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How Home Alarm System Communicates with Monitoring Center

By:
Peter M. Rogers
|January 27, 2014Today’s post is the first in FrontPoint’s new series of informative blog entries created to educate consumers about electronic security for the home. And we've picked an important first topic: how your home alarm system communicates with the monitoring center.
The Old Days
There was a time when most alarm systems were not monitored by a remote 24/7 center: in the event of an alarm event, the system just made noise with a bell, horn, or siren, and that was it. Often called a “local” alarm, these systems are seldom installed today. One reason for that is that people tend to ignore the noise (just like most car alarms!), and in some jurisdictions there are even nuisance ordinances against outside alarm sounding devices. Another reason is that over the years there have been significant advancements in how security systems can easily communicate an alarm event to a remote monitoring center.
Evolving Technologies
Some early technologies enabled alarm systems to connect directly to the monitoring center, and there were even some long-range radio systems for high security applications, but these were mostly for commercial premises. Then some smart folks figured out how to use the traditional copper phone line in the home as a communication channel – and the business of monitored home security really started to take off. This method of monitoring communication is called “POTS,” since it is based on the “Plain Old Telephone Service” network.
Times Have Changed
As cellular technology has become more pervasive and more affordable, plenty of homeowners have gotten rid of those old copper phone lines. Despite this switch, a large percentage of the home alarm systems in use today still rely on these old POTS phone lines.
In fact, they may still keep that POTS line just because of their alarm system. If that’s you, look out! Recently AT&T petitioned the FCC for permission to end the maintenance of those POTS networks across the US.
What Came Next?
When canceling a POTS line, some homeowners gave up any physical connection for home phone service, making the choice to go cell-only in the home. Others replaced their POTS lines with “VoIP” technology: think providers like Vonage.
VoIP stands for “Voice over Internet Protocol,” and while there is still a physical connection, it’s over the Internet, so no longer a POTS line. But in choosing VoIP, they simply replaced one physical connection with another. And VoIP is not a great solution for alarm communication – as the carriers themselves will tell you.
Cell vs. VoIP Monitoring
That raises the frequent question of which is best for alarm monitoring: cellular or VoIP (internet). And the consensus of the alarm industry is that cellular is clearly better than the Internet for alarm monitoring. Here’s why:
- Remember, it’s just as easy to cut an internet connection as it is to cut that vulnerable POTS line.
- Homes lose their internet connection with far greater frequency than there are interruptions in the cellular networks.
- How many home routers and modems that provide access to the internet have a battery backup? Not many. When you lose power, your alarm system may still function, but it has no way to communicate.