A reminder about how we handle false alarms at Provident…

Should you cause a false alarm:

1. YOU must call Provident at 604.269.9999 and let us know that it is a false alarm and that everything is ok by providing your password. If you don’t know your password, please call us at 604.664.1087 to confirm;

That’s it!

Because we assume that every alarm is real, we will not waste any time by trying to contact you after an alarm signal is received. SIMPLY USING YOUR CODE TO DIS-ARM THE ALARM, WITHOUT CALLING US, WILL NOT CANCEL THE RESPONSE. The only way to cancel an alarm response is to call us at 604.269.9999 and provide your password.

This procedure gives you complete control over billing in that so long as you call us before we are at your doorstep, there is no charge. Conversely, by not wasting any time by assuming that you have made a mistake, this procedure ensures that help is on the way as soon as possible. It also is a key factor in ensuring that all of the steps you have taken to five-minute proof your belongings matter.

Please ensure that your babysitters, nannies and anyone who may be using your system are aware of this procedure. Every month we respond to many alarms that have been caused by a house guest or nanny that was not aware that it was their responsibility to call us to cancel.

This results in a lot of alarm response fees that could have been avoided.

Recently, the Vancouver Police changed their policy regarding when to call 911 for emergency services.

Effective March 12th, all non-emergency calls, which the Police consider any call that does not require IMMEDIATE police intervention, should be directed to 604.717.3321 (too bad they could not come up with a more catchy number).

Here is a link to their website explaining the change. The quick version of the story is that the number of calls to 911 have increased dramatically over the past few years and the Police need an easier way to distinguish priority levels.

When should you call 911?

1. If you need immediate Police response
2. If someone’s life is in immediate danger
3. A crime is in progress or has JUST occurred

All of the non-emergency calls will still be answered in the same facility (E-COMM), but will be routed to different operators. E-COMM has committed to answering 80% of all non-emergency calls within three minutes, 24 hours a day.

Keep in mind that you can always call Provident to help out if you observe any suspicious activity in your neighbourhood. We are open 24 hours a day and happy to take your calls at anytime. Please make sure that any nannies or babysitters that might be in your home know that they should call us as well.

If you are ever in doubt as to whether or not to call 911, call 911.

The analog network that supports all cellular back-up systems in North America is being phased out. In the US, regulators have mandated that the phase out cannot begin earlier than 2008 while in Canada no such regulation exists and telecom providers are technically free to dismantle their analog network and transition to digital at anytime.

What’s especially challenging for us right now is that there is no digital equivalent to the cellular back-up units available yet…although they are slated for a ‘beta’ release very soon. The issues are:

1. The very best protection against the risk associated with having your telephone lines cut is by having an Alarmnet Cellular back-up system (Alarmnet is a division of Honeywell) installed (which is what every one of our clients with cellular back-up have);

2. The network that these (and any other) units use is being phased out and is unlikely to last past 2008 – but may be cut out sooner; and

3. The digital ‘upgrade’ or new units to replace the analog units have not been released yet.

As Provident is one of the largest dealers of Alarmnet Cellular systems in B.C., I have been having frequent and lengthy discussions with Honeywell management. Verbally, I have been assured that the analog phase out will not happen as quickly as we might expect, especially in urban centres like Vancouver, because Rogers has more than a million clients who still use the system. Further, many other services such as the OnStar system in people’s vehicles all use the system and cannot be easily upgraded. Bottom line being that there is still a lot of people and systems relying on this network and transitioning most of them onto the new network will take a lot of time.

I have been assured that Provident will be given a very early opportunity to act as a beta test site for the new digital units as soon as they are available. I’m hoping to have one by the summer.

In the absence of a better alternative, we are still selling and installing the cellular back-up systems because we feel very strongly that you must have a secondary communication method in place. However, we are warning clients that we have to either replace or upgrade the unit soon – likely within 24 months.

We are monitoring this situation very, very closely and we will definitely be advised before any service interuption or termination occurs. More importantly, the moment that the new digital replacement is available, we will get in touch with every affected client to discuss upgrade options and costs as well as schedule a time to replace the unit.

I am heading to Las Vegas for the major security show next month and this issue is at the very top of my list to discuss so that we can ensure that we get the best possible pricing and earliest possible delivery for the new digital units.

There still seems to be a lot of confusion out there as to the impact of VoIP service on alarm systems. While there has never been any question as to whether or not your alarm system that relies on an analog telephone line will work with a standard VoIP service… for example, from a company like Vonage (it won’t), the recent marketing push from Shaw Cable has led to a lot of confusion … mostly because Shaw, like many North American cable providers, is not calling their service VoIP, but digital telephone service. They are also saying that your alarm system can work. This is very different than saying that it “will” work.

… here is a link to a more technical explanation of Shaw’s service vs. a typical VoIP service…

After speaking with several very confused clients, three different Shaw installers (who each had different takes on the “facts”), a myriad of Shaw managers, several tests of our own and discussions with the Vice President of Marketing for Honeywell (the world’s largest manufacturer of alarm equipment)… here is what we know to be true about Shaw Digital Phone service as it relates to your alarm:

1. Most, but not all, alarm systems can communicate through Shaw’s network;

2. Different systems seem to send the data to us at very different speeds (in a few cases it took almost two full minutes longer than expected to receive the ‘primary’ alarm signals at sites with Shaw);

3. Most importantly, NEITHER SHAW NOR A SINGLE ALARM EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER will guarantee that all alarm signals will be transmitted correctly or completely

What does this mean?

With the absence of a written guarantee from either the company whose network over which the communication occurs (Shaw) or any of the major alarm equipment manufacturers (Honeywell, DSC, GE) Provident recommends the following:

1. Maintain an analog phone line through Telus (or your local traditional telephon company) (although this solution would eliminate any ‘value’ of looking to VoIP in the first place); or

2. Have Provident install a back-up method of monitoring your alarm (either cellular or internet monitoring is available and supported through our monitoring station in Kerrisdale)

If you do not want to do either of the above, we will require all clients who choose to switch to Shaw to sign an addendum to their contract indicating that they understand that there is no guarantee that we will receive an alarm signal from their premises.

UPDATE: Here is a link to an updated post about Shaw Digital Phone (TM) and here is another about Rogers Home Phone… both of which use Packet Cable technology to transmit client telephone calls over a VoIP network.

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* Shaw Digital Phone is a registered trademark of Shaw