Central Monitoring Station versus Cellphone

Monitoring to Central Monitoring Station versus to a Cellphone

Most Alarms can communicate over a traditional Analogue Line to Cell Phones or to a Central Monitoring Station using an onboard Analogue dialler built onto the alarm panel.

The large majority of Monitored alarm systems are used for the protection of property and personal wellbeing.  This includes Burglary, Fire, Medical, Panic and Duress Alarms.

Important: Your Insurance Company may not recognize Cell Phone Monitoring so if making changes to the type of monitoring you are using we recommend that you contact them before making changes

Insurance Companies do not recognize Alarms being Monitored to Cell Phones as being Monitored in the traditional sense of the word, if your Insurance requirements include Monitoring then this will usually mean that your Insurance Company require it to be monitored by an Approved Central Monitoring Company.

If you are monitoring your alarm to your cell phone you risk your claim being rejected by your insurance company.

We are aware of many instances where an Insurance company rejected a claim because the client had a clause in his Insurance to say the alarm must be monitored but it was only monitored to his Cell Phone, Not by a Monitoring Station

Our Advice: If you are monitoring to you cell phone check your Insurance Companies Requirements and Contact them if you are in doubt

Reasons to Monitor to your Cell Phone

The Cost: Monitoring to a cell phone is obviously less expensive as you DO Not pay an ongoing Monitoring Charge.

However, No System Events are sent: The only signal you receive is an Activation Signal so you never know if the alarm is working properly.  Therefore unless the client tests it regularly they don’t know if it is working, however it is better than nothing.

Reasons to Monitor to a Central Monitoring Station

Reliability: Your alarm transmits a Test Signal (usually every Day but sometime every 7 Days) to tell the Monitoring Station that it is still working. If the Central Monitoring Company does not receive this test signal they will contact the client to notify them, this is usually because the Client has changed their phone system (gone to Fibre or cancelled their Analogue line)

The Appropriate Response Can be sent: The extent and variety of signaling received from alarm systems today is vast.  Each alarm system can be individually programmed to convey the appropriate levels of signaling required catering for each customer’s specific requirements. Most alarms communicate in Contact ID or SIA formats, both of which have about 500 different event signals

Signals fall into three broad categories: Emergency, Non-Emergency and System Maintenance. The Monitoring Station will provide the appropriate response to each, monitoring to your cell phone simply won’t differentiate between these signals

Emergency Signals are high priority signals and require rapid response.   Signals that fall into this category have been listed above and include:  Burglary, Fire, Medical, Panic, Duress, Tamper and Industrial such as Freezer Temperature.

Non-Emergency Signals are medium priority signals and are second in priority to emergency signals and include: Opening, Closing, Close not Received, Unset out of Hours, Test Not Received, Restore, Zone Bypass.

System Maintenance Signals are medium priority signals and are second in priority to emergency signals and include: A/C Power Fail, Low Battery, Fuse Failure and Phone Line Fault.