Personal Alarms Without a Landline in Ireland: What Works and What to Check

In short: yes, a personal alarm can work without a landline. A home alarm can use a mobile SIM card instead of the phone line, and an alarm watch carries its own SIM. Either way, the alarm then depends on mobile signal where your loved one lives, so that is the thing to check.

For years the answer to "how does the alarm call for help?" was simple: through the phone line. The base unit on the hall table plugged into the phone socket, and a press of the pendant rang the monitoring centre down the line. That is changing. Plenty of older people in Ireland have let the landline go, some homes have moved their phone onto broadband, and the old copper network behind the landline is due to be retired. This guide covers what still works, and what to check.

Why this matters now

There are three reasons families are asking this question.

• Fewer homes keep a landline. Many older people now use a mobile for everything, and a landline rental is an easy bill to cut.
• Phones are moving onto broadband. When a home moves to fibre, the house phone often becomes an internet phone. Some older alarms were built for the traditional line and do not always behave the same way on the new one.
• The copper network is being retired. Eir and ComReg are planning the switch-off of the old copper network, exchange area by exchange area. There is no fixed national date yet: ComReg has to approve eir's plan first, and eir has said customers will get at least 12 to 18 months' notice, with special consideration for people who rely on an alarm.

None of this is a reason to panic. It is a reason to check how your loved one's alarm connects, before it matters.

The options without a landline

1. A home alarm with a mobile SIM. This looks like a normal pendant alarm, with a button and a base unit, but the base unit has a SIM card inside and calls out over the mobile network instead of the phone line. It still works within range of the base unit, so it covers the house and usually the garden. There is normally a small monthly cost for the SIM on top of any monitoring fee.

2. The Seniors Alert Scheme, on a mobile SIM. The free scheme for people aged 65 and over is delivered by local community and voluntary groups registered with Pobal. A version that works on a mobile SIM is available through many of them, so no landline is not a reason to miss out. Our guide to the Seniors Alert Scheme explains who qualifies and how to apply.

3. An alarm watch with its own SIM. An alarm watch needs no base unit and no phone line at all. It has its own SIM, speaker and microphone, so a press of the button calls for help from the wrist, at home or out and about. We explain what to look for in our guide to alarm watches for the elderly.

4. A mobile phone with an emergency button. Some simple phones for older people have an SOS button on the back. They can work well, provided the phone is charged and actually carried, including around the house.

If your loved one's alarm uses the phone line today

This is the group to think about first. If the base unit plugs into a phone socket, it is worth a few minutes now.

• Ask the provider or the local scheme group whether the unit will keep working if the phone line changes, and whether a SIM version is available.
• Test the alarm after any change to the phone or broadband. If the home moves to fibre, press the button and confirm the call goes through. Most providers are glad to arrange a test call.
• Ask what happens in a power cut. A base unit on a mobile SIM usually has a backup battery. A phone running over broadband may go down with the router.
• Keep the provider's number somewhere obvious, on the fridge or in your own phone, so anyone in the family can ring them.

What to check before you choose a mobile alarm

Once the landline is out of the picture, mobile signal takes its place. So the questions change.

• Is there good signal inside the house? Thick stone walls, a house in a hollow or a room at the back can all weaken signal. Our guide to checking the signal where a loved one lives shows how to use ComReg's free coverage map and how to test inside the house itself.
• Which network does it use? A device locked to one network is only as good as that network at your loved one's address. A roaming SIM can use whichever network is strongest.
• Who gets the call? A monitoring centre, the family directly, or both in turn.
• What are the running costs? The SIM, any monitoring fee, and whether there is a contract.

Where Norse fits

We make an alarm watch for families in Ireland: a dedicated 4G watch with its own roaming SIM, an SOS button, automatic fall detection and GPS, with alerts sent straight to the family through a simple app. It needs no landline and no base unit, and it works out of the house as well as in it. It is launching soon, and you can see it on the watch page.

Some families keep the scheme alarm at home and add a watch for everywhere else, and that works well. Whatever you choose, a mobile alarm depends on mobile signal where your loved one is, and on being worn and charged. It is reassurance, not a guarantee.