Internet Phone

Internet Phone (continued)

If you are considering switching from your current Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to save money on long distance calls, please consider the following information. VoIP providers like Vonage,  AT&T CallVantage®, and Comcast are quick to point out your potential dollar savings, but not all providers are quick to point out the limitations regarding your monitored alarm system.

Since your connection to the Internet must be available to provide any telephone service, every piece of equipment in the “chain” (modem, router, hub, telephone adapter, etc.) must be receiving power. If the only source of power is your electric utility company, your telephone service (and your connection to the alarm monitoring station) WILL NOT FUNCTION during power outages.

If you choose to gamble that your power outages will be brief, please realize that some equipment may not reset itself reliably after even a brief power outage. This can mean someone has to be at the premises after power is restored to reset the Internet equipment – not so convenient if you are away on vacation. One way to remedy this mode of failure is to ensure that you have battery backup power supplies for all the required equipment.

Even when a human user may find no degradation of the voice call over VoIP, the fact remains that the VoIP system relies on converting the normal analog signals into data packets for transmission via the Internet and then back to analog signals for reception by the equipment at the alarm monitoring station. Sometimes this process breaks up alarm signal packets in a way that prevents the signal from being properly received. It has been proven that much of the industry’s existing receiving equipment cannot reliably process all signals transmitted via VoIP.

Whichever Internet Service Provider you use, chances are good it will need to disable your service from time to time for varying periods to perform maintenance, upgrades, or just to reboot their equipment. You may not notice it much since they typically schedule such periods for the middle of the night. That also happens to be a time when you especially want your monitored alarm system fully reliable. Most alarm systems will emit a beeping sound while the phone service is inoperative, possibly disturbing your sleep and forcing you to acknowledge the condition to silence it.

Unlike your normal telephone service which connects you directly and displays your address to the local 911 dispatcher automatically, calls to 911 over VoIP are often intercepted and re-routed by the VoIP provider – possibly delaying your connection to assistance. Additionally, it becomes the responsibility of the premise owner to ensure the VoIP provider has your proper address on file and has an Enhanced 911 system.

With the limitations described above, Security Alarm Corporation can continue to monitor your premises utilizing only the telephone service provided with VoIP. However, if you are uncomfortable with some or all of the issues that arise with VoIP monitoring, you may wish to add an alternative communication path.

There are currently two options available, both utilizing wireless technology – GSM Cellular using the cellular telephone networks, and SAFECOM using radio frequencies licensed to Security Alarm Corporation. Both add a separate transmitter/receiver to most existing alarm panels which are programmed to transmit alarm signals to the alarm monitoring station wirelessly, completely independent of POTS or VoIP lines. As with your existing alarm panel, the wireless communication devices have high operational reliability by using backup electrical power from the alarm panel’s internal battery in the event of a utility power outage.