Home Security Trend: Systems That Use IP and Cellular to Communicate Alarm Conditions

Home security systems have become increasingly smarter, easier to install, and versatile over the years. They now incorporate elements like voice control, compatibility with thermostats and lights, and slick interfaces. But one of their oldest features—the ability to communicate alarm conditions to a central monitoring station—is just as important now as it was years ago. Recently, manufacturers have turned their attention to this critical communications feature by enabling home security system to communicate with central monitoring stations through both IP (Wi-Fi or hardwired) and current cellular networks (3/4G).

Last month at the big security conference ISC West 2017, a rash of dual-path communicators was introduced. These products from Napco, Elk, ipDatatel, Telular’s Telguard and others allow security systems to take the most reliable and efficient route to the central monitoring station.

If the home network is alive and kicking, the security system will notify the central station over the Internet. If the network is offline, the system will communicate via cellular.

Napco StarLink

Products like the StarLink Connect Dual Path Alarm Communicator from Napco make sense for “difficult-to-install areas” where cell service might be spotty, says Napco’s Dave Sheffey. But they’re also ideal for “higher security applications where you want to provide an additional path.”

StarLink Connect works with Napco’s own security panels, as well as a growing list of third-party systems including Honeywell and DSC. The Z-Wave version of Connect enables these security panels to take full advantage of Napco’s iBridge SHaaS (smart home as a service) for remote security and home-automation services.

ipDatatel and Telular Telguard

ipDatatel showcased its BAT LTE and BAT CDMA WIFI communicators featuring dual paths for Wi-Fi and Verizon cellular service. It connects via keybus to GE/Caddx, Honeywell, and DSC panels.

In addition to traditional alarm communications, the ipDatatel product enables remote programming and offers interactive services via the company’s SecureSmart app. It can push event notifications to users via text, email and voice.

Add ipDatatel’s Z-Wave Gateway 3.0 and users can remotely monitor and manage home-automation devices, including ONVIF-compatible cameras.

Similarly, competitor Telular touted its own dual-path communicator at ISC, announcing new features for the Telguard TG-SCI. The company calls it “the industry’s first dual pathway for alarm transmission that combines Wi-Fi with pay-on-demand cellular service.”

The cellular service costs almost nothing, as long as it is used less than three times per month. If there is an alarm event and the network is down, and the system must report over cellular in more than two instances, then the user is charged a fixed fee for the month.

Telguard marketing VP Shawn Welsh comments, “It’s an opportunistic way to leverage [free] Wi-Fi, but if it flakes out in a moment of need, there’s a safety net.”

Indeed, the service is called SafetyNet. It has been available in the past for Interlogix Simon panels, but now Telguard offers the TG-SCI Plus with SafetyNet for traditional dial-capture alarm panels and the TG-SCI Expansion Pack that allows the device to work with additional all-in-one panels such as the Simon 3, Honeywell Lynx and DSC Alexor.

Elk Products C1M1

While the dual-path communicators from Napco, ipDatatel and Telular work with third-party alarm systems, Elk Products recently rolled out the C1M1 dual-path solution for its own M1 line of alarm and Z-Wave home-automation products.

In the past, Elk dealers would use third-party communicators, but Elk’s own product enables faster, more reliable communications from the security panel because it doesn’t rely on the usual dial-capture or data-bus decoding. The product alerts users if one of the pathways is down.

In addition, the C1M1 calls the central station directly, without first going through a cloud service. Elk does, however, offer cloud services (ElkLink and M1 Cloud) for interactive security and home automation.

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