VoIP Q & A
More and more homes and businesses are opting for alternatives to the traditional dial‐up telephone line. However, sometimes eliminating dial‐up service and switching to voice over IP (VoIP) or cellular can actually make your security system vulnerable to communication failure.
Q: What is VoIP ?
A: VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) is a technology that allows you to get telephone service over the internet.
Q: What should I ask the VoIP or telecommunication service provider before I switch?
A: You should ask questions like: What will happen to my telephone communications in the event of a power failure? Will my 911 call be routed appropriately and will it show my address to the 911 center? Can my security/fire system communicate over this new technology?
Q: Do I need to let First Alarm know if I switch to VoIP phone service?
A: Yes, if you make a change to your phone service, your alarm system may not communicate properly. Please contact us before making any changes to your phone service to verify that your existing security system will be compatible with the new service. We can recommend what measures can be taken to maintain or bolster your communication link. We want to make sure that in an emergency we can do our job—which is to get help where it’s needed- FAST!
Q: What communication pathways can I use with a First Alarm system?
A: First Alarm offers several primary and back-up communication pathways. We will assess your needs and suggest only the pathways that will have the most reliable communication path from your premise to our Central Monitoring Station.
Available Communication Pathways:
- Dial-up Telephone Service
- Internet
- FirstNET (high security radio network)
- GSM Cellular