Phone Line Fault
Risco Home/Business Alarm System
Severity: ModerateWhat Does This Error Mean?
A Phone Line Fault on your Risco system means the alarm cannot use the telephone or GSM line to send alerts. If your system relies on a phone line to contact the monitoring centre or send SMS alerts, this communication path is currently broken.
Affected Models
- Risco LightSYS
- Risco LightSYS Plus
- Risco ProSYS Plus (PSTN/GSM models)
Common Causes
- Landline service has been disconnected or is down in your area
- Physical phone cable has been cut or disconnected from the panel
- Risco GSM module has lost mobile signal or the SIM is inactive/expired
- Phone line is shared with another device that is monopolising the line
- PSTN services being discontinued by telecoms provider (many countries are phasing out analogue lines)
How to Fix It
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Test the phone line
Plug an ordinary telephone handset into the socket the alarm uses. If there is no dial tone, the fault is with your telephone line — not the alarm.
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Check GSM signal strength (GSM modules)
If your Risco panel has a GSM module, check the signal indicator in the Risco app or at the keypad. No signal may mean the antenna is disconnected or the SIM has expired.
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Contact your alarm installer
If your phone line is working normally but the fault persists, the alarm's phone module may be faulty. Your installer can test it.
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Consider an IP upgrade
Many PSTN alarm communicators are being replaced with IP or GSM modules as telephone companies discontinue analogue lines. If your system is old, ask your installer about upgrading to IP communication.
When to Call a Professional
Yes — if checking external line faults and SIM status does not resolve it.
Risco Phone Line Fault
As analogue telephone networks are phased out across many countries, Phone Line Fault is becoming one of the more common Risco trouble conditions homeowners encounter — not because anything is broken, but because the phone service itself no longer exists.
PSTN Switch-Off
In the UK, Israel, Australia, and many other countries, traditional landline (PSTN) telephone services are being gradually discontinued. If your Risco alarm was installed more than 5–8 years ago using a phone line communicator, this switch-off may be the reason the fault appeared.
The solution: Ask your alarm installer to upgrade the communicator to an IP module (uses your broadband connection) or GSM module (uses a mobile network SIM). This is a standard retrofit that most Risco-certified installers can complete in under an hour.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a phone line fault the same as a communication fault?
They overlap but are different. A phone line fault specifically refers to the PSTN (landline) or GSM path. A communication fault means all communication paths have failed. If you have a dual-path system (phone + internet), a phone line fault alone should not cause a full communication fault — the internet path will take over.
My analogue phone line was discontinued. Will my Risco alarm still work?
Not on the phone path. Many homeowners are discovering this as telecoms providers switch off analogue PSTN services. Contact your alarm installer — they can fit an IP or GSM communicator module to restore monitoring connectivity.