Everything You Need to Know About Careline Alarms

If you’re thinking about purchasing a Careline Alarm, it’s important that you can make an informed choice. With so many devices and services available to choose from, and different terminology being used across the market, it can get confusing.

Fortunately, we have created a helpful and comprehensive guide explaining the Careline365 personal alarm service. Find out how it can benefit you or your loved ones, as well as the details of our different Careline Alarm offerings.

Before we look at the Careline365 personal alarm service, however, you may be wondering why you should consider a Careline alarm.

Reassurance for the Vulnerable

Careline Alarms are designed to offer peace of mind to vulnerable people and their loved ones. Many Careline365 customers are over-60s who want to continue living independently at home, but who may have worries about falls.

According to statistics from 2020, there are over 9 million over-70s living in the UK. This is equal to almost 14% of the population. Naturally, it is expected that these numbers will increase in the years to come. Unfortunately, age is often accompanied by health complications. According to the Office of National Statistics, around 42% of people at state pension age are classed as disabled.

Unfortunately, 1 in 3 over-65s will experience a fall in a year. This increases to 1 in 2 over-80s. Therefore, it’s important to have a system that supports your wellbeing and independence. Careline Alarms are the number one solution.

Who Are Careline365?

Careline365 are a national provider of Careline Alarms, also known as Telecare or Personal Alarms, supporting over 65,000 people to live independent lives. Our service provides customers with 24/7 peace of mind, both in the home and on the go.

We know that later life can present its fair share of challenges. However, many older people want to avoid going into care. Instead, they want to live in the comfort of their own homes. Our service helps make this happen.

As a private provider of Careline Alarms, we’re not limited by local government. This means we can offer the most affordable prices for our alarms whilst providing a high-quality service. We always aim to be competitive in price, offering monthly and yearly alarm plans.

With care home costs often exceeding £3,500 a month, our personal alarm plans are a more affordable way to receive everyday reassurance.

Who Can Benefit from Careline Alarms?

Many people may think of Careline Alarms as only being for the elderly. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Careline Alarms are designed to offer peace of mind to anyone who needs additional support to stay independent.

Those who live alone may often worry about what will happen if they experience an emergency and cannot call for help. In a crisis, it can be difficult to fumble with the buttons on a phone, for example. With personal alarms, it’s as simple as pressing a button and letting our team handle the rest.

Family and friends can also benefit from the reassurance of Careline Alarms. In our fast-paced world, it’s often difficult to find time for visiting loved ones. This can lead to worries about their welfare. Knowing they have a personal alarm helps to reinforce the old saying that “no news is good news”. If there ever is an emergency, the Careline365 Care Team are on-hand 24/7, 365 days a year, to keep you informed.

This makes Careline Alarms ideal for people living with mobility difficulties and disabilities, or who just want some extra reassurance.

What Are Careline Alarms?

Also known as personal alarms, telecare alarms, and lifeline alarms, a Careline Alarm is a simple piece of equipment installed in the home that allows the user to call for help at the press of a button. Most types of Careline Alarm come in two parts: a base unit and a pendant. The base unit is installed in the home – sometimes requiring a phoneline – whilst the pendant is worn on the wrist or around the neck.

In an emergency, it’s a simple matter of pressing the alert button on the base unit or pendant. This sends an emergency alert to the Careline365 Care Team, who speak to you through the base unit loudspeaker – or the pendant, if you have a GPS alarm – to assess the situation and reassure you that help is being arranged.

If the team cannot hear you, they will continue to arrange help.

Further benefits of Careline Alarms include waterproof pendants, up to seven years of pendant battery, and a special frequency that ensures the alarm will not interfere with medical equipment. All orders are also covered by our Lifetime Warranty.

At Careline365, we provide three main alarm types. Whilst they all offer this core service, each also provides certain benefits of its own.

Careline SmartLife Alarm

At Careline365, we are always committed to providing our customers with the best possible service. As a result, we are the UK’s only direct to customer service to provide the SmartLife Alarm, our fastest-connecting personal alarm option. Your alert call can be connected in as little as 5 seconds.

The SmartLife Alarm is our digital option, providing 24/7 peace of mind without requiring a phoneline. This gives you the freedom to place the alarm wherever you feel it will be needed most. All that’s required is a mains power connection.

Moreover, the SmartLife Alarm has our furthest range from base unit to pendant – 600m – providing peace of mind throughout the home and garden. It is also compatible with other telecare technology, such as alarm-linked smoke detectors and fall detection.

We believe the SmartLife Alarm is the best option for anyone looking for peace of mind throughout the home and garden. Its rapid connection technology, improved range, and phoneline-free setup make all the difference when help is required. Furthermore, digital alarms are unaffected by changes to the nation’s phonelines, allowing for further reliability.

In the event of a power cut, you will also continue to benefit from the coverage of the SmartLife Alarm, as it has up to 24-hours of backup battery life. As it does not require broadband or a phoneline to function, an alert can still be sent if you activate your alarm.

Careline Go Anywhere GPS Alarm

For reassurance wherever you go, we also provide the Go Anywhere GPS Alarm. Like the SmartLife Alarm, it uses a digital connection to send an emergency alert. Unlike the SmartLife, the GPS Alarm does not require a base unit to function. Instead, it contains a speaker through which our team assess the situation.

Using GPS location technology, our team are then able to pinpoint the user’s exact location. This makes it easier to send help where it is needed.

When you choose the Go Anywhere GPS Alarm, you will also receive a charging dock, which will need to be plugged into your mains power. The pendant should be charged every night to make sure you have enough battery to send an alert when help is needed.

Careline Personal Alarm

You can also choose our analogue alarm option for peace of mind around the home. This alarm requires a mains power and phoneline connection to function. Sending an alert is as simple as pressing the button on the base unit or alarm pendant.

By choosing the analogue Careline Alarm option, you will still benefit from coverage throughout the home, with up to 100m range from base unit to pendant. Like the SmartLife, the Care Team will speak to you through the base unit loudspeaker to assess what help is required.

Areas that have been upgraded to the new VoIP system will require a broadband connection to use an analogue alarm. An adaptor will also be needed so the alarm can be plugged in.

For extra peace of mind, the Careline Personal Alarm is compatible with alarm-linked smoke detectors and the Careline fall detector pendant. Users will also benefit from up to 48-hours of backup battery if they experience a power cut. However, analogue alarms connected to a broadband router will not be able to send an alert during a power cut, unless the router has its own backup power supply.

Careline Fall Detection

All Careline Alarms can be upgraded to include fall detection. This system provides extra reassurance around the home and on the go. A sensor in the pendant is programmed to detect hard falls, sending an automatic alert to our 24/7 Care Team.

If you choose fall detection with your Careline Personal Alarm or SmartLife Alarm, you will benefit from up to 100m range. This means you can continue to enjoy your garden, safe in the knowledge that help can be arranged when you need it.

The Go Anywhere GPS Alarm can also be upgraded to include fall detection. All alarms can still be activated manually.

Please note:

The fall detector pendant is designed to provide extra reassurance in the event of a hard fall. However, like many other fall detection devices, the fall detector pendant is not programmed to analyse and interpret all fall types. Instead, it senses the difference between hard falls and other movements.

Therefore, we cannot guarantee that the fall detector pendant will activate after all falls. If possible after a fall, we always recommend that you manually activate your fall detector pendant by pressing the button on your alarm pendant to make sure an alert is sent to our 24/7 Care Team.

Delivery & Set-Up

At Careline365, we recognise the importance of feeling reassured as soon as possible. Speed is key in our industry, whether that’s receiving your order or help being arranged. This is especially true if the alarm user is living with a medical condition or has recently had a fall.

This is why all our Careline Alarms are provided with free next day delivery. Alarms can then be set-up and ready to use within 24-hours of placing an order. Fast set-up can make all the difference to your peace of mind.

Careline Alarms are simple to set-up and easy to use, with no engineer required. It’s really as simple as plugging it in and performing a quick test.

We ask that you do not perform your test until your New Customer form has been processed – you will be notified when this has happened. To test your Careline Alarm, simply press the emergency button on your base unit and inform the answering team member that you are testing your new alarm. They will talk you through the rest of this process.

If you have the Go Anywhere GPS Alarm, simply activate your alarm and follow the same process.

Once you have set-up and tested your alarm, you will be covered by our 24/7 monitoring service.

24-Hour Monitoring Team

Our 24-hour monitoring team are a pivotal part of the Careline365 service. When you activate your Careline Alarm, it is this team who will answer your call and arrange the help you need. All members of the team have received extensive training to make sure you are always in safe hands.

The Care Team are available 24-hours a day, 365 days a year to answer your alert call. We pride ourselves on answering calls quickly, with an average call answering speed of less than 10 seconds with the SmartLife Alarm.

When the alert call is answered, a member of our monitoring team will speak to you through the base unit loudspeaker, or the pendant’s built-in speaker if you have a Go Anywhere GPS Alarm. They will ask questions to assess the situation before taking appropriate action.

Commonly, the monitoring team will inform nominated emergency contacts that the alarm has been activated and help is required. When necessary, they will also alert the emergency services. Reassurance will continue to be provided to the alarm user.

If the emergency services are called, the monitoring team will also share the alarm user’s medical history, including medication, with the paramedics. This knowledge will help the paramedics provide the best possible care.

If the monitoring team do not hear a response after an alarm activation, they will assume that help is needed and continue to inform any emergency contacts. Rest assured that help will always be arranged in an emergency.

Emergency Contacts

When a customer signs up to the Careline365 monitoring service, they will receive a New Customer form. On this document, they will be asked to provide the details of at least one person who can be called after an alarm activation. This can be a family member, friend, or neighbour.

Ideally, alarm users will have a minimum of two or three emergency contacts.

When the alarm is activated, our Care Team alert emergency contacts that an alert call has been received. They then pass on the appropriate information, such as the alarm user’s location if they have a Go Anywhere GPS Alarm.

If a response is not received from the first emergency contact on the list, the Care Team will proceed to call the next listed contact.

Emergency contacts can be updated by calling the customer services team on 0800 101 3333.

Key Safes

Many of our customers choose to purchase a key safe alongside our Careline Alarms. We provide a range of key safes, which are designed to provide additional security and peace of mind at home. Instead of hiding spare keys under doormats or plant pots, you lock them behind a secure combination lock.

We ask that our customers inform our Care Team of their key safe code. This is so that, in an emergency, the code can be provided to the emergency services to help access the property faster. The seconds saved can make all the difference in an emergency.

A key safe could help financially, too. If the emergency services cannot gain access to the property, they may be forced to break in to provide help. This can lead to costly repairs. With a key safe, it is simple for help to access the property.

Testimonials

Careline Alarms make all the difference to the lives of our customers, helping them remain independent at home and on the go. Our service provides 24/7 reassurance to thousands of customers across the UK. But don’t just take our word for it. We’ve receive over 2,500 reviews on Trustpilot.

Here are just two testimonials from our satisfied customers:

Everything went very smoothly. The application was made by telephone – all done and paid for within half an hour. All the equipment was received the following day. The set up was user friendly and made ready within 15 minutes. The test call was immediate and successful. The family now feel happy, comfortable and safe knowing that the recipient is covered for the future. Thank you.”
— Geoff Harris

“Excellent service, our call handler was very helpful and we received our fall alarm the following day. Easy system to set up, very pleased with it, knowing my mother can call for help if needed, is peace of mind for us all.”
— Sally Wilson

Read more reviews on Trustpilot.

VAT Exemption

More than 95% of our customers are eligible for VAT Exemption on their Careline Alarm. If the alarm user meets the criteria set by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), they can pay a reduced price.

To be eligible, the alarm user must be purchasing the Careline Alarm for personal use, and be living with a long-term illness, terminal illness, or disability. “Long-term” and “chronic” illnesses are defined as any conditions lasting longer than three months. Examples include diabetes, cancer, arthritis, and osteoporosis.

During the set-up process, alarm users are asked to declare any conditions that will qualify them for VAT Exemption.

Find Out More

For more information about our Careline Alarms, please do not hesitate to get in touch with our team on 0800 030 8777 today. You can also order over the phone or online. When you order before 5PM, you will receive your Careline Alarm with free next day delivery.

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Editor’s Note: This article was updated on 1st September 2023 to reflect current information.