Installation process for Premier Elite Com2400

[PASUK]

Can you check your phones call log to see if a connection was made but not completed, should see the SMS centre number in the phone log if it connected.

Did the visitors have there own code, if yes check report Open/close is on for that user in Wintex.

Hello:

I have virgin media and rather annoyingly I cannot seem to get a breakdown of calls which cost <50 pence. Apparently they don't provide it on my online billing or statement.
Visitors each are setup as different users with their own codes.
I actually didn't use Wintex at all and actually not sure how to! but interestingly I did just test the users and both made SMS notifications today, so I am ruling out that the users aren't configured properly.

You raise an interesting point, just maybe the dialer had a fault that day, the phone line was down, the sms gateway/center was engaged and/or the gateway didn't relay for whatever reason.

I'm going to do another test by setting the system to alert me of all events and see if I can repeat the fault.

Thanks

 

[secureiam]

strange the calls going via the Vodafone number would be about twenty pence if using the open tap there were about 50p each.

I would ask virgin to provide details of the numbers less than 50p (especially if theres a lot), every number I dial is listed and I only pay for mobile numbers but then I am not with virgin. If theres a lot you just want to verify the numbers are genuine calls made.

not sure if they will be helpful mind.

 

[PASUK]

OK so I called Virgin Media and they were very helpful.
They told me over the phone all the calls while I was on vacation and I have checked against the logs.
The alarm did make the calls to the sms centre exactly at the right times.
They also told me the calls cost about 35pence each time with some slight variance in durations and exact cost but within +/-2pence.
So that seems to narrow down the fault to the sms centre i think?!

side note: Virgin Media have now set my bills to itemise anything 10pence or greater rather than 50pence which is useful.

 

[secureiam]

in a state of shock.

okay so now we have the calls being made, is the panel calls connecting now to the sms centre?

to be fair I prefer the gsm module for texting as it the cost of an sms, which even on pay as you go can be cheaper. Just the unit costs more to start with.

 

[sparkymarka]

I bet the O2 number is still in the panel , remove it and have just the voda number in ending in 99993

 

[PASUK]

Hi

I double checked and it has the 99993 voda number. It was shipped to me with the voda number already in.
Over the past 24 hours it has caught almost all open/close sms notifications except 1. Called VM and they confirmed the call happened.
I've been doing much more reading around and it seems that there have been issues with reliability.

I have almost come to the conclusion that this SMS approach just isn't reliable enough in general OR with my setup for an unknown reason I can't seem to solve.

if I were to look for alternatives what would be a good approach?

I very much like the idea of getting specific types of alerts: Alarm, Priority Alarm, as well as Open/Close when I am on holiday and have others checking in.
I would also like to get info about which zones are triggered if an alarm does go off so that I know if it is one or more zones that has been activated.

1. Apologies for the basic question but can a speech dialler be setup to give this level of detail / range of notifications?

2. Would anyone know how much it typically costs to pay for digicom monitoring on a basic service that just notifies me with the level of detail above?

3. Stretching some ideas a little further, does anyone know if you could get a digicom communicator like the one I have to call your smartphone direct and have an app on the phone decode the digital communication and show text.... (unlikely but just in case!)

Thanks very much for hanging in here with my questions!!

 

[secureiam]

Comip or com wifi and use the app set with notifications.

use a gsm module for sms rather than the dialler and tap service.

the com 2400 can dial you, but the calls would not be much good as there would be nothing audible you would understand just data noise at best and the calls may wont terminate correctly etc.

 

[PASUK]

use a gsm module for sms rather than the dialler and tap service.

Thanks - do you find the gsm module very reliable?
Best price I can find is 142 pounds inclusive of VAT and delivery, I don't suppose you know if it's possible to get it cheaper?

Thanks again

 

[Europlex]

You're on page two of asking questions about your home security, what's more important £5 off the price or the security?

 

[PASUK]

Thanks for that.

As you can tell I am not in a major rush, my priority is to get this right and feel confident that the setup works.
If I can add a question along the way that saves me a fiver or more on the purchases a long the way that's a nice little bonus I'm not ashamed to admit, not to mention learning of new places to buy stuff that others on this forum use.

I hope this thread proves a useful resource for others in the future, I plan to publish the numbers at the end of all this of how the Vodafone TAP to SMS gateway has performed as I haven't seen any thread on the net that goes into more detail than saying "unreliable" and I'd like to put a number to that.

So far I hope the useful information that others might be able to use from this thread:

From my phone bill and the logs on the keypad I have counted a total of 28 calls, which have been a mix of testing Priority Alarms, Alarms, Open/Close, Resets, Tamper.
So far 7 of these calls did not make it through the process to a SMS on my phone nor my wife's phone.

Thanks to the very useful feedback from this forum and people specifically on this thread we have eliminated all the usual things you can control on the property/panel part of the process.
I strongly suspect that the vodafone gateway simply fails to send some of the sms msgs as they are not on the hook to guarantee service delivery anyway.

While I am figuring out what to do, I have setup the Com2400 to use vodafone as the primary and OpenTap as the secondary gateway and see if the system successfully reverts to OpenTap service when vodafone fails. I am not experienced enough to know if the TAP process of acknowledging a call includes indicating of a SMS was successfully sent from a gateway or simply that the call was received but the sms might still fail. Should be interesting and I will report back.

Other options I am considering as posted above: GSM module. I have also contacted an ARC to understand what is available and the costs.

Thanks

 

[secureiam]

the push notifications on the app are not guaranteed, but are cheaper than the gsm to run and install. Your smart phone/ email addresses will get the message also.

GSM cant be relied upon in its own right, the towers covering your area for example might be worked on and that network cant get a signal out. It does happen.

Same with internet connections etc. they could be dropped because or work being done, your phone needs to have a signal and so on.

Can those 7 calls be tied down to any common factor?

 

[PASUK]

Can those 7 calls be tied down to any common factor?

I cant' seem to pinpoint any common factors unfortunately.

Something not mentioned already on the thread is that I had a relative who is a telecom engineer check all my connections and test all the wires on my telephone line throughout the house. All was ok. It's actually really basic, we don't use our house phone (we use our minutes on our mobile plans). The only thing using the phone line is the alarm.

Would anyone know what a basic package arranged direct with a householder from a ARC includes and approx costs?

If I had a wish list...

• 0800 number
• A call to 2-3 keyholders on alarm in series so that once caught no one else is bothered with a call, with details of the alarm (e.g. is it just one zone or multiple zones which have tripped and which zones).
• The ability to silence the alarm (although I am unsure if the Comm2400 can handle this)
  
• Regular line test calls
• Instant SMS / Email notification of non-urgent events while on holiday - such as open/close.

 

[secureiam]

if you can find an ARC that would take on an end user for a keyholder service I suspect it be £20+ month but I don't know anyone that does.

However if you go down the ip route and use the texecom servers for nothing, you can have emails and keyholders get the message anyway, if they have the app on there smart phone?

 

[PASUK]

Hello.

I was thinking that this thread has moved away from the original topic of installation process.
So I have started a new thread specifically on reliability of the SMS approach in general:
//www.diynot.com/diy/threads/r...using-sms-gateways-dial-up-tap-to-sms.442656/

I did hear back from the ARC I contacted.
For the standard alarm monitoring service (ie keyholder notification) they charge £7.50 per month + VAT.
They are NSI Gold.

I think that's a really good price for straightforward keyholder notification but they charge a lot more for doing things like silencing the alarm om request and they don't do SMS for non-urgent notifications (eg Open/close for when I am on vacation).

In the end I might end up going with your recommendation @secureiam and go down the IP route. I'll make that decision once I complete my tests on SMS.

Thanks v much for all the continued help.