Confidence in Critical Lift Comms
for Building Owners & Facilities Managers
SENTINEL
A pro-actively managed lift emergency communications service
SENTINEL enables Building Owners and Facilities Managers to maintain confidence in lift emergency communications through a service that is professionally managed, visible and designed specifically for lift environments.
Delivered by AVIRE, SENTINEL removes the complexity of managing lift comms while supporting informed decisions around risk and compliance.
Why lift emergency communications matter
Lift emergency communications are a critical safety requirement, but they are often managed in the background until something goes wrong.
Changes to telecoms infrastructure, power continuity requirements and portfolio complexity can make it difficult to understand whether lift comms are performing as expected.
SENTINEL exists to provide clarity and confidence, not assumptions.
The SENTINEL approach
SENTINEL delivers lift emergency communications as a pro-actively managed service, rather than a collection of unmanaged devices or connections.
AVIRE takes responsibility for ongoing oversight, including:
Connectivity and battery status
Early identification of issues
Clear visibility of system status
How SENTINEL Supports Building Owners & Facility Managers
Pro-actively managed by AVIRE
Lift emergency communications are overseen by specialists.
Resilient by design
Cellular connectivity with battery backup, designed for lift environments.
Clear visibility
Access to connectivity and audit information via AVIRE Hub.
Supports compliance decision-making
Transparent insight rather than hidden risk.
Reduced operational burden
Less reliance on reactive checks and assumptions.
A service designed for real-world environments
SENTINEL supports a wide range of building types. The service adapts to the demands of different environments while maintaining a consistent, managed approach.
Hospitality
In hotels and serviced accommodation, guest safety and experience are paramount. SENTINEL helps maintain confidence that lift emergency communications are available and professionally managed without adding operational complexity.
Education
Across universities, colleges and schools, lift portfolios are often large and dispersed. SENTINEL provides visibility across sites, supporting risk awareness and consistent management.
Housing
In residential and social housing environments, lift availability and safety are essential. SENTINEL supports clear oversight of emergency communications across single buildings or large housing portfolios.
Healthcare
In healthcare environments, reliability alone is not enough, visibility and assurance are critical. SENTINEL supports managed lift comms in settings where safety and accountability matter most.
Frequently Asked Questions
SENTINEL provides managed, monitored lift connectivity with roaming SIM resilience, extended battery backup, and automated alerts via AVIRE HUB, helping you identify issues before they become incidents.
PSTN ‘Landlines’ or analogue lines are used widely to provide connectivity for emergency lift communications systems, to meet the needs of EN 81-28. These services will be ceased on 31st January 2027 as a result of the UK’s telephone network – the Public Switched telephone Network -(PSTN) closing down.
Accordingly, to maintain compliance, these lines need to be changed out to new communications products.
Taking action now is urgent, as putting in place alternate arrangements may be a lengthy process, especially for large lift estates.
Building owners and managing organisations are responsible for ensuring lift emergency communication systems remain operational and compliant. This includes maintaining a reliable voice path and ensuring resilience during power outages or network changes.
Autodiallers with PSTN lines use a signalling protocol known as Dual Tone Multi Frequency (DTMF). These signals are used during call set up, during a call and at call closure. They are designed to work over analogue networks and do not readily work in a digital or IP environment.
Alternate solutions need to work in a consistent manner across all Communication Provider networks. The use of analogue to digital converters, to avoid the need to replace hardware is not recommended as these have been proven not to work consistently across different Communication Provider’s access networks.
Digital, IP or cellular services require local power, because power is not fed down ‘the line’. In a localised power cut this means service will stop working unless a battery backup or UPS or in place.
For lifts with PSTN lines, the line will stop working, plain and simple. This will mean the lift is no longer compliant with EN 81-28, putting building users at risk and exposing you to inspection failures, legal liability, and urgent, costly retrofits.
PSTN lines benefit from power being provided down the line from telephone exchanges, meaning that in the event of a power cut, these lines continue to function. Digital fixed line and cellular solutions require local powering and so power back-up must be implemented to maintain compliance in the event of a power cut.
Maybe. Do bear in mind that Communications Providers’ businesses are focussed on the provision of Broadband and standard Telephony – they don’t typically know the use-case for any of the lines that they provide. Accordingly, you should seek out your Communication Providers to understand their proposals for ensuring your continuity of operation.
A fibre line may be available. Fibre networks however have primarily been built to meet the needs of residential consumers – and the needs of businesses have not really been considered, although some network builders have looked to fix this in specific geographies, or where a specific contract has been let. If fibre has been built to a building, it’s not guaranteed that it’s available to service the needs of the emergency lift lines – in terms of capacity being available, or being pre-built to a suitable connection point in a lift room.
Communication Providers should know the answer to this question, but if there’s not a definitive ‘Yes’ (in being available to a lift room and ready to take an order), then count on long delays and increased provision costs to get service.
For consistency of operation across the UK, the best option is to move to a Cellular-based solution, like SENTINEL from Memco by Avire.
No. SENTINEL supports lift maintenance providers by ensuring the communication pathway remains resilient and monitored. Mechanical servicing and lift safety responsibilities remain with your contractor.
Yes. SENTINEL supports EN 81-28 requirements by maintaining a two-way communication path, automated test capability, and power resilience, helping keep your lifts compliant.
Here at Memco by Avire, we’ve been working on PSTN switch off for years. We’ve migrated thousands of lines and have a great solution we’d like to talk to you about, be that for a single lift up to a significant estate.
We’re working with the leading experts in the field and so can answer any questions or concerns you may have.
Confidence in critical lift communications, without added complexity.
SENTINEL can be implemented for single buildings or complex, multi-site portfolios. To understand how a pro-actively managed service can support your organisation, speak to AVIRE.
