Levi Court is a sheltered housing scheme managed by the Meres & Mosses Housing Association. Situated in Ellesmere in Shropshire, the scheme is made up of twenty-one bungalows and supervised by a 24-hour control centre.
Like most schemes of its kind, Levi Court uses a warden call system to link the individual homes to the scheme manager, or to a control centre when the manager is off-site. The system allows the scheme’s elderly residents to summon help in case of an emergency, and its presence provides peace of mind to staff and residents alike.
Recently, Levi Court’s warden call system was in need of an upgrade; it had become outdated and its features were limited. Meres & Mosses employed Network Communication Systems Ltd (NCS) to install new equipment. With over 20 years’ experience in their field, NCS are a long-established manufacturer, supplier and installer of warden call, door entry and Telecare systems.
Levi Court’s system was upgraded to the PBX-based Xenon warden call system, which was designed and built by NCS. The Xenon system not only connects each bungalow to the control centre, but also allows residents to plug in an ordinary telephone handset and make free home-to-home phone calls – a rare feature which was not offered by the previous setup. Should they need to, staff at the control centre can also make calls through the system and speak to any home in the scheme. The system was installed onto existing wiring, which eliminated the need for minitrunking and redecoration!
Technology grows and evolves at an incredible rate in the modern world, and communication systems are no exception. The next predicted change in social care systems is to move from traditional analogue to more modern Internet Protocol (IP). Fortunately for Levi Court, NCS have the foresight to build their systems with the future in mind – all systems they install will support the transition to IP.
Margaret Bates, the regional housing manager responsible for Levi Court, comments on the new installation:
“The new system is brilliant. It suits our needs perfectly; it’s very easy for our tenants to operate. The fact that it allows our tenants to have a phone line is great – this was becoming an issue as so many people rely on mobiles these days, so it’s good for them to have a phone line available in their homes. NCS were very good to work with on site, and all-in-all the system is excellent.”