Re: question about VOIP and liability

[Frank Olson <Use_the_email_links@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

robertlbass@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> All of the blather in ASA about VoIP is not going to change the fact
> that VoIP or something like it is going to replace the vast majority of
> POTS lines in the not too distant future.  Some telco's are already
> using VoIP to handle their long distance calls rather than paying for
> conventional lines.

No argument there.  As for the "blather in ASA about VoIP", let's put it
down to the fact that a group of professionals are discussing the
options available today to deal with it.


>
> I remember when I was just getting started nearly 30 years ago "high
> security" systems used leased telephone lines to connect to the
> monitoring facility or, in some cases, to the police department.  When
> the telcos stopped offering new leased lines the industry fretted over
> the loss of secure lines (as though leased lines weren't easy to
> subvert).

"Leased lines" are impossible to "subvert".  You'd not only have to be a
genius to figure out all the parameters, the perp would have to know
exactly what the customer has installed (equipment wise) and then be
able to match the account codes and transponder ID.


> Eventually, most installations went to digital
> communication, sometimes backed up by RF telemetry and later via
> cellular.

Now, you see??  This is where you confirm that your "knowledge" of
systems is about as "Mickey Mouse" as your website.  Digital
communication (using standard telephone lines) has been an industry
standard for *all* of the so called "30 years" you've been in the
business.  How many McCullogh Loop systems did you *ever* work on?


> As I recall the sky didn't fall.  I doubt it will this time
> either.

Nope.  The sky didn't fall.


>
> Now some folks are all upset about VoIP.

Uh-huh.  And they should be.  Customers I know that have switched to
VOIP have switched back to POTS within 3 to 4 months.  They complain
about noise on the line, and frequent service interruptions.


> Get over it.  The fact is
> that more and more of your clients *are* going to choose VoIP no matter
> what you tell them.  Learn to deal with it.  There are monitoring
> options for VoIP which will work as long as you provide power to the
> modem and router.  True, the VoIP connection won't work if the DSL or
> cable connection goes down.  But that's not much different from the
> problem of down phone lines.  After a bad storm, both are subject to
> outages.

Outages of POTS lines are extremely rare.  In fact, in all my years in
the trade I can only count one (and that happened during a tornado in
Edmonton).


>
> This isn't a threat to your businesses.  It's an opportunity to expand
> your product offering.  If you don't find ways to deal with it,
> competing services like Next Alarm ($8.95 a month for monitoring
> burglary and fire) will beat you to it.

"Next Alarm" isn't even listed as an approved central station.  They're
a "Dealer" that sell third party monitoring services (very much like you
used to do).  In fact, they won't even help your customer reprogram
their alarm panel (if it's locked out).  They will sell them a
communicator module (they call it a "redirector") that they have to
install.  Will their "redirector" be able to transmit more than a
generic "alarm" or "fire" signal?  What about "openings and closings"?
   Do you have any idea how they deal with "fail to communicate"
troubles that the customers panel will initiate when they disconnect the
telephone line and hook up Next Alarm's module?  Who services their
equipment when it fails to test?  What is the test transmission cycle?
Daily, weekly, monthly...  never??  Is their communications "module"
(redirector) UL listed?  What central stations do they use?  All they
say on their website is that they're "UL Listed".  For what?  "Fire"?
That basic listing can be obtained by any CS that installs equipment to
the minimum standard.  What about SIA certified operators?


> Come to think of it, they
> already have.  ISTR they offer a TCP/IP monitoring solution that works
> where the customer chooses VoIP.

You "recall"??  You mean you don't "know"??  I certainly wouldn't count
their "service" as any more reliable than VoIP.