Alarming VoIP

America's Network,  April, 2005  by Joan Engebretson

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

Heavyweights from several cable companies, including Time Warner Cable senior vice president Gerald Campbell, sat down with representatives of the alarm industry in a meeting at CableLabs headquarters in Denver last month to discuss incompatibilities between VoIP and alarm systems. Namely, rewiring requirements, backup power, and difficulties with transmitting certain alarm industry communication protocols.

VoIP providers outside the cable industry face the same challenges, but have yet to take action on this matter. Some of them advise customers to keep their regular phone line for their alarm system, considerably reducing the value of VoIP for the 23% of homeowners who have installed alarms.

COPYRIGHT 2005 Questex Media Group, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning