Re: Call setup... does it have to go to a monitoring company?

["Doug" <not@xxxxxxxx>]

"Dave" <dave.harper@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:55ab75dc-1e6b-47b0-921e-311b4f50b0f6@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> I'm new to alarm systems, and was interested in setting up one in my
> home.  The main reason is to alert me if someone breaks in while my
> family and I are asleep (preventing theft while we're gone is
> secondary).  So I'm not really interested in monitoring, but would
> like to get a call on my cell if my wife and I are gone and the alarm
> goes off.
>
> I called one of the online alarm suppliers and asked about the call
> setup (specifically for the GE Concord 4), and I was told that most
> alarm systems can only call monitoring companies... but I'm
> questioning that.  They told me I could get a telephone module that
> would call additional numbers, but I'm wondering why I can't do that
> with the base system.  Surely the number is programmable, although
> maybe only monitoring companies have the capability of programming
> it...?
>
> So my question is this: are most alarm systems set up to only call
> monitoring systems?  If so, is there a way around it?  It doesn't
> violate any laws if I program it myself, does it?
>
> Thanks in advance!
> Dave

The number the alarm calls is programmable, and you could program it to call
your cell phone, but the alarm won't talk to you unless you can mimic and
interpret the tones the alarm communicator and CS receiver use to transmit
and acknowledge the alarm signals.

The easiest way is add a voice dialer to the system.

Doug