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Long distance carriers going with VoIP

Most of the early discussions of VoIP issues in this newsgroup have
centered on customers opting for VoIP systems, such as Vonage, without
telling the alarm dealer or central monitoring station of their
decision. For most central stations and with most current technology
alarm control panels this can interfere with alarm signal transmission.
I've stated before times that I believe VoIP (or something like it) is
going to replace POTS lines within a few years. Now it seems there's
an even faster current flowing toward VoIP and those who don't want to
lose their shirts in this trade had better find a way to deal with it..

In the current issue of CEPro there's an article titled, "Telcos'
Switch to VoIP Wreaks Alarm Havoc." Local phone companies are
beginning to switch their long distance services over to VoIP ...
without telling customers or alarm companies about it in advance.
According to the Dale Eller, NBFAA standards director, "it is our
understanding that *ALL* long distance providers will be employing
VoIP." (emphasis mine)

This could spell big trouble (and hefty cost increases) for big,
national monitoring companies as they will have to provide alternate
communications paths / hardware or lose their customer base. Those of
us who don't care for the Monitonix' and P1's of this industry can
smile as they face astronomical costs just to maintain their present
RMR. However, as CLECs begin employing the technology at the local
level, even the local dealer using a local central station will face
the same hurdles.

One remedy would be to have new panels designed to be compatible with
VoIP and some manufacturers are already working on that. That will
make it possible to handle new installations without VoIP-phobia. It
could also provide a major boost to sales as existing customers will
need to upgrade to new hardware.

Either way, those of us who sell online won't be hurt. If alarm
companies start telling millions of customers all over the country that
they have to replace their systems or lose monitoring, a fair
percentage of those customers will opt to buy online. Also, since most
online dealers don't rely on monitoring revenue as their major profit
centers, the changes will have almost zero negative affect.

Regards,
Robert L Bass
www.BassBurglarAlarms.com
 
M

mikey

Jan 1, 1970
0
So does this mean you're finally going to get rid of your rotary phone and
upgrade to touchtone?

Uh, gee, Bob, er, thanks for the update... I'm really relieved that you're
not affected, just us monkeys.
And you're going to profit too! Isn't that special. Go girl!
 
So does this mean you're finally going to get rid of your rotary phone and
upgrade to touchtone?

My desk set, like those of my staff, is a Polycom 501 IP telephone. I
use an online PBX service which runs my auto-attendant, and handles
call queing, forwarding, voice mail, etc. When we go to Salvador for
several months at a time, incoming calls ring simultaneously in the USA
and Brasil. I can hand calls off to staff members in the US as easily
as if they were in the next room.

Have you gotten around to replacing the light on that princess phone
you use?
Uh, gee, Bob, er, thanks for the update... I'm really relieved that you're not affected, just us monkeys.

Quit insulting monkeys.
And you're going to profit too! Isn't that special.

Works for me. :^)

Regards,
Robert L Bass
www.BassBurglarAlarms.com
 
R

R.H.Campbell

Jan 1, 1970
0
Mike, RLB has a point ! I don't know about you, but I lose business now
because I am unwilling to hook them up to VoIP services. Something has to
give, and soon, or all of us that depend upon conventional POTS lines for
monitoring services will face big problems ! The issue is not that there
aren't IP options out there, with more to come, it's simply that the average
residential customer who has gotten rid of his telco line to save $20 a
month, is not very receptive to spending much more than that (either
upfront, or ongoing, or more likely both) to buy into one of the very few IP
alternatives that exist now. And it isn't a matter of turning on your sales
charm and selling them on it either, as has been suggested to me on
occasion. For business it's not a problem, because the cost of a POTS line
is peanuts !!

I sure wish I had a handle on where it's all going. It's one of the few
things in this industry that truly worries me. All you have to do is look at
the 2006/2007 VoIP forcasts to know we're all going to be affected "big
time".

RHC


mikey said:
So does this mean you're finally going to get rid of your rotary phone and
upgrade to touchtone?

Uh, gee, Bob, er, thanks for the update... I'm really relieved that you're
not affected, just us monkeys.
And you're going to profit too! Isn't that special. Go girl!


I choose Polesoft Lockspam to fight spam, and you?
http://www.polesoft.com/refer.html
 
M

mikey

Jan 1, 1970
0
and
upgrade to touchtone?

My desk set, like those of my staff, is a Polycom 501 IP telephone.
I use an online PBX service which runs my auto-attendant, and handles
call queing, forwarding, voice mail, etc.

So that's why it was so quiet around here for awhile... what do you do
when there's a power outage?

When we go to Salvador for
several months at a time, incoming calls ring simultaneously in the USA
and Brasil.

and both go to the autoattendant no doubt. Do you have pager notification
on your autoattendant or do you just check betwen flipping the burgs on the
barbie in the I lie.

I can hand calls off to staff members in the US as easily
as if they were in the next room.

And they sound like they're in the next room too I suppose.
I love being bumped from one person to the next waiting in vain
for someone who knows what they're doing. Good luck with that.
Have you gotten around to replacing the light on that princess phone
you use?

Light on a POTS phone? Exsolent, where can I get one of those?
What a great idea! I'd be able to see the phone in a power outage.
you're not affected, just us monkeys.
Quit insulting monkeys.

Oh gee, that WAS deep. Took me awhile, how clever you are!
Works for me. :^)

Uh huh
 
M

mikey

Jan 1, 1970
0
His post was him beating his chest again, you say he had a point, what was
that exactly?
Did he tell us what alarm panel his lordship was using?
He used to have some interesting (probably stolen) tips but now he's just
silly.
Are you following up to see what these customers you lose are doing with
their alarm systems?
Maybe it's an opportunity to upgrade to internet monitoring, **** Voip.
I've never heard the voice quality of that shit either, is it like digital
cell phones?, fucking yuck.
I cherish my analog cell phone, people can actually talk to me, it's great.
 
R

R.H.Campbell

Jan 1, 1970
0
The point was that VoIP is a coming technology that we as an industry damned
well better be prepared to meet head on in some fashion, or it's going to
steamroller right over us !

As a matter of fact, I haven't lost track of the six systems so far that
I've lost to VoIP. One came back after paying Bell over $100 to reinstall
his line. The others simply went "local" (without my decals....). Other
potential clients that have called, I turn away with an explanation.....

One thing you can say about a Bell phone - it's far more likely to work and
keep on working during times of real emergency. Plus it always sounds good
!! And for $5 monthly, I added 1000 minutes of long distance to my analog
service. Frankly, I have yet to see any real reason to get rid of
conventional phone service, but...hey....it's the consumer who makes the
final decision, and who will determine how far this trend goes and how soon
!!! Clients who do have VoIP (in addition to their POTS line) say that in
instances where they call a lot to places like India, Pakistan and far away
countries, they save big time on LD. I can see that.....

RHC

mikey said:
His post was him beating his chest again, you say he had a point, what was
that exactly?
Did he tell us what alarm panel his lordship was using?
He used to have some interesting (probably stolen) tips but now he's just
silly.
Are you following up to see what these customers you lose are doing with
their alarm systems?
Maybe it's an opportunity to upgrade to internet monitoring, **** Voip.
I've never heard the voice quality of that shit either, is it like digital
cell phones?, fucking yuck.
I cherish my analog cell phone, people can actually talk to me, it's
great.



I choose Polesoft Lockspam to fight spam, and you?
http://www.polesoft.com/refer.html
 
M

Mark Leuck

Jan 1, 1970
0
R.H.Campbell said:
The point was that VoIP is a coming technology that we as an industry damned
well better be prepared to meet head on in some fashion, or it's going to
steamroller right over us !

Well gee wiz I though we were already doing that weren't we? How many posts
have there been in the past?

Mikey's usually a mess but in this case he's correct, RLB is doing nothing
more than posting what was already out there as well as flat out garbage, no
solutions and in the process made a dig at other companies (Monitronics and
P1)
As a matter of fact, I haven't lost track of the six systems so far that
I've lost to VoIP. One came back after paying Bell over $100 to reinstall
his line. The others simply went "local" (without my decals....). Other
potential clients that have called, I turn away with an explanation.....

Same here
 
B

Bob La Londe

Jan 1, 1970
0
How many alarmcos use the customer's long distance service? I sure don't.
When I first started I used the CS's service, and now I contract my own with
a company that markets specificially to those of us who demand a certain
line quality. Local VOIP may be an issue, but long distance probably is
not. That being said many LD providers have used digital compression in
various formats for years. Sprint for instance so over uses their bandwidth
that you can hear the tiny echo in regular voice calls and it causes
problems with CS reporting even with CID format. In particular it seems to
distort the CS kissoff such that the panel can't recognize it causing the
panel to hang up and report again.
 
So does this mean you're finally going to get rid of your rotary phone and upgrade to touchtone?
So that's why it was so quiet around here for awhile... what do you do when there's a power outage?

Most office equipment is on a UPS. When power fails (it rarely does) I
press [forward] and then [enable] to automatically forward calls to
another location. What do you do when power fails in your office.
Umm, that is assuming you have an office.
and both go to the autoattendant no doubt...

You misunderstand how an auto-attendant works. All incoming calls are
answered by the auto-attendant, which is like a virtual PBX. Callers
are presented with options for sales & tech suport or customer service.
If the selected station is busy the caller is given the option of
accessing a different station, leaving a message or waiting. During
the wait they get 30-second updates -- "You are caller number [#]...
approximate wait time is [n] minutes."

Once a caller selects a station the system routes the call to the
extension, regardless if that station happens to be in Florida, Brasil
or Kalamazoo.
Do you have pager notification...

I don't wear a pager. Perhaps you haven't heard but there are these
neat devices called cellular phones and...
And they sound like they're in the next room too I suppose.

In fact, they do. Since we got rid of Vonage and got a more reliable
broadband connection (no, Frank. That does not mean tickets to a "Spice
Girls" concert) voice quality has been about the same as we get on a
standard POTS line.
I love being bumped from one person to the next...

Well then, perhaps you should take up break dancing.
Light on a POTS phone? Exsolent, where can I get one of those? What a great idea! I'd be able to see the phone in a power outage.

Oh, to be young and stupid again...
Oh gee, that WAS deep. Took me awhile, how clever you are!

It's all a matter of perspective. Most people think I'm just average.
:*)

Regards,
Robert L Bass
www.BassBurglarAlarms.com
 
His post was him beating his chest again, you say he had a point, what was
that exactly?

I explained that VoIP is coming whether you like it or not.
Did he tell us what alarm panel his lordship was using?

ELK M1 Gold.
He used to have some interesting (probably stolen) tips but now he's just
silly.

I have one of the most extensive FAQ websites in the alarm industry.
Most of it I wrote myself. Some things are direct quotes, with
attribution, from manufacturers' websites. A limited number of pages
include quotes of things said in USENET. When I know the actual name
of someone who posts, I give attribution. When I don't know who wrote
something I list it as from an unknown source.

The server upon which my FAQ resides is currently offline. When and if
I get enough time to update it I'll make it available again.
Are you following up to see what these customers you lose are doing with their alarm systems? Maybe it's an opportunity to upgrade to internet monitoring, **** Voip.

Heh, heh, heh. More likely, that is what VoIP is going to do to you
unless you wake up to what is happening first.
I've never heard the voice quality of that shit either...

Internet monitoring doesn't usually involve voice so there's nothing
for you to hear.
I cherish my analog cell phone, people can actually talk to me, it's great.

Perhaps you're also unaware that analog cell phones are almost
certainly going to be dropped soon, too. Just like with VoIP, if you
don't learn about developing technology you're going to be left behind.
In your case, or at least in that of your customers, that might be a
good thing.

Regards,
Robert L Bass
www.BassBurglarAlarms.com
 
...Local VOIP may be an issue, but long distance probably is not...

Actually, Bob, that is precisely what the article in CEPro warned
about. A local carrier opted for long distance via VoIP and alarm
systems started malfunctioning.

When you connect a customer's alarm to his phone line, regardless if
what LD carrier you happen to use for your monitoring center, the calls
are routed through his local telco and if they go VoIP you may have a
communication problem. If the CLEC in your home base area happens to
choose VoIP you might find yourself with hundreds of alarm systems that
can't get through to the central station.

Heretofore we only had to contend with occasional clients going VoIP.
The CEPro article from which I quoted makes it clear that the VoIP
issue can affect your entire customer base at once. That's not a
rehash of earlier discussion (as Leuck would have you think). It's a
whole new ball game and for now most alarm companies don't have a
single hitter.

ELK's M1 Gold system offers the possibility of Internet monitoring.
Ademco has an Internet enabled version of the Vista-20P. I haven't
checked but HAI's Omni series may offer a solution. Other than the
Honeywell (Ademco) Vista-20P, these are high end panels that are
inappropriate for the vast majority of alarm jobs. They are certailny
beyond the budget for lick'n'stick outfits like most of Monitronix' and
P1's delaers.

Regards,
Robert L Bass
www.BassBurglarAlarms.com
 
F

Frank Olson

Jan 1, 1970
0
Your "staff"... right... Sounds to me like you've got one (if not
both) of your sons into the business... again... Have they received a
raise from last time, and are they living at home with you??


So that's why it was so quiet around here for awhile... what do you do when there's a power outage?


Most office equipment is on a UPS. When power fails (it rarely does) I
press [forward] and then [enable] to automatically forward calls to
another location. What do you do when power fails in your office.
Umm, that is assuming you have an office.


You mean other than in his house?? You're actually answering your phone
these days??? Gasp!!!!
:)

and both go to the autoattendant no doubt...


You misunderstand how an auto-attendant works. All incoming calls are
answered by the auto-attendant, which is like a virtual PBX. Callers
are presented with options for sales & tech suport or customer service.
If the selected station is busy the caller is given the option of
accessing a different station, leaving a message or waiting. During
the wait they get 30-second updates -- "You are caller number [#]...
approximate wait time is [n] minutes."

Once a caller selects a station the system routes the call to the
extension, regardless if that station happens to be in Florida, Brasil
or Kalamazoo.


Right... but that means someone actually has to *be* at that station.
Seems to me (from the number of complaints of poor service, no voicemail
because it's chalker-block full, no response to email, etc. that appear
here regularily) that there's *rarely* anyone home... ermmmm... I mean
"in the office"...
I don't wear a pager. Perhaps you haven't heard but there are these
neat devices called cellular phones and...

Which you don't answer either...

In fact, they do. Since we got rid of Vonage and got a more reliable
broadband connection (no, Frank. That does not mean tickets to a "Spice
Girls" concert) voice quality has been about the same as we get on a
standard POTS line.


Spice Girls?? Puh-leeze!!! I prefer Diana Krall, actually... I just
loved her Chrysler commercials (can't stand the cars though)... and her
new Christmas album is fantastic. No, Robert, I don't think she's going
to be releasing one with Jewish/Christian folk tunes soon...

Well then, perhaps you should take up break dancing.


At least he looks like he can. From your wedding pictures, I'm pretty
sure it would be difficult for you to bend over to pick up a fork...

Oh, to be young and stupid again...


I'll just bet your "princess phone" is *PINK*!!!


It's all a matter of perspective. Most people think I'm just average.


That's funny... Average people don't pull guns on other people in an
argument. Most "average people" haven't served time or been under court
supervised parol. In fact most "average people" know enough to pull
over when they're too tired to drive and thus avoid falling asleep at
the wheel...
 
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