If you mostly use your mobile, the coming change to home phone services in Cambridgeshire may pass you by.

If your household still depends on a landline, an alarm, telecare equipment or a phone during power cuts, it’s a different story.

You shouldn’t assume the change will affect every home in the same way but you also shouldn’t wait for the phone to stop working before checking.

Cambridgeshire residents are being urged to prepare as changes to traditional home phone services move closer, with the issue highlighted locally by the Fenland Citizen.

The exact action needed depends on your provider, your address and what is connected to the phone line.

Here’s the bit you need to know: the change is not simply about swapping one handset for another. For some people, the phone is also connected to something they rely on for safety or security.

Start with the phone itself

Think about how your household actually makes calls.

If everyone has a working mobile and nobody uses the home phone, there may be little to do beyond checking the information sent by your provider.

That doesn’t mean ignoring the letters, emails or messages. Your provider should be your first stop for the timing of any change at your address and for advice about the service you have.

If you still use the landline regularly, ask three simple questions:

• When will my service change?
• Do I need new equipment or a different connection?
• What happens if there is a power cut or the broadband connection is unavailable?

Don’t forget the things plugged into it

The phone handset is only one part of the picture.

 A landline may also be linked to a personal alarm, security alarm, medical or telecare equipment, or another device that automatically sends a signal.

Those devices need checking separately.

Contact the company that supplied or monitors the equipment and ask if it will continue to work after your home phone service changes.

If someone in the household uses telecare, make that check a priority rather than assuming the service provider will know about every device in the home.

The same goes for an alarm.

The fact that you can still make a call on the phone does not automatically confirm that a connected alarm will work in the same way.

Power cuts are the awkward bit

Many people think of a landline as the phone that works when everything else fails.

As home phone services change, that assumption needs testing.

Ask your provider what happens during a power cut and what backup arrangement applies to your service.

Then look at how your household would contact emergency services if the usual phone, mobile signal or connected equipment was unavailable.

This is particularly worth doing for older residents, people living alone and anyone whose health or safety arrangements involve a phone connection. #

Keep the answer somewhere easy to find, and make sure other people who help with care know what the plan is.

A five-minute household check

Before the change reaches your area, make a list of every device connected to the home phone service.

 Include the handset, alarm, telecare equipment and anything else that sends or receives calls automatically.

Then:

1. Check which company provides your home phone service.

2. Look for its latest information about changes at your address.

3. Contact the provider if you don’t understand what is changing.

4. Contact the alarm or telecare supplier about connected equipment.

5. Ask specifically about power cuts and emergency calls.

6. Test the agreed backup plan with the people who may need to use it.

Don’t be pushed into buying something simply because the wording sounds alarming.

A mobile-reliant household may need very little action. A household with a landline-dependent device may need more careful advice.

That difference is the whole story.

There is no single answer for every home in Cambridge, Ely, Wisbech, Huntingdon or the wider county.

 The sensible next step is to check your own setup, not rely on what happened to a neighbour or assume that a new handset solves everything.

Save this checklist and come back to it when your provider contacts you.

If you use an alarm or telecare device in Cambridgeshire, tell us which type of equipment you’ve had to check and what information you still need so we can follow up with a more detailed local guide.