Over the years, there have been significant efforts to develop smart systems and technologies across all industries. It is safe to say that the call to embrace “industry 4.0” has been one of the forerunners of the transition to a fully digital world. Giant strides within automation, robotics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, etc., have been the basis of this new and fast-emerging shift to digital technologies. As in multiple other areas, this digitalisation has also emerged in the healthcare system. Personal alarm systems and social alarm services used in care management are also experiencing the move to a digital type from the current analogue form. The race is on across the globe by different countries to shift to a total digital scheme, especially with the emergence of 5G network connections. At long last, all councils across the UK have declared their transition to 100% digital technology by 2025 since the analogue technology will be totally disengaged by then. This will massively improve the quality of services rendered by Technology Enabled Care providers for the healthcare sector. Consequently, future proactive and preventive care will always be successfully provided.
Failure to embrace this current wave of transition would ultimately turn out unfavourable. Following are some of the risks attached to still using analogue social alarms:
Obsolete Technology
There’s no doubt that analogue technology is fast becoming outdated. Although hybrid smart systems (which feature a combination of analogue and digital systems) are helping to solve some of the challenges associated with analogue systems, they are still not the ultimate solution.
As more and more focus is placed on digital technologies, analogue will phase out, and still using it might pose some risks. For example, analogue personal alarm systems might fail in service at a time when every other component working with the alarm system is already digital.
Reliability
There have been reports about how analogue and hybrid alarm systems have a higher chance of failing compared to fully digital systems. This risk occurs due to the lag between analogue and digital signals, which might cause the signals to be corrupted and lead to ineffective communication.
Don’t get it twisted. There are several efficient analogue alarm care systems. However, you need to find an ideal and reliable provider of alarm care technologies, such as Skyresponse.
Cost
It may not appear very apparent, but analogue alarm systems cost more to set up and maintain than digital systems. For instance, heavy labour will be involved when installing and maintaining an analogue alarm system. This is, however, not the case with digital systems as they are quite affordable.
Analogue alarm systems are generally more costly, cheaper to install but costly to maintain. While digital alarm systems may be costly to install, the maintenance costs are little to nothing, which is the best option in the long run.
Interoperability
Several smart systems are meant to work together to achieve the ultimate goal of providing proactive and preventive care to both the elderly and the vulnerable. Alarm receiving centres (ARC’s), hardware alarms, cellphones, and other systems involved in the telecare cycle need to be intertwined in some way.
Data collation and sharing will be better and more efficient when there’s a successful digital transition. Healthcare professionals do not need to deal with loads of paperwork. Instead, they can monitor their patients remotely with just a few clicks. Analogue systems might not be able to achieve such high-level interoperability.
Final Thoughts – Analogue to Digital Transition
This article shows that digital alarm systems are generally more advantageous than analogue systems. Therefore, it is important to jump on the digital transition wagon. Skyresponse is one of the best partners to work with on anything related to smart and digital alarm systems. We have a unique solution for everybody, and that’s why we are one of the best in this personal and social alarm solution provider industry.
