VOIP

Voice Over Internet Protocol & Alarm Systems

VOIP & Your Alarm

The Monitoring Center will attempt to work with your VOIP provider. Please call us FIRST if you are thinking of changing to VOIP.

VOIP is a communication path which uses your internet connection to enable you to place voice calls over internet based networks.

Your alarm system is designed to send signals to the monitoring station over an analog phone line. In order for your alarm system to transmit any emergency signals properly over VOIP, the signal must be converted from analog to digital at the VOIP modem then converted back to analog along the phone network. During this process is where problems may develop. It is possible for data to be lost through this conversion process resulting in errors in the signal at the monitoring station or simply not reach the monitoring station at all.

Your alarm panel comes equipped with a back up battery to power your alarm system in the event of a power failure. Traditional analog land lines will still work during a power failure and the monitoring station will still receive signals properly. With VOIP your phone service will not operate during a power failure, as both your internet router and VOIP modem rely on a constant power source to operate. This prevents any type of signal transmission from your alarm system to the monitoring station.

VOIP services are more prone to "unknown" technical issues and dropped calls. Your alarm panel may be in the process of communicating vital data to the monitoring center when the call is dropped. This will obviously interfere with the communication of the data, or your alarm may communicate data successfully at one time, but will fail at another time for no apparent reason. Some possible explanations of this are fluctuations or low bandwidth from your VOIP provider, inconsistencies with your internet or caller ID blocking which hides your alarm panels' identity from the monitoring center. Also your VOIP signal quality could possibly be set too low and/or the data package wasn't turned on.

Similar to a conventional land line your VOIP or Cable based phone line can be cut or disabled by a potential intruder. This stops your alarms ability to communicate with the monitoring center.

Dual Path LTE Alarm Communicator

At The Monitoring Center we encourage our VOIP customers to add a cellular back up (GSM) unit to their alarm system. This unit will provide a direct link to the monitoring center in the event the communication path (VOIP, cable based phone or land line) is disabled. We also suggest our customers using VOIP to purchase a UPS (Un-interrupted Power Supply) for your internet router and VOIP modem thus supplying power to both modem, and router during power failures.

Presently TMC is offering FREE dual path LTE communicators. The monthly rates associated with the LTE service is $21.99 per month,

Further Questions

If you require any further information please feel free to contact our Service Department...

  • E-Mail by completing the quick response icon below
  • Or call 1-866- 247-4999 Ext 3... then Ext 3 again to speak to a member of our Technical Support Team
  • Our Service Department is available to assist you between the hours of 8:00am and 8:00pm EST Monday through Friday and 9:00am - 4:00pm EST Saturdays

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866.247.4999

General Inquiry

Our Customer Service Department will ensure your general request is delivered to the correct Department and we will make every attempt to contact you within 48 hours from submitting of your request form. You will receive a confirmation E-mail to confirm that your request has been received.

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