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Alarm Monitoring through VoIP Could Cost You.

Written by John Lampkin Friday, 27 November 2009 09:36

With the popularity of VoIP (Voice over IP ) telephone systems skyrocketing over the past two years, the interest to monitor home or business security panels over a VOIP connection has also increased dramatically.

With the popularity of VoIP (Voice over IP ) telephone systems skyrocketing over the past two years, the interest to monitor home or business security systems over a VOIP connection has also increased dramatically.

While technically it is possible to accomplish alarm monitoring through a Voice over IP telephone connection, we're going to give you a couple of reasons why monitoring your residential alarm system through VOIP isn't such a good idea.

VoIP requires Power - As we mentioned previously, VoIP telephone services requires the Internet which means that it requires power to run the router and modem that power your internet connection. If the power goes out, without a battery backup system, you will not have phone service and your alarm system will not be able to dial out to the monitoring center in the event of an emergency. An alarm system connected to a traditional POTS (plain old telephone service) phone line works even when the power is out because the POTS line is self powered, meaning it works even when your electricity is out allowing your alarm system (which generally has a built in battery backup) to dial out during a power outage.

VoIP requires Power - As we mentioned previously, VoIP telephone services requires the Internet which means that it requires power to run the router and modem that power your internet connection. If the power goes out, without a battery backup system, you will not have phone service and your alarm system will not be able to dial out to the monitoring center in the event of an emergency. An alarm system connected to a traditional POTS (plain old telephone service) phone line works even when the power is out because the POTS line is self powered, meaning it works even when your electricity is out allowing your alarm system (which generally has a built in battery backup) to dial out during a power outage.

VoIP Quality of Service - The quality of service with VoIP varies dramatically between providers. Alarm panels need a high quality telephone connection in order to communicate alarm signals over VoIP. Alarm panels communicate much like a fax machine, and if the VoIP connection is too greatly compressed and the audio quality is degraded, the alarm panel will not be able to communicate effectively or reliably with the central station. This leads to an unreliable alarm monitoring situation that is unpredictable. This situation is not preferable for monitoring emergency situations such as theft or fire.

A better option that allows you to keep you VoIP telephone service and all of the associated benefits but will give you a more confident alarm monitoring system is Cellular monitoring. Cellular alarm monitoring uses a CDMA or GSM connection to wirelessly communicate your alarm signals much like a cell phone. This system does not require power and is not subject to failures like VoIP can be. While it costs a few extra dollars per month for the cellular connection, it is a much better alternative to trusting an unreliable VoIP connection with the significant task of monitoring your home or business.

Simply Google alarm monitoring or cellular alarm monitoring to learn more about the different options and companies that offer these services.