I'd like to hear from some of the regulars about their experiences with alarm transmission over VoIP.
I have one customer who without my knowledge changed to VoIP from a Bell line, and then asked me to hook up the panel using his new service. I did so reluctantly, but only after he signed a legal agreement limiting liability, and with the express understanding it was being done experimentally. I programmed in a daily test and kept watch each morning for failures to communicate. It seemed to stop transmitting only very occasionally, until one day it started sending "ghost" signals which resulted in a police dispatch on the wrong account number. The panel was programmed in Contact ID, but it seems when the signal went out on the network, it transposed a "6 " in the account code for a "5". Then the comedy of errors increased when the station failed to check the CID (where they would have picked up that it was coming from the wrong phone number) and dispatched the police. Needless to say, I had an unhappy client who couldn't understand why the cops arrived...(and yes, the account number in the panel IS properly programmed...).
Bottom line, I disconnected the customer's service until and unless the client chooses to get a proper communication medium. He claims there are other companies who will hook him up successfully, but I suspect they just might be more interested in his business than his security system. The problem is of course, they could tell him anything about his alarm and he would likely agree, not ever really knowing if the panel is communicating properly or not.....
Anyone else experiencing these kind of problems and if so, have you come up with any solutions (other than the obvious one of getting proper phone service). I hated to lose this client of many years, but at least for the moment, I don't see any other alternative if it's affecting other customers.