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scuuder3
join:2003-03-04
Palm Coast, FL

scuuder3

Member

Re: Best VOIP service to use alarm system with?

vonsen, do you know what reporting format your alarm uses? is it contactid?

thanks

vonsen
@telus.net

vonsen to scuuder3

Anon

to scuuder3
I am currently using the sia format over voip with cellular as a backup. The dsc alarms let me choose among contact id, sia, pager or pulse reporting formats. With POTS it doesn't matter a lot what format you use. Often you go with whatever the monitoring company prefers. With voip, I found sia and 4/2 to be more reliable than contact id.
scuuder3
join:2003-03-04
Palm Coast, FL

scuuder3

Member

my alarm company prefers to use contactID. I was wondering if anyone had successfully used contactid with any voip line.

voiplover
Premium Member
join:2004-05-28
Portsmouth, NH

voiplover

Premium Member

There are many good alarm companies out there. Ask your alarm company if they can refer you to a company that will use a format that will function with your phone service. All monitoring stations that accept contact ID can also receive 4+2 and SIA formats. The only reason for keeping you on a contact ID format is that they have already sold your monitoring contract or they are planning to sell it.

WhyADuck
Premium Member
join:2003-03-05

WhyADuck

Premium Member

I agree, if an alarm company refuses to use anything but Contact ID it is probably time to "vote with your feet" (or in this case, your pocketbook) and find a company that's a bit more willing to work with you. Besides, your post left the impression that the tech they sent out was neither competent nor very interested in making your system work. Find a company that wants you as a customer, and that is will to put in a small amount of effort to keep your business. After all, if they couldn't seem to care less about making your alarm function properly, what makes you think they really care about the level of service you'll receive in an actual emergency?
ebubman
join:2002-01-17
Mechanicsburg, PA

ebubman to scuuder3

Member

to scuuder3
i sent an email to nextalarm.com asking several ?s about their service including availability in my area (pa), if they install, et cetera...here's their response below. in plain language, the service makes sense but i'm not sure if i get a voip provider if it will actually work. any thoughts on this? thank you in advance. bub

****
next alarm response

Hello,

We do monitor in xxxxxxxxx, PA. We can monitor all Contact ID-compatible systems over our dedicated VoIP network for alarms. Monitoring over a standard VoIP service generally does not work, due to bandwidth and configuration issues. Our service and another VoIP service can coexist with no problems, as long as you have two separate ATAs.

We are a monitoring company only, and do not install or repair systems. We do sell the Abbra (a privately branded Visonic Powermax+), and provide technical support for it, but you would need to actually install the system.

We keep our prices low by conducting most of our business over the internet, and by not offering onsite repair or installation services.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to reply to this e-mail or call (877)639-8911 x2.

Regards,
Customer Service
ieee1394
Premium Member
join:2001-08-25
Corte Madera, CA

ieee1394 to scuuder3

Premium Member

to scuuder3
Let me get this straight: the solution proposed by nextalarm.com is to simply provide you with an ATA that connects to their own VOIP gateway? Hah. Ha. Hah. Ha. Ha. Ha.

That's crazy.

The far superior solution is to swap out your alarm controller for one that will communicate directly over IP. It's just like the tivo situation: when are these hardware vendors going to wake up and start providing an ethernet port on their equipment???? It's not like broadband is new or anything. Sheesh.

vonsen
@telus.net

vonsen to scuuder3

Anon

to scuuder3
There are few more tweaks that you can do if your alarm is still giving you a headache. But first you have to get a g711 line. The chances of getting this to work properly without g711 are dismal.

There are some adapter settings that will further improve your call quality. They also eat up a bit more bandwidth, so don't bother if your bandwidth is alreay stretching at the seams. These settings are locked down by most providers, so call them and ask them to change your packetization rate from 20ms to 10ms and disable silence suppression. If the tech doesn't have a clue what you are talking about, ask to speak to someone in technical support, as opposed to whatever he is doing. Contact id may work for you if you can convince them to change these two settings and your isp has a decent headend. Also some posters have claimed that a low pass aka dsl filter inserted backwards helps. I haven't tried the latter, but if you have already tried everything else, it won't blow anything up to try it.
ebubman
join:2002-01-17
Mechanicsburg, PA

ebubman to scuuder3

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you know i reread the nextalarm response & website info & i guess i mistakenly understood them to say that i could use a voip system of my choice to use their service but in rereading it appears that they instead become the sole purpose voip provider for the purpose of home monitoring. am i misreading this? frankly, i don't even want voip since our gsm cell phones do everything we need them to do for voice communications. if nextalarm is indeed saying "we can do the whole deal" via my comcast cable then that's what i'd frankly prefer. honestly though, i've not heard of this. can anyone validate that this is how it works & if possible, the viability of their service? thank you in advance for any guidance. bub

vonsen
@telus.net

vonsen to scuuder3

Anon

to scuuder3
when are these hardware vendors going to wake up and start providing an ethernet port on their equipment????

If you're willing to pay (a lot) extra for a real business class alarm, ethernet ports are available. In fact a lot of business alarms use leased, dedicated lines for alarm monitoring. The line is polled and a cut or disabled line is an alarm condition. Consumer alarms are a different animal though. Everything revolves around the price point. It is a couple of dollars cheaper to incorporate a single chip 300 baud modem than an ethernet port. You also need a larger flash chip or micro to do ip communication than a fixed reporting format. $3 saved at the design level is $30 at retail. And that is enough to lose significant market share.

I spent some time in Switzerland, where the end user cost is not as central as it is in N. America and upscale panels with 10/100 ports were a lot more common. But then the rain gutters were 18ga solid copper too. Didn't see a single counter top that was't marble or stainless.. you get the idea. It all depends on how affulent you target market is.

voiplover
Premium Member
join:2004-05-28
Portsmouth, NH

voiplover to scuuder3

Premium Member

to scuuder3
This thread should have been called: What is the best alarm system to use with voip?

Just a note: Several quality alarm equipment manufacturers have been supplying network ability for years, before the internet as it is know today.

1. When you buy into an alarm contract that supplies you with a residential alarm system for free or ~$99, you are going to end up with a system that generally contains between $30 to $50 worth of electronics. And guess what- It isn't going to come equipped with a free network interface.

2. If your alarm system is solely depending on a working phone line providing touchtone in order to protect your property, then any monkey with a pair of wire cutters can render you investment worthless. However, something can be better than nothing if that something has a chance to work.

3. If your voip connection is solid, and you use a format that has a high probability of functionality with voip, the signal should make it to the alarm stations receiver at the very least within a few attempts. Unfortunately, many of these inexpensive systems are being programmed using contact ID format due to incompetence or economic reasons of these alarm companies, and at the expense of the consumer.

4. If your alarm company does not accommodate you, then maybe you should be looking for a reputable company that will.
If you are in a long term contract or lease; most states will not justify a contract is allowing you to be charged for services not rendered. You should first work with your Alarm Co to get the formatting issue resolved.

Happy Holidays!


TuscanRaider
join:1999-08-14
Fountain, CO

TuscanRaider to scuuder3

Member

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Our housesitter entered her code wrong yesterday, and ADT quickly called (our VOIP number, of course).