Multiple Medical Alarm Register and the nbn™ broadband access network

Registering medical alarms for retirement villages and aged care facilities

If you are assisting a community of medical alarm users, such as residents of a retirement village or aged care facility, you will need to register their devices with nbn before connecting to the nbn™ access network. This will help identify and manage potential interruptions to their alarm services when migrating to the nbn™ access network.

Who needs to be registered?

  • Communities or residents who use medical alarms in their homes, retirement villages or aged care facilities.
  • Those with medical alarms still connected to an old phone service that is not yet running over the nbn™ access network or a mobile service.

How to register multiple alarms at once

Start

Complete the online form to start the registration process. 

Prepare

Review and complete your residents’ alarm details in the registration spreadsheet that nbn will send you via email.

Upload

Submit the completed registration spreadsheet via the nbn website. nbn will contact you should additional information be required.

Start your registration

Already completed your registration spreadsheet? 

Upload it here

What happens once I've registered my residents’ alarms?

Once the registration process is complete, nbn will call you and work with you directly to confirm the following actions:

Checking medical alarm compatibility

We will provide you with additional helpful information about speaking to alarm provider(s) or manufacturer(s) to check whether your residents’ devices are compatible with the nbn™ access network. These providers may suggest upgrading to new alarms that have a back-up battery and connect via a mobile network. This will provide your residents’ alarms with the ability to connect to an alternative network during a power or nbn™ access network outage.

Connecting phone and internet services

Your residents’ phone and internet service will not be automatically moved across to the nbn™ access network. Therefore, you will need to work with your residents to ensure they speak to their individual phone and internet provider about connecting to a new phone and/or internet service on the nbn™ access network.

Once you are registered, if necessary, we will call you to advise of the approaching disconnection date of your residents’ old phone services (where applicable). Once their new phone and/or internet service is active on the nbn™ access network, you can connect their medical alarms to the network if they are compatible with the nbn™ access network and their alarm device manufacturer advises you to do so. 

The nbn™ broadband access network is replacing most of the existing fixed-line phone networks that medical alarms rely on with newer technologies. Although most existing services will be replaced by the nbn™ access network, there are some services that should not be impacted, including those provided over non-nbn fibre networks and some business and Special Services. nbn strongly recommends you contact your current phone and internet provider, and your current device provider, about whether your services will be impacted by the rollout of the nbn™ access network. You can also visit nbn.com.au/switchoff for more information or call 1800 687 626.

Testing medical alarms

You will need to test your residents’ alarms after they have successfully been connected to the network. We will also call you and work with you to verify their alarms are working correctly.

Once your residents are connected to the nbn™ access network and their alarms are working, we will close their registration. Any further support requests will need to be directed to you, the residents’ alarm supplier(s) or their phone and internet provider(s).

Note: nbn will not contact the medical alarm users themselves without the prior approval of the person who has registered their alarms.

Where else to get help

If a resident has special needs or a serious medical condition, they should speak to their phone and internet provider today about any assistance services they may offer. As a wholesaler, nbn does not offer these services.  

Telstra is required by the Australian Government to offer Priority Assistance services to people with a life-threatening medical condition. Other phone or internet providers may also offer Priority Assistance (or similar arrangements) to their customers. More information is available from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

Frequently asked questions

Once you have registered your residents’ medical alarms and they have connected to the nbn™ access network, your registrations will remain active until we have verified that their alarms are working correctly. Following this, we will close your residents’ alarm registrations with nbn.

If your residents have special needs or serious medical conditions, please encourage them to speak to their phone and internet provider today about any assistance services they may offer. As a wholesaler, nbn does not offer these services.

Telstra is required by the Australian Government to offer Priority Assistance services to people with a life-threatening medical condition. Other phone or internet providers may also offer Priority Assistance (or similar arrangements) to their customers. More information is available from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

Some providers also offer modems with mobile network and battery backup. These are helpful in the event of a power outage, where the nbn™ access network may not be available. If you decide to choose one of these modems for your residents, be sure to ask if it will continue to provide phone services when running in mobile backup mode. We also recommend those with medical conditions carry a charged mobile phone at all times.

You do not need to register people who are living in areas serviced by nbn™ Sky Muster™ Satellite and Fixed Wireless, as these areas are not subject to mandatory disconnection from the old telephone network. Check which technology is servicing your area here.

However, your residents do have the option to keep their existing home phone line in place. We strongly recommend they ask their phone and internet provider to keep their existing phone line connected. This is because phone or internet services running over nbn’s Fixed Wireless and Satellite networks will not work in a power outage.

Internal phone systems (PABX) cannot be registered on the Medical Alarm Register. However, the individual medical alarms attached to a PABX can be. For information about what to do to keep your PABX working throughout the transition to the nbn™ access network, visit the nbn Business Readiness Tool.
Impacted landline phone and internet services, including critical devices that operate over these services, such as medical alarms, may stop working once the existing network is disconnected. If your residents do not wish to connect to the nbn™ access network, they can ask their existing phone or internet provider about other options, including mobile phone and/or mobile broadband. Medical alarm suppliers can also provide alarms that use mobile networks.
Upgrade your unmonitored medical alarm
Eligible users of unmonitored medical alarms have the opportunity to upgrade to an eligible new alarm that uses a mobile network for a reduced cost.
Find out more
Power outage information
Talk to your provider about whether your device will work during a blackout when connected to the nbn™ access network.
Find out more