Equipment – technical support

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

Press one button on either side of the alarm to begin a system check. The device will flash blue to indicate that the check has started.

The pendant will then check its battery, cellular connection, and GPS. 

Battery:

A voice prompt will announce, "My battery is..." followed by one of the following statuses:

• "Excellent" or "Good" (accompanied by a green light)
• "Low battery; please place me on the charger today" (accompanied by an orange light)
• "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 device will assess the cellular coverage in your location and then announce,  "The connection is..." follwed by one of the following statuses:

• "Excellent", "Good" (accompanied by a green light)
• "Poor" (accompanied by an orange light)
• "Unavailable" (accompanied by a red light). 

GPS Coordinates:

If a cellular connection is available, the device will announce that it is "finding your location." If successful, it will announce "Current location has been sent" and return to normal operation.

If the location check is unsuccessful, the device will announce "Location check unsuccessful" and will automatically time out.

Although this process sends the location of your device, you should always raise an official alert on the device if you require assistance.

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

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

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

With regular use, the GO device will need to be charged approximately once every 20-30 days.

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 charger immediately. An alert may fail."

Blue light blinks with low frequency (audible signal every few seconds): The power supply is not connected

Blue light blinks: The main unit initialises its functions 

Blue light solid: The main unit is operational and alarm is not active

Red solid light (signal for a short period): An alert has been raised 

1. Place the charger on the watch as shown and plug the charger into a power socket.
2. Place the charger on the same side as the MODE button. Make sure that the charger is correctly placed on the watch and in contact with the charging contacts at the bottom of the watch.

When the charger is correctly attached and it starts to charge the watch, a symbol of the charging process appears on the display.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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)

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.