October 1, 2010
******************
**********
Question:
**********
Hi Ken,
I hope Cell & IP monitoring is as new and foreign to you as it is to me and
that I'm not so old as to not even use the correct technology terms. So
here is what I know.
Like the TV industry doing away with analog TV signals and going completely
digital, the same is going to happen to telephones. The plan is to go
completely digital somewhere between 2014 and 2016. This means no more hard
line phones. Telephones will be either cell phones or Voice Over Internet
Provider (VOIP). This includes alarm systems. I am just now learning about
cell communicators and am going to install my first next week.
The cell communicator is like a cell phone with a sim card. I purchase the
communicator with the card and can sell it or lease it to the customer.
Once installed, I contact my cell provider to activate the sim card. I
lease the use of the card from my provider for, say, $5.00 a month. I then
charge the customer $20.00 a month for the cell service. This is the future
and in the next few years, all systems will need to be converted.
Here is why I think you need to develop a new contract for wireless cell
monitoring. If I install the cell communicator, and the owners move, the new
owners can not have the sim card activated by any other company other than
my provider. (At least that is my understanding.) Anyone can monitor the
alarm system but only company X can activate the sim card. My plan is to
lease the communicators along with the cell service. So, when the majority
of the existing systems are converted, the customer will own the alarm
system but lease the communicator. Should the monitoring (non lease) and
communicator (leased) be covered under one contract or do you think the
communicator should be covered under a separate contract?
I'm sure you know more tech savvy people that can give you more information
about cell communicators. The cell company I'm using is "Connect 24".
Perhaps they can shed more light on the subject. If you want to use the
above in your newsletter, please only use my first name.
Tony
**********
Answer:
**********
The Standard Contracts, including the Monitoring Contract and other contracts with monitoring provisions, do not require any changes. The contracts provide for all types of communication networks. Presently the Disclaimer Notice warns against VOIP. That isn't going to change until POTS is no longer available or VOIP becomes as reliable as POTS.