Re: Confusion about cellular solns

["Crash Gordon" <webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Uplink doesn't use a SIM card.

Only limited data is sent...not full signals by zone...troubles, restores
etc. Typically; Burg, Fire, AC Fail, Low Batt and weekly test, as such
doesn't cost all that much, and typically we don't charge all that much
extra since we are still monitoring and charging for the telco reporting.

I don't use Teleguard so cant speak to that.





--
**Crash Gordon**







"Eric B." <ebenze@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:2d8fa$492f49b2$4c0ab4dd$4907@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Hi,
>
> I've been trying to understand how cellular communicators work, and I have
> to admit, I'm a bit confused.  From what I can tell from reading through
> the docs on the different suppliers (ie: Teleguard, Uplink, etc), they
> communicate via GPRS over GSM.  Which sounds reasonable given that there
> really isn't a whole lot of data to transmit.
>
> But here is where I get lost.  For any device to communicate over GSM, it
> needs a SIM chip, which implies that every device would require a unique
> SIM chip.  Who provides the SIM chip?  Does that come from the central
> station? Does that also mean that every device have a unique telephone
> number?  ie: if I knew the number, I'd be able to call the device
> directly?  How is that profitable?  The local companies here charge
> 15$/mth for cellular monitoring.  Assuming that the alarm system makes a
> verification phone call every night to the CS, that would imply at minimum
> 30mins of usage a month (assuming per-min billing) not counting any
> additional alarms.  The cheapest mobile phone plan I can find is $10 for
> 33mins.  How can a CS offer a service like this and remain profitable?
>
> Am I misunderstanding how these devices work?  Do CS's get such better
> rates that the average joe consumer for his own mobile phone?  Or do the
> CS's have a huge GPRS data plan and all devices share the total calculated
> bandwidth?
>
> I'm sure I'm missing something simple, but can't seem to figure it out...
>
> Thanks for the info!
>
> Eric
>
>