Re: Difference between digital phone and VOIP

["Robert L Bass" <RobertLBass@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> So VOIP can travel over the Internet, or over private wiring.
> So one must always ask the question as to whose network
> infrastructure is being used.  VOIP and Digital Phone are
> too general to define it...

Regardless whose network it is, VoIP can still cause problems.
Packet loss, latency and codec issues, as noted earlier, can
cause a loss of communications with the central station if the
alarm system is using analog (until recently virtually all were).

Unless you're willing to spring for a TCP/IP compatible alarm
system and unless you're working with a central station that
is equipped to receive alarms over the Internet, you may
miss signals from time to time.

One of the problems I've seen using certain ATA devices is
that they don't like short, quick bursts of DTMF (exactly what
the alarm system uses when sending CID).  Even when I
dialed rapidly by hand at a rate no faster than 3 or 4 keys
per second, the devices would miss part of the dialing
sequence at least half the time.  During an alarm call this
could cause a failure to connect or (worse) erroneous data.

I have not tried many of the newer ATA devices (only two
so far this year) but those I have used were still quirky.
Hopefully, things will improve over the next couple of years
as more and more businesses change over to VoIP, demanding
commercial grade services and 100% reliable hardware.

--

Regards,
Robert L Bass

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Bass Home Electronics
941-925-8650
4883 Fallcrest Circle
Sarasota · Florida · 34233
http://www.bassburglaralarms.com
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