
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 could affect your alarm unit.
Make sure you return the phone properly after each call.
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 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).
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.