HOW YOUR ALARM SIGNALS ARE REPORTED TO US

 

Perhaps the most important, and often overlooked, part of your security system is the communication path to central station. How does our operator know your alarm has just detected a break-in?

Modern alarm controls are able to communicate by various methods, listed here in order of reliability as a sole path, in my humble opinion.

 

• Cellular radio network- Very reliable, but cell outages do occur, especially in remote areas. Cell radio is also great as a backup to landline telephone or VoIP service. The cellular unit derives its power from the alarm panel, or has its own power source with battery backup.

• Landline telephone-AT&T honest to goodness copper, POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) phone line. These are going away soon, and very expensive. New telephone service is now internet based.

• VoiP (Voice over Internet Protocol) bundled service- Most common today, Cox, Time Warner, AT&T U-verse. Typically a cable modem with a telephone jack on the back. Sporadic telephone outages are the norm, usually in the middle of the night. Be sure your phone system has a battery backup so it works if the power fails.

• Other VoIP. Discount providers frequently limit bandwidth to cut cost. Reliability depends on the quality of the service. YMMV

• IP-Internet Protocol- By far the fastest. Connects to your existing router/modem. Communication of alarm signals is instantaneous. Watch out though, if you don't have a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) to power your network, no alarms can be reported to us.