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WARNING:

As everyone knows, Shaw™ cable in now in the business of providing telephone service. Although their system is somewhat compatible with alarm systems for two way communications, Hunt Security Systems Inc. strongly recommends that you thoroughly test your alarm system before the Shaw™ technician leaves the premise.

Why?

Hunt Security Systems Inc have come across several telephone systems that have been converted to Shaw™.  Unfortunately, some of their technicians are not familiar with alarm system interface's with telephone systems, nor do they claim any responsibility for "CSE" (customer supplied equipment) Their system can cause:

1. A telephone line fault "trouble"
2. A "fail to communicate" trouble. (Which will not be evident until your alarm system attempts and fails to communicate with the central station.)

Before the installer leaves:

1. Call your monitoring station and place your system "on test".
2. Arm your alarm system and wait for the exit delay duration to expire (usually 60 seconds)
3. Open a door or window and let the siren or bell sound for 30 seconds.  Before you disarm the system, make sure that your telephone is "dead" while the signal is being transmitted to the monitoring station.  If you hear anything the installation is incorrect!
4. Disarm your alarm system
5. Call the monitoring station and confirm receipt of an alarm signal.
6. If an alarm signal was not received or your keypad indicates a "trouble" within 5 minutes, the Shaw™ installation / hookup is incorrect. If so, have the technician rectify the problem and re-test the system.

It is not our intention to discredit Shaw™, however we have seen far too many failures due to incorrect installations rather than equipment failure.  It is your responsibility to make certain that your alarm system is functioning correctly before Shaw™ Cable / Telephone leaves your premises.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Shaw™ Cable / Telephone modem has a built in standby battery and will maintain your telephone service for about 4 hours during a power failure? Once the battery runs out on the cable/telephone modem, your alarm system loses the ability to communicate with the central monitoring station. Telus™ never goes down in a power failure as all battery is supplied by the central telephone office.

Standby batteries lose 20% of their capacity per year. How long will your phone stay up and running after 5 years? Hunt Security Systems Inc recommends that you simulate a power failure once a year and time how long your Shaw™ modem maintains telephone service. Unplug the adaptor / transformer that supplies power to the modem and check your phone every half hour.  This will give you a good indication of the condition of the battery.  Once you plug the transformer / adapter back in the battery will (should) recharge.

A meeting with Mr. Roy Stagg of Shaw revealed that they monitor the condition of the battery in the modem and ensured us that they will replace the battery at their expense once they receive a notification that the battery is failing. It was suggested that the client could plug the modem into a UPS (uninterruptable power supply) for added service during a power failure.

In all fairness to the cable companies providing this service, they are not providing VoIP, rather a "form of" VoIP whereas theirs is a privately "managed" network and not the internet. The similarity (and problem with security systems) stems from the data your alarm system sends to the monitoring station is converted at both ends of their network. This can and has caused the data to be corrupted in some cases.

 The service provided by the cable company is in fact a "form of" VoIP or Voice Over Internet Protocol system, and as such is not approved by alarm equipment manufacturers to work with any degree of reliability or certainty (if at all) and should not be considered a reliable or secure method of communicating signals to the monitoring station satisfactory to meet the requirements of life safety signaling systems.  Client's who switch to this service do so entirely at their own risk!

Until such time as alarm equipment manufacturers can develop systems to work jointly or specifically with this service, we can not endorse it's use. We do know that research and development is underway to achieve this goal, but as of now nothing has been marketed as such that we are aware of. HONEYWELL is currently working with not only Shaw, but Rogers Cable on the compatibility issues.

Hunt Security Systems Inc. only recognizes and endorses TELUS® as an official provider of telephone service in British Columbia, and as such recommends that anyone contemplating using VoIP service for their alarm communications pathway, also invest in an alternate communications service such as TCP/IP or GSM radio to minimize the possibility of signals not being communicated to the monitoring station.

Clients utilizing Shaw Cable™ as their primary security alarm signal pathway will be required to sign an amendment to the "Security System Agreement" which explains fully the limitations and risks involved as well as the clients responsibilities.

POSTED DEC 2008

AICC Continues to Tackle VoIP Initiative
VoIP Information Needed From You 

      The Alarm Industry Communications Committee (AICC) recently attended a meeting sponsored by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, along with representatives of the VoN (Voice over Internet) Coalition, Vonage and representatives of the cable television industry. 
      The meeting was part of a two-year effort by the AICC to create an initiative ensuring that VoIP operators are required to notify their consumers of the steps needed to preserve alarm services if the customer chooses VoIP phone services. In a number of cases, the result of a subscriber converting to cable VoIP has been the inoperability of the subscriber's alarm system, which can have serious consequences. 

      At the conclusion of the meeting, all the groups present were asked to meet and develop a consensus on the best ways to inform consumers of the potential interruptions of their alarm services as a result of switching to VoIP phone services.       

      The AICC has recommended that the VoIP provider notify the consumer at the time of number activation that if they have alarm services, the consumer needs to have their alarm company test their system, notify their alarm company when VoIP service is activated and install a 24-hour battery backup for customer equipment.
       Both the representatives of the VoN coalition and of Vonage contended that they were not really aware that alarm service interruption was a real consumer issue. The AICC, which is composed of representatives of the Central Station Alarm Association (CSAA), National Burglar & Fire Alarm Association (NBFAA), the Security Industry Association (SIA) and major alarm companies and manufacturers, believes that it is - and is attempting to collect the data to prove it.
      In order to document the extent of the problem by providing statistical information on the number of customers having issues with VoIP and whether or not the consumer is receiving proper notification (and, if so, from whom), a survey has been developed to provide a much clearer picture of the size and extent of the problem.
       If you are concerned about alarm service failures as a result of customers migrating to VoIP phone services, the AICC is requesting that you take the time to make a record of the service interruptions that you are experiencing.

      "The ultimate goal is for us to have legislation that requires the VoIP providers to inform their customers that they should contact their alarm company to make sure their alarm system is tested to make sure that it works properly," Louis Fiore, chairman of the AICC and president of L.T. Fiore Inc., said. "VoIP providers don't want anything that will make a potential customer hesitate or get in the way of the sale. They don't want to admit that it is an issue, but we feel that it is - and we would like to gather the data to prove it."
      "We are not trying to create contention between the alarm industry and the cable industry or VoIP providers; we just want to insure the proper installation of VoIP and make sure that that all alarm signals are received by alarm monitoring stations. The more data we get, the better off we are. Thus, it is vital that everyone participates."      

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Last modified: 12/08/09 12:29