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comments

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Ken;

Thanks for a great newsletter, it's interesting to read about both the problems and solutions of the industry.

Regarding cell radios dropping off, I experienced this same anomaly with another company when I first started installing cells. Being the untrusting soul I am, right from the beginning they were all placed on a daily test programmed as a function of the radio, not the panel. Almost immediately I was getting LTT (late to test) reports which became a daily, lively discussion with the central station. When it was obvious that they didn't have an acceptable answer, I went directly to the manufacturer. After a few, once again, very lively discussions, they acknowledged the problem and dispatched an engineer to my location to work with me. The engineer installed laptops at about five customers' premises to monitor cellular activity. Over the course of a month, the engineer would return for a few days, gather data and head back to his HQ for analysis. What they found was that AT&T normally interrogates transmitters (cell phones) every XX seconds and if no reply was received it would remove the cell from enrollment. As explained to me it was a normal procedure for their cell phone business. It took a while for the programming corrections but it was finally completed giving that manufacturer the fix. They almost immediately released a new model number radio with a hardware change. Thanks to the diligence our neighbors to the north practiced in the beginning, I see minimal problems now, usually caused by other anomalies.

Bottom line, and it sounds like a similar problem Telguard is experiencing. The colossal giant they're subscribing to won't budge from their seat on the mountaintop for our industry. In the same light, it seems that all of us in this business who have been dependant upon redundancy are overlooking the obvious. If one end fails, we need another pathway. That's been addressed by another manufacturer, too. At least one out there does use two carriers, giving us the redundancy we need. Matter of fact, I've never had a drop out problem with that company.

Could it be that we're all forgetting our core roots and in trying to appease the customer lowered our standards in design, manufacturing, testing and delivery?

Regards;

Al DeMarzo, President

DFW ALARM

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communication and backup battery

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Ken,

In reference to communication & battery backup, While some municipalities (Like Nassau County) may be enacting legislation to allow MFVN (Managed Facilities Voice Networks), it seems that many have overlooked one thing. The manufacturers’… If the manufacture says there equipment is not designed to be used over VOIP, MFVN or otherwise, then it doesn’t matter what local legislation says. NFPA 72 requires that ALL equipment be installed according to manufactures requirements. Honeywell, one of the largest manufactures on fire alarms which includes Brand Names like Firelite & Silent Knight, has made it very clear that there system require 2 POTS lines or a GSM Radio. They are NOT supporting their panel when used with VOIP. As installers, we cannot advocate going against the manufacture’s requirements.

Ron Morasse

South Shore Alarms

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Ken

Telephone companies complain that people drop landline phone service and use cellular phones costing phone company loss of revenues. Daah! Who owns cellular networks? Isn't that the same company crying loss? They actually make more money now because cellular is more expensive to consumers and there is less maintenance to providers - no expensive copper wires to buy and run all over the country.

Dusan