Digital Switchover

If your alarm is serviced regularly by an alarm company and you have some type of monitoring on your system, it is unlikely that you will be able to have a different alarm company work on your system.

However, there is nothing to stop you from getting ahead of the game and asking other companies for quotes that include the changes needed to prepare you for Digital Voice The Next Generation of Calling.

Note that companies can require up to 3 months notice to cancel service and monitoring contracts, so make sure to give yourself enough time to get your quotes in, mull them over, and still give notice to your current alarm company if you intend to change. Always choose an NSI approved alarm company to ensure high standards of professional knowledge and ongoing support.

Phone service providers are not charging customers for the Digital Voice Switch Over upgrade. However, alarm companies will charge if changes are required to your system. This is because it will take engineers time on site and new hardware to adapt your alarm system for the Digital Voice Switch Over Day.

The Alarm People are taking a proactive approach in this process to ensure that it is affordable, hassle free and kind to the environment by aiming to carry out the changes at the time of our regular service visits. Contact your alarm company to find out how they are coordinating Digital Voice The Next Generation of Calling upgrade.

If you have not yet been contacted about the upgrade from analogue to fibre, the changes to your line are less imminent, but will be scheduled in the near future.
You can prepare for this change at any time, even if you have not yet received your letter from your provider.

It is never too early to prepare for Digital Voice The Next Generation of Calling. By arranging the changes to your alarm to be made before your move is scheduled, you will avoid any delays on the fibre optic upgrade of your analogue line which will mean a seamless transition for your security.

Get a move on and call your alarm company! If you have already received a letter informing you of your Digital Voice Switch Over Day, they are likely to ask you to delay the upgrade until you have made the required changes to your monitored alarm system.

However, before delaying your Digital Voice Switch Over, contact your alarm company. They may be able to react swiftly to make the changes to your intruder alarm so that the changeover can go ahead as planned.

You will get a letter from your provider. Once you get your letter, the Switch Over should be fairly swift.

If possible, it is best to contact your alarm company before your phone provider sends you a Digital Voice Switch Over Day notice. It is difficult to predict when you will be contacted, so being prepared for what is inevitable will alleviate any stress when your Digital Voice Switch Over Day arrives.

Some of our customers have already started to get in touch regarding their Switch Over Day, so Openreach are currently working hard to roll out The Digital Voice Next Generation of Calling.

You can prepare for the Digital Voice upgrade at any time, even if you have not yet received your letter from your service provider. It is never too early to prepare for the Digital Voice The Next Generation of Calling.

If you have a monitored intruder alarm, it may not work on new the fibre lines. You can click here to see our checklist which will help you to understand whether your security system is Digital Voice – Switch Over Day ready.

If your intruder alarm is monitored in any way for example police monitoring, keyholder monitoring or even a dialler to your phone you should get in touch with your alarm company as soon as possible to ensure that your intruder alarm will continue to function as expected. There are indeed some monitored systems that are already ‘Digital Voice – Switch Over Day ready’, but it’s always better to check with your alarm company than end up with a delay or with a system that no longer works.

If in doubt about what kind of intruder alarm you have, always get in touch with your alarm company as they will be able to tell you if any changes are required prior to your Switch Over Day.

We see this as a great opportunity to improve the connectivity of monitored alarm systems making them more reliable and robust, which is good news. There are other advantages, too, including an end to charges on ‘test’ calls to monitoring stations as these will be sent digitally instead. Most customers will see improved speeds on their broadband, so no more buffering when in the middle of a sporting final!

You will receive a letter from your telephone service provider notifying you of when the digital voice upgrade will take place. You will then receive a new smart router in the post to replace your master phone socket. Your telephone service provider will support you through the process.

‘Digital Voice The Next Generation of Calling’ or your ‘Switch Over Day’ means that your old copper telephone lines will be discarded for a new digital voice service – essentially providing super-fast internet speeds for the whole of the country. This change will impact everyone with a phone line, regardless of your service provider. Eventually, anything that previously worked through an analogue phone socket (copper) will need be wired into new smart routers (digital). By 2025, most copper lines will be obsolete.