Click below to watch a quick video we filmed Friday to explain the impact of the Shaw Digital Phone network outage…
May 3rd, 2011 6:10pm
Over the past few hours, several thousand Provident clients have been affected by a Shaw Digital Phone network problem. This has resulted in affected client’s alarm systems being unable to communicate with Provident over the Shaw Digital Telephone line. As a result, most affected system keypads are now displaying a Trouble light (an amber light on the front of the keypad) or ‘FC’ which stands for ‘Failure to Communicate’.
If either of those conditions exist, your alarm will not communicate over the telephone. It will, however, operate locally (ie. you can still arm and disarm, the siren will still sound, but no alarm signals will be sent).
We have been in contact with Shaw and they have confirmed that the issue is the result of modifications that they made to their network earlier today. They have said that they understand the impact that this outage is having and they have indicated that they have made it a “high priority” to solve. So far, they have not been able to give us a timeframe as to when this will be solved other than to say they “hope” that it will be fixed within 24 hours. We are doing our best to stay on top of them and push for the fastest possible resolution to this issue.
For some of our clients, their Shaw Digital Phones were not working at all at times today. However, even for clients who can now use their Shaw Digital Phone to make telephone calls, the Shaw network is still not communicating with our Kerrisdale monitoring station.
To be clear, this is 100% a Shaw Digital Phone network issue. The lines on our end that receive alarm signals are Telus lines and they are working properly, as are all of our back-up systems.
How does this affect you?
If you are not a Shaw Digital Phone client: There is no issue.
If you have BLINK or Cellular Back-Up Monitoring in place: We will still be receiving alarm signals over those systems. You may still have the amber light or ‘FC’ on your keypad, but we will still receive alarm signals wirelessly.
If you do not have BLINK and are a Shaw Digital Phone client: Until Shaw resolves the issue, your alarm WILL NOT be able to communicate any alarm signals over the telephone line.
We are doing everything we can to expedite Shaw’s resolution to this issue.
Once it is resolved, you can confirm that your system is communicating with us by arming and disarming your alarm. If it is able to send either of those signals successfully, the amber light or ‘FC’ on your keypad will disappear and your alarm will be back online with us.
Here is the latest heatmap from the Vancouver Police showing reported burglaries between April 6th and 12th in Vancouver.
The first map indicates residential break and enters… (click on the image for a larger view)
Over the seven day period, there were a total of 49 incidents. That is an average of 7 residential break and enters a day.
The second map indicates the number of commercial break and enters during the same period.
Total of 15 commercial break and enter incidents were reported for the seven day period for an average of just over 2 per day.
Here is the latest heatmap from the Vancouver Police showing reported burglaries between February 16th and 22nd in Vancouver.
The first map indicates residential break and enters… (click on the image for a larger view)
Over the seven day period, there were a total of 45 incidents, one location experienced multiple break ins. That is an average of just over 6.4 residential break and enters a day.
The second map indicates the number of commercial break and enters during the same period.
Total of 27 commercial break and enter incidents were reported for the seven day period for an average of just under 4 per day.
Here is the latest heatmap from the Vancouver Police showing reported burglaries between February 9th and 15th in Vancouver.
The first map indicates residential break and enters… (click on the image for a larger view)
Over the seven day period, there were a total of 46 incidents, two locations experienced multiple break ins. That is an average of just over 6.5 residential break and enters a day.
The second map indicates the number of commercial break and enters during the same period.
Total of 27 commercial break and enter incidents were reported for the seven day period for an average of just under 4 per day.
Our last ‘Preventing Burglary’ seminar of 2010 will be held on Tuesday, November 16th at 7:00pm in our Kerrisdale Showroom at 2309 West 41st Avenue (at West 41st Avenue and Vine Street)…
During the seminar, you will learn:
- Exactly how burglaries happen on Vancouver’s Westside;
- Why most burglar alarms fail to offer the protection that you may think they do;
- How to ‘five minute proof’ your most important belongings; and
- Specific, actionable steps that you can take to immediately improve your security (without spending any money).
Come by anytime after 6:30pm for some wine and Benton Brothers cheese … the presentation will start promptly at 7:00pm and will last about an hour. Afterwards, we’ll lead a tour of our 24/7 Operations Centre.
This seminar always fills up… and a common comment that we get afterwards from attendees is that the presentation was ‘much more entertaining than I thought’.
Whether you are already a Provident client or not, you will leave the seminar with specific tips that you can immediately put to use to increase your home security.
Click here to RSVP.
Click below to watch a clip from a past seminar that explains why most alarms do not offer the protection that people think they do…
Our next ‘Preventing Burglary’ seminar will be held on Tuesday, June 22nd at 7:00pm in our Kerrisdale Showroom at 2309 West 41st Avenue (at West 41st Avenue and Vine Street)…
During the seminar, you will learn:
- Exactly how burglaries happen on Vancouver’s Westside;
- Why most burglar alarms fail to offer the protection that you may think they do;
- How to ‘five minute proof’ your most important belongings; and
- Specific, actionable steps that you can take to immediately improve your security (without spending any money).
Come by anytime after 6:30pm for some wine and Benton Brothers cheese … the presentation will start promptly at 7:00pm and will last about an hour. Afterwards, we’ll lead a tour of our 24/7 Operations Centre.
This seminar always fills up… and a common comment that we get afterwards from attendees is that the presentation was ‘much more entertaining than I thought’.
Whether you are already a Provident client or not, you will leave the seminar with specific tips that you can immediately put to use to increase your home security.
Click here to RSVP.
Watch the clip below to see a demonstration of how any camera can be turned into an intelligent motion detector through the use of video analytics.
There are many options for adding video analytics to an existing camera system… and when done appropriately, basic analytics can significantly improve the level of security offered by a CCTV system.
Some of the scenarios where we have installed video analytics for our clients include:
- to detect someone walking in an area of their yard (veering off of the main path) that they are not supposed to be;
- to send an alarm if someone is standing too close to the front of a store window/front door after hours;
- to alert security guards about someone in a parkade during specific hours;
- to count the number of people coming into (and out of) a store during the day;
In the case of burglary prevention, getting an early warning about someone trespassing makes a huge difference for our response teams. Now, rather than waiting for a detector in the house to trip, we can receive an alarm signal while a potential burglar is still outside.
While our response team is enroute, our monitoring team in our Operations Centre is able to keep an eye on exactly what is happening and help coordinate both our own response as well as get the Police involved as quickly as possible if required.
We’ve got everything set-up and installed in our Kerrisdale showroom. If you have any interest in learning more about when/where CCTV may be appropriate for you, please stop by and get a demonstration.
Although we got rained out a couple times in May, the Provident slide has already had a busy spring/early summer.
The slide was up for Kerrisdale Days in April, the St. George’s School Fair in May, the BC Children’s Hospital Childrun last weekend and several other community events in between.
Coming up, we’ve got a number of private events for neighbourhood blockwatch parties as well as at several larger community events like the Kerrisdale Little League wrap-up party this weekend and the August version of Kerrisdale Days. A few kids were fortunate to have their parents bid on the slide at charity auctions this past year, so we’ll also be setting up at a couple private birthday parties as well.
At 3 stories high, the giant inflatable Provident Security slide is hard to miss. If you’re involved in a community event that could use a giant slide, please get in touch with us…
Click below to watch a video clip showing how the slide gets inflated… It starts off as 1,300lbs of rolled-up vinyl that is about the size of a smart-car and takes about 15 minutes to become fully inflated.
There are only a few ground-rules to getting the slide out to your event:
- The slide is available for any non-profit community event happening West of Oak Street in Vancouver.
- While Provident will provide the slide for free, event organizers are responsible for transportation and insurance costs (Typically about $250 – $350 depending on the event details).
- The slide can only be used in dry weather.
- A minimum number of volunteers must be on-hand at all times that the slide is up.
If you are interested in requesting the slide to be at your event, please click here to let us know about your event and we will get back to you as quickly as we can.
Another video clip from AreYouPayingEnough.com talking about our Kerrisdale showroom…
