December 14, 2011
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Comments [all of which are very helpful and appreciated]
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Ken
Regarding using your own phone number (either direct distance dialing or 800 service) and call forwarding, just be aware tat if you are monitoring FIRE ALARMS there is a section in NFPA-72 that requires that the "integrity of the call forwarding" be tested every four hours. Easily done, just have your contract central notify you if no signals come in from any of your accounts in that time period. You can then check the call forwarding yourself (dial the receiver manually, looking for the handshake) and take proper action (reprogram) in the event of a failure.
Joseph Hayes, CPP, PSP, SET
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Ken,
Bill's issue is what he is asking the provider for. Do not discuss call forwarding simply order an 800 number connected to one of your business lines, once you are comfortable with the operation just order the line rehomed to the central station receiver number. Takes a few hours to transfer and you are done.
You want to find a carrier with the lowest 'MATR' if you find 6 seconds that's great but usually 18 seconds is standard and most dialers work within this. This MATR (min average time reported) is much more important than the per min rate. It means you will only be billed for .3 minutes per call instead of 1 minute per call, makes a huge difference in your bill. The carriers don't make a ton on our lines so don't tell them it is for an alarm receiver.
BTW, why don't you establish a voice line 800 number for your out of town subscribers at the same time..
Mike Fletcher
Heeth LLC
Fire Alarm Training and Consulting
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Ken
If you are using your own 800 number and pointing that number to a supervising station you pay to monitor, the line will most likely be owned by that station. So you might need a legal document that you can move that line in the future. It is also a good idea to do that since to free up phone numbers for all telco providers, area codes are being changed/added. If you are using your own 800 number or the supervising stations number you won't have to reprogram. We have been putting the area code in front of the phone number for awhile and using the 800 number as back up.
John Elmore
Security By Elmore
Center Point, Alabama
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Ken,
I do not think that you gave as much detail in the explanation of having your own 800 numbers as the dealers need to know before they make that decision. I think that it is important to look at both sides of the issue.
While it is true that having your systems programed to phone numbers that you control can have its advantages, especially when it becomes time to sell your accounts, it can have major disadvantages due to added liability. Such as, if the dealer is not aware of the fire alarm code requirements that may effect the number of lines needed based, on the size of his customer based to be monitored. If the dealer is only providing monitoring for security systems, then there is no code requirement and, they can monitor 9999 accounts on a single phone line if they so chose. If the dealer is monitoring both fire alarm and burglary alarm system then a review of the fire alarm codes would be in order. NFPA 72 has specific requirements for monitoring fire alarm systems whether they are residential or commercial. In the residential chapter NFPA 72-11.7.8 Supervising Stations, 11.7.8.1 Means to transmit alarm signals to a constantly attended, remote monitoring location shall perform as described in Chapter 8 except as modified by 11.7.8.1(A) through 11.7.8.1(C). 11.7.8.1 (A) is the important one because it states that residential fire alarm shall call only one receiver line at the monitoring center. A commercial system must be programed to call two separate receiver phone numbers and if 800 numbers are used they must be provided by separate long distance service providers. (8.5.3.2.1.5 (6) When looking at the other requirements of Chapter 8 the dealer must consider the loading of the alarm receiver (DACR) and the fact that to receive a single fire alarm signal the DACR has to have a minimum of two telephone lines that can "Hunt" together.( If one line is busy with a phone call the other line will automatically pick up the incoming call.) Table 8.5.3.2.2.2 gives the loading capacities for a receiver based on the number of lines in the hunt group. For two lines the maximum numbers of DACTs that can be connected is 500. A 4 line hunt group is limited to 3000 DACTs. The conditions of 8.5.3.2.2.2 (D) require that the number of DACTs connected to a receiver line be reduced under the following conditions: Each supervised burglar alarm (open/Close) or each suppressed guard's tour transmitter shall reduce the allowable DACTs as follows:
(1) Up to a four line hunt group, by 10 All the way up to eight lines in a hunt group based on the number of accounts the dealer may have to provide multiple lines at his own expense. When using a reputable monitoring service, the monitoring service will usually watch the line loading and provide the correct number of lines in the hunt group and also keep the account load balanced so the receiver will answer 90% of the calls on the first attempt per 8.5.3.2.2.2.
(C).
The other important issue is found in 8.5.3.2.1.5 (8) If a DACT is programmed to call a telephone line (number) that is call forwarded to a line (number) of the DACR, a means shall be implemented to verify the integrity of the call forwarding feature every 4 hours. Most dealers are not aware that these requirements become their responsibility when they chose to control their own phone lines, when the lines are used to monitor a single fire alarm system. A dealer must be informed and provide for his own best interest when making the decision about controlling his own phone lines. Even though it is recommended by every acquiring company in the industry, that recommendation is for the benefit of the acquiring company. It may not be the best solution for every dealer and they should base their decision on what is best for their own situation at the time. I would think that the dealers would be focused more on the issue of, what technology are they using to replace POTS lines. GSM, IP or Radio, because analog phone lines are just about gone and the communicator we call a DACT is not designed to communicate reliably over digital phone lines.
Larry Mann
Central Station, Inc.
Birmingham, AL
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Ken,
You may want to check with some of your resources in the industry as relates to the transmission by DACT units over #800 numbers circuits. Simply stated the transmission requirements / standards for voice communication over circuits is not as critical as those tor the successful transmission of DACT protocol. With the changing of communication technology the carriers can obtain greater efficiency of bandwidth meeting the voice standards.
Many who sell the #800 service are not using their own circuits but those of others with whom they cannot guarantee the quality of the circuits, these result in failure of alarm units to successfully communicate to the receivers.
Many dealers with their own #800 and central stations have experienced serious failures as the main circuit providers, change to the 'VOIP' not taking into account that alarm transmission requires the higher standard. Simply “ the carriers are interested I meeting the minimal requirements for voice and not those for tone sensitive devices like DACT or FAX.
The alarm industry has to move from the old phone line communication technology to the IT protocol of the internet.
JAMES ESSAM, PRESIDENT
ALARM CENTRAL STATION, INC
BEAVERTON, OREGON
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Dear Ken,
In reference to Mr. Gray's inquiry about using toll-free numbers in his alarm panels, let me add my endorsement to what you said. Any communications supplier should be able to provide a toll free line. HOWEVER, not all carriers are capable of providing a reliable line. Many of the 'budget' carriers actually buy bandwidth from another carrier. They then must compress the traffic in order to provide the service at a 'discounted' price point. This compression is the cause of a great problem in our industry. As I briefed you when you spoke at our dealer conference, the problem is now here, it is profound, and there are still many alarm companies who are not aware of it. This distortion of an alarm signal can cause alarm signals to not be sent properly to a central monitoring station. If the signal is not sent properly, the central monitoring station cannot dispatch the alarm properly. We all know what bad consequences that could have!
We at Response Center USA constantly monitor the status of the signals that are presented to us. If we get a signal which has been distorted so as to cause an invalid signal, we send a report to the dealer. Further, if a signal is so badly distorted that it cannot give us any data, we have the ability to trap that call and we send a report to the dealer giving him info about what account was trying to send a signal, so that he can investigate the cause of the problem. It might be that the end user has switched to digital phone service, VoIP. Or, it might be that his phone carrier has reprogrammed one of their switches to change the compression rations, etc.
When ordering a toll free number, the dealer should specify that it must have one-to-one compression, which means no compression, and it must also have no echo cancelling. If a carrier cannot provide that capability on every call, then the dealer should look for a different carrier. A dealer may have to pay more to a full-service carrier to obtain this service. A discounted price for a service that does not work certainly is no bargain in the long run, and could prove quite costly, indeed.
Keep in mind that many end users are switching away from the traditional POTS phone service and going to no phone line, using only their cell phone, or perhaps opting for a digital VoIP phone line. Most VoIP phone lines simply do not work for sending alarm signals. Or, even worse, they give a false sense of security since they might work sometimes, and fail when needed most. If an end user switches to digital phone, then the dealer would want to consider some other form of communications such as our RCic internet communicator, an internet card from the alarm panel manufacturer, a cell service, or radio service.
This is not as complicated as it might sound. If anyone has any questions about this topic, they may call me and I would be glad to add further explanation.
Thanks for your newsletters, Ken. They provide a great service, as do your contracts.
Gary Dawkins, CEO
Response Center USA
San Antonio, TX
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Here is the original question and answer
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Question
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Ken,
We are thinking about using an 800 number for our alarm systems to call to when an alarm is tripped and then point that to our monitoring system with call forwarding. My question is: Are you aware of any issues, practical or legal with doing this? This arrangement was recommended to us by a guy who teaches certification in our area. When I contacted two 800 number providers, they refused to provide an 800# for this purpose.
Thanks,
W.M."Bill" Gray
Director of Operations
Silverback Security
Newton, KS
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Answer
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Alarm companies that do not monitor their own accounts but use the services of a wholesale central station should use their own line. The reason is obvious. If the alarm company wants to move the accounts to another central station, or if a buyer of those accounts wants to move the monitoring, which is usually the case, moving a line is easier than reprogramming all the alarms, even if they are remote programmable. I am not sure why you would have any problem getting an 800 number for that purpose. By the way, phone service is so cheap now you might consider programming your alarm communicators to a regular phone number, not an 800 number.