Blueface and Eircom Phonewatch

dubadubdub

I'm keen to get Blueface setup and get rid of the eircom line but we have a monitored Phonewatch alarm system installed which uses the line to contact the monitoring station. Is there a solution I'm not thinking of?

paulm17781

I've heard talk of GSM alarms. I don't think it will work over VOIP though.

beller b

You can get your alarm monitored over the GSM network, but its not cheap.. Dialler costs between €600-€1000 & monitoring fees run at about €600 a year... There is a dialler on the Market from HKC that can use any sim (eg ready to go) & the monitoring station wouldn't know it was coming from a mobile number. But you would need to do the following
1) Get another company to monitor your alarm.(Eircom would not entertain this)
2) Get the dialler installed & set up by a NSAI registered company (If you require Garda response)
3) If your alarm is Eircom Wireless then these options are no good...
The first option above would not be much good if the reason for getting rid of your line is just to save money.But the HKC dialler can also be set up to text you as well as reporting to a central station.

www.****.com
this is a new site that is due to go live in the next week or so, it might be worth emailing them. The address is on thier holding page.

causal

dubadubdub wrote:

I'm keen to get Blueface setup and get rid of the eircom line but we have a monitored Phonewatch alarm system installed which uses the line to contact the monitoring station. Is there a solution I'm not thinking of?

You could have a peek here: Sky Digital and VOIP which tells you that it might or might not be possible.

But if you read this you'll see that apparently eircom don't even know :rolleyes:

causal

dam099

beller b wrote:

You can get your alarm monitored over the GSM network, but its not cheap.. Dialler costs between €600-€1000 & monitoring fees run at about €600 a year...

That price is higher than I was quoted by Eircom, they told me EUR 275 extra on an installation which was already about EUR 850 and the same monitoring fees as if it was a landline.

Blaster99

According to this http://mmm.eircom.ie/press/PressRelease_Target.asp?id=67&y=1999&archived=1 press release, Eircom Phonewatch started a GSM service in 1999. Strangely I asked a Phonewatch rep about GSM a year or so ago and he said they didn't do it. He was just an install guy so he may not have known. Curious to know for a fact, though.

The Security ma

AMS (Alarm Monitoring Services) in Dublin do a **FREE** GSM dialler and the monitoring is only **€495** per year !

Beat THAT anybody!

The Security ma

Blaster99 wrote:

I asked a Phonewatch rep about GSM a year or so ago and he said they didn't do it. He was just an install guy so he may not have known. Curious to know for a fact, though.

They don't have reps or install guys anymore - they're all outside CONTRACTORS a lot of them who haven't a clue!

dubadubdub

Just got a quote from Phonewatch for their SMS monitoring service (Eirlink).

360 euros to install (I have an older system so it's slightly more expensive to install) and 21/mth monitoring, that's if I get rid of the phoneline, which I will. For some reason the monitoring is higher if I keep the phoneline, 35/mth!

Can't wait to get rid of Eircom.:)

paulm17781

dubadubdub wrote:

Just got a quote from Phonewatch for their SMS monitoring service (Eirlink).

<snip>

Can't wait to get rid of Eircom.:)

Is phonewatch not a part of Eircon???

dubadubdub

AFAIK they where split up soon after Eircom went private.

The Security ma

Don't be fooled - EIRCON STILL OWNS PHONEWATCH.

Eircon sold everything EXCEPT phonewatch.
"Eirlink" is phonewatch's wireless GSM product - same service, same guys monitoring your alarm, in the same room.

And guess what - the back-up service is the same too...

wexfordman

So a cheap monitoring annual fee is around 450euros ? And can be up to 600 euros per year ? Wow, what a rip off. How much of a discount does your insurance company give you for having it monitored ? At those kind of prices it should be free.

If I was you, I would consider a self monitored alarm system that rings you or texts you if something goes wrong. Thats what I have and it works fine over blueface (it uses DTMF tones). It might pay you to rip out your existing system and go for something like this.

Couple of things to bear in mind though. If you are using voip for your phone line, then power fail means you wont be dialled in the event of an alarm. THis can be got around by putting in a small UPS though.

Wexfordman

Solair

The price of the GSM monitoring service for phonewatch dropped fairly drastically over the years. It was insanly expensive in the early days.

Basically they install an analogue to GSM interface i.e. it's much like a ATA for VoIP except in that it provides a dial tone and a simulated analogue phoneline. The only difference is that it goes over GSM

The alarm still dials out as normal ... (at least that's how it works in the setups I've seen)

No SMS or anything of the sort involved. It's a very very slow modem over GSM. The alarm basically only sends 1 line of data. I'd say it'd go over pretty much any line, it's not a very noise-sensitive signal.