Specifications
Level One: Protege GX Installer Study Guide | August 2013 353
IP Monitoring
As technology improves and more and more services and functions are being performed on computer networks
or the internet, traditional analog systems are being forced into the digital world.
Why IP Monitoring?
Analog technologies such as copper phone lines are becoming more costly to maintain, and are therefore more
expensive for the end user.
In some cases, they are simply non-existent. Analog alarm dialers are no exception. Many businesses and now
even new residential subdivisions are moving to fibre to the door. This means no analog phone lines, and VoIP
for communications.
The problem with VoIP for alarm dialers is that due to many of the compression techniques used, the
handshake, DTMF, and kiss-off tones are often completely lost on transmission.
Sometimes it is the cost of a traditional phone line that is prompting the move to digital.
Every business call costs money
If your site only sends open and close messages every day, you are looking at an added cost just for the
calls alone
If your average site has 2 alarm activations per month, add more money to this cost
If your analog phone line is only being used for the alarm, add another charge for the line rental
These costs add up!
Moving your alarm system to a fully IP solution utilizing an existing internet connection can save a significant
amount per site, per year. This alone can justify the cost of installing an IP alarm panel.
Another key feature is that IP monitoring is essentially always online to the monitoring station with a regular
default polling time of 90 seconds. Many alarm dialers only test once every 24 hours, or sometimes only once
every 5 days. Message transmission is almost instant and a lost connection can be detected in 90 seconds or
less.
IP Monitoring can utilize existing IT infrastructure, and certainly won't 'tie up' the internet connection the way an
alarm dialer does with a phone line. It uses such a small amount of bandwidth that it can sit on your existing
network without any noticeable effect on other network traffic.