Telecare has grown steadily over the past 20 years but these next few years will mark an important step change for the sector. The move from analogue to digital is driving considerable change and the sector is trying to prepare itself for a future that will bring both issues and opportunities.
As a leading player in the sector, Careium’s ultimate aim is first and foremost to ensure end users and customers continue to receive the high quality service they expect and deserve. We must remember that whilst we in the sector are intimately aware of the technical challenges ahead and all the changes that need to happen, our end users and customers really aren’t focused on this. We must always remember their very simple expectation from a telecare service – to have access to someone on the other end of a phone that gives them the help they need rapidly and by so doing, provide families with peace of mind. Like it or not, it’s up to us as a sector to ensure this transition from analogue to digital is seamless.
Of course there will be issues as there are with any change, but the move from analogue to digital also brings opportunity. This is very evident by the number of organisations actively researching and developing new services that take advantage of a digital world. Digital connectivity enables the telecare sector to almost reinvent itself from being a historically reactive service to becoming a proactive service – one that understands the behaviours of frail, elderly and vulnerable people in their home and anticipates and alerts significant changes that may lead to an emergency.
Reflecting again on who we are ultimately serving every day, the end user and our customers, we need to absolutely develop telecare equipment technology, but more importantly, we need to utilize that technology to provide services that are needed, intuitive and genuinely make a difference. At Careium we are very conscious of our role to do smart things with technology whilst not wanting to outsmart our customers. At the end of the day, they will decide if what we ultimately develop is useful.
We would also like to welcome Gary Clark as our new Digital Transformation Director. Gary joins us with many years’ experience from within the industry with a background in engineering, training and of leading the development of a digital solution and digital support team. He has also previously held the position of Chief Technology Officer heading up install, service and maintenance departments dealing solely with telecare/TECS solutions.
Gary says “I have joined the business at a time where our industry is going through an enormous amount of change, which will take huge efforts nationally from many fields. I will be leading Careium’s business through the digital transformation, provide awareness internally and externally and assist technically alongside key members of the organisation. Careium is a global expert on the analogue to digital transformation and I’m excited to be joining at such a crucial time considering the impact the transformation will have on us and our customers”.
Careium has launched its whitepaper “How digital telecare is creating an independent, flexible future for its users” and is now available to download.