another APX oops moment

You should see the level of security Slomins customers get...

3x1 slow pulse reporting format, even on P3200 & P9600 panels. I see it every time I download one of those panels.

Jim Rojas Technical Manuals Online!

Cornwall Lane Tampa, FL 33615-4604

813-884-6335

I have tried to get all my customers on either contact ID ,SIA or as last resort fast 4/2 just to avoid issues.

Why do you think they call themselves "Slo"-mins?

Glad you added that last. Sometimes tone formats just don't work. Not often, but sometimes.

The other thing i have been doing is shutting off the rotary back up dial option after so many tries with TT rotary does not work on most land lines any more and just wastes time with dialer retries.

Hey! Me Too!

When VoIP first came out around here, Rotary wouldn't work so having rotary back up became a hinderence rather than an asset. I've changed most of my accounts to TT only now, But now the local VoIP can handle rotary. But ...... TT has become so reliable it doesn't matter anymore.

I like the Consumerist site however like all the other rag sites you only hear one side of the story and you can't tell if it's true or bullshit

Hey that Napco wasn't one of Jim's old customers was it? :)

One of the reasons why is because Napco is very limited to what events the zones can send (yea I know Jim)

Another reason is it's likely the format the installer has used since day 1 and they don't understand the benefits of the faster formats, it took forever for Westinghouse tech support to convince me to set Ademco panels to Contact ID

The central I use now has a DSC/sureguard internet receiver so i have some options available should a commercail customer go all VOIP but most still maintain a couple land line for fax and credit cards etc. and thats what i use.for the dialer. Most do not want top get involved with all the expense to go to internet fax and VOIP adapters for them.

That has absolutely no bearing on the point that sometimes poor phone conditions of the phone line provided by the phone company fail to transmit tones without echo or distortion to the central station resulting in swingers or runaways. Yet, on those same crappy phone lines provided by the phone company and not provided in any way by Napco pulse format reporting works just fine. Even with FBI, DSC, & Ademco panels. Yes I do have some of those in the field also.

Yes, sometimes I get a little annoyed by the lack of selection options on the smaller panels, but for more advanced applications I use the 9600 and X255 anyway. Also, my CS will allow me to customize at their end easily anyway. I don't even have to ask them to do it. I make the custom reference fields, handling and reporting myself via their on-line interface. Heck. I can even do it from my mobile now.

Well, Bob, you know the story. The level of the installers that Mark deals with aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer so he doesn't take to much to a panel that gives the installer all the options that a Napco panel does. It just means that he's got to spend much more time trying to explain to them how to program over the phone.

One of the bigger problems I have encountered with all this digital phone stuff like FIOS and Comcast etc. is the phone line monitor is really useless at this point because if cable or fiber gets cut there is still voltage on line to panel. from the battery back up unit. I have explained this to customers and given them the cellular option and some who are worried have added the extra protection. Because they figured before at least the alarm going off would scare the burglar away.

One of the bigger problems I have encountered with all this digital phone stuff like FIOS and Comcast etc. is the phone line monitor is really useless at this point because if cable or fiber gets cut there is still voltage on line to panel. from the battery back up unit. I have explained this to customers and given them the cellular option and some who are worried have added the extra protection. Because they figured before at least the alarm going off would scare the burglar away.

That, in combination with the clients who switch to VoIP and don't tell you and thus wind up without line seizure ..... ultimately they wind up without line seizure and telephone line monitoring. And I don't see anything coming from the manufacturers to address these problems .... either. In fact, it's very rare that I ever hear anyone (locally) talking about these problems.

My CS has a nice IP reporting module available that pings every few minutes.

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I did not get a check in from a panel last week and found out customer had changed his phone service from centrex the multi line service the old bells offered and no longer needed to dial 9 . so i caught it before there was a problem but companys who do not have even a monthly check in are asking for troubles.

More to follow!

And is extremely slow if used with a modem, that appears to be more the fault of the panel than the software.

GE has had Alarm.com for almost 6 years now that can do that and recently released a graphics keypad for the XT, Honeywell has had 3 graphic keypads release so far including the Symphony which has been out since 2002

DSC has a graphic keypad although it's not very good and very overpriced.

Same here

Although I have no doubt commercial fire is huge business it looks like they created that panel at the expense of everything else.

The vast majority of installers hand-program panels, if you don't believe me ask the manufacturers. Each one has told me the number that download is between 5 and 10% which is why they don't put that much effort in software development.

Compare any current download software with any Windows-based application like Word or Excel and you'll see what I mean

All I can say is you are in an exclusive group

4th actually which isn't saying much considering there are only 4 major manufacturers left

I could respond by saying the panels are more difficult than necessary to program, when the package comes with a programming manual for an alpha keypad and another for a fixed-English or LED keypad that's beyond silly.

I can program a GE Advent from the keypad without the installer manual, almost all locations menu-driven, same with Honeywell, you can have a flexible panel without requiring a tech to spend an hour programming the thing. If Napco could do that I'd be happy