Emergency phone in a lift

Hoping this might be the right forum to post a question on an Emergency phone in a lift. so please bear with me.

For a lift, the existing setup requires a PSTN line but come the end of the year PSTN is no longer an option. Neither would be swapping out the hardware so that a mobile phone service could be used as the reliability of the signal is very hit and miss, often with no signal at all.

It is mandatory to have a means to contact someone in a entrapment situation. How can this possibly be provided from 2027 onwards?

If the building is occupied 24/7 an alarm bell will suffice.

In reply to a post by Brunel:

If the building is occupied 24/7 an alarm bell will suffice.

Sadly not

Probably worth getting expert consultancy to ensure you meet the requirements.

But perhaps the analogue handset in the lift remains and where the line enters the building there is fitted a router that needs power. BT retail may sell a service of phone only using their digital voice brand without internet.

In reply to a post by jchamier:

Probably worth getting expert consultancy to ensure you meet the requirements.

But perhaps the analogue handset in the lift remains and where the line enters the building there is fitted a router that needs power. BT retail may sell a service of phone only using their digital voice brand without internet.

Done that, but such "experts" are useless by suggesting that signal boosters will resolve the issue. Even if that was true, experience has shown that when the power goes down, the mobile network, if indeed is available, is either congested or his died completely.

In theory a 05/0.5 broadband service is available but not generally available. The ONT, router and ATA would need a UPS unit perhaps holding up power for say 24 hours. Perhaps I should mention there is a bank of three lifts each requiring a seperate number.

Edited by trolleybus (Sun 11-Jan-26 20:52:28)

You connect the lift car phone to something like

https://www.2n.com/en-GB/products/elevator-systems/2...

https://robustel.com/product/ev8100/

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

Done that, but such "experts" are useless by suggesting that signal boosters will resolve the issue. Even if that was true, experience has shown that when the power goes down, the mobile network, if indeed is available, is either congested or his died completely.

In theory a 05/0.5 broadband service is available but not generally available. The ONT, router and ATA would need a UPS unit perhaps holding up power for say 24 hours. Perhaps I should mention there is a bank of three lifts each requiring a seperate number.

A single fibre connection will support more VoIP lines than you could shake a stick at. [Theoretically it could probably support a similar number of BT Digital Voice phones, but I have a suspicion the hardware to do this does not exist]. While mobile networks might saturate in a powerloss situation, I think that fibre is more likely to shed traffic.

So, I think you need battery backup for a fibre ONT and router and a VoIP adaptor plus phone for each lift, plus being sure that the ethernet for each phone goes back to the router or that there is battery backup for each ethernet switch along the way.

In reply to a post by DFScale:

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

Done that, but such "experts" are useless by suggesting that signal boosters will resolve the issue. Even if that was true, experience has shown that when the power goes down, the mobile network, if indeed is available, is either congested or his died completely.

In theory a 05/0.5 broadband service is available but not generally available. The ONT, router and ATA would need a UPS unit perhaps holding up power for say 24 hours. Perhaps I should mention there is a bank of three lifts each requiring a separate number.

Yep, that is a good solution but tb user jpm mailing is also food for thpught.

A single fibre connection will support more VoIP lines than you could shake a stick at. [Theoretically it could probably support a similar number of BT Digital Voice phones, but I have a suspicion the hardware to do this does not exist]. While mobile networks might saturate in a powerloss situation, I think that fibre is more likely to shed traffic.

So, I think you need battery backup for a fibre ONT and router and a VoIP adaptor plus phone for each lift, plus being sure that the ethernet for each phone goes back to the router or that there is battery backup for each ethernet switch along the way.

The short-term fix, especially if mobile signals are problematic, would be to switch to a BT pre-digial phone line which involves no changes at the user end.

Whilst many lift suppliers suggest switching to a 4G/5G based communications link I don't see how that can be compliant unless the carriers guarantee service for at least an hour in the event of a mains power failure - consider if an outage took out the power to your building and the mast providing service then anyone trapped in the lift due to the outge would be unable to make an emergency call. Even using SIMs which can roam across all UK networks would be problematic, especially if the mast is shared amongst operators.

Longer term FTTP should be OK. Ideally the lift communicator would provide a power-over-ethernet port and be configurable to use DHCP or PPPoE, and optionally a VLAN which is required by some ISPs, a power-over-ethernet to 12V converter at the ONT removes the need for separate backup power to that which the lift communicator already has. Failing that it may require a small router and a UPS solution, if the lift communicator lacks all of these features, which potentially has to be maintained separately depending on where the agreed demarcation point is.

In reply to a post by tdw42:

The short-term fix, especially if mobile signals are problematic, would be to switch to a BT pre-digial phone line which involves no changes at the user end.

Whilst many lift suppliers suggest switching to a 4G/5G based communications link I don't see how that can be compliant unless the carriers guarantee service for at least an hour in the event of a mains power failure - consider if an outage took out the power to your building and the mast providing service then anyone trapped in the lift due to the outge would be unable to make an emergency call. Even using SIMs which can roam across all UK networks would be problematic, especially if the mast is shared amongst operators.

Longer term FTTP should be OK. Ideally the lift communicator would provide a power-over-ethernet port and be configurable to use DHCP or PPPoE, and optionally a VLAN which is required by some ISPs, a power-over-ethernet to 12V converter at the ONT removes the need for separate backup power to that which the lift communicator already has. Failing that it may require a small router and a UPS solution, if the lift communicator lacks all of these features, which potentially has to be maintained separately depending on where the agreed demarcation point is.

I appreciate your contribution to this discussion which gives much food for thought.