Retirement village - Pannel Croft Retirement Village

Life safety and security without a flicker: Ready-to-roll contingency to protect retirement village residents during power outages

Account manager - Shannon Bell

System installed - High-capacity generator

The challenge: Power outage risks and no clear contingency plan

Late on a Friday, ExtraCare received urgent notice from its utility provider: a full-day power outage was scheduled for the following Thursday. The entire site, encompassing 160 apartments, would be without electricity for up to eight hours.

As the long-term technology partner to ExtraCare, we’d already provided adequate power resilience for all of the life safety and security systems via an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) provision. This meant systems such as warden call, fire alarms, door entry, CCTV, intruder alert, lighting and emergency equipment would all continue to operate for the planned 8-hour power outage. But what would ExtraCare do if the power loss lasted longer than 8-hours?

This wasn’t a typical operational challenge. It raised significant concerns:

● Life safety risks – fire alarms, warden call systems, lighting, and emergency equipment relied on battery backups with limited autonomy.
● Resident well-being – lifts, cooking facilities, and essential systems would be offline, leaving elderly residents vulnerable.
● Operational complexity – planning door-knocking checks, sandwich deliveries, and increased staff presence would be logistically difficult and costly.

ExtraCare needed a partner they could trust – quickly.

What we delivered: End-to-end reassurance, rapid deployment, and futureproof resilience

TIS responded immediately. Drawing on years of experience and a deep understanding of the location, our experts identified that the best solution was to supply and configure a full-building generator capable of powering the entire village.

But the clock was ticking. Within 72 hours, TIS had:

● Sourced and secured a high-capacity generator through an industry contact – showcasing the human agility behind smart protection.
● Conducted a full-site assessment in collaboration with ExtraCare’s internal staff and facilities partner to verify existing schematics and prove generator compatibility.
● Worked with and helped coordinate electricians, logistics, and power engineers to deliver, connect, and test the generator before the outage.
● Reassured stakeholders with operational transparency and risk mitigation plans.

The result? On the day of the outage, power switched seamlessly from mains to generator. Lights stayed on. Lifts continued running. Meals were cooked. Residents were completely unaware that anything had changed.

From a life safety and customer experience perspective – it was flawless.

Outcomes: Protection without compromise

This project wasn’t just a success. It was a demonstration of everything TIS stands for:

● Smart protection, simplified – complex risk turned into simple, effective action.
● People-first thinking – ensuring the dignity, safety and comfort of elderly residents.
● Excellence and stewardship – delivered through trusted relationships, technical authority and agile decision-making.
● Difference Makers in action – a team that didn't just follow process, but made things happen.

Following the success of this emergency backup project, ExtraCare has now asked TIS to:

● Survey all of its villages for generator compatibility.
● Create a formal SLA for future emergency generator deployment.
● Build contingency frameworks for both planned and unplanned outages.

This isn’t just another contract. It’s a long-term resilience strategy.

ExtraCare needed more than a supplier. They needed a strategic partner who could step in, take ownership, and deliver safety with certainty. TIS delivered – not just with technology, but with leadership, trust and care.

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