Is it worth having a system that will ring you up?

[mpooley]

Hi
Just wondering what people think about the Yale system (or any other system)
That will ring up to 3 telephones to warn you that you are being burgled.

I suppose if your mum and dad live two doors away it might be handy but if you have no one locally you can call I wonder whether it is worth the extra expense?

I can also see that getting a false alarm could be very annoying if you are on a day out 200miles away and you rush home

Mike

 

[Alarm]

So have a KEYHOLDER

It is generally accepted by every local council a system capable of making a noise has one.

Then fit something decent and well designed to filter out false alarms.

 

[chunkylover53]

Even if it does ring you when you're far away you can disable the alarm from your mobile and then ring your neighbours or somebody nearby to check your property.

 

[mpooley]

Even if it does ring you when you're far away you can disable the alarm from your mobile and then ring your neighbours or somebody nearby to check your property.

I didnt know you could disable the alarm from your mobile. dose the Yale do that?
always assuming you have someone nearby to check my property - I dont

 

[bernardgreen]

If the person who is called by the alarm can react in time to prevent the theft of property then the telephone call may have some real benefit.

Otherwise it does little other than to maybe get someone to the scene to tidy up the aftermath of the break in a bit sooner than they would otherwise.

Alarms that report children have arrived home and similar "good news" can create peace of mind.

For me to be phoned by a machine while on holiday to be told the house has been broken into would be an inconvenience that would ruin the remainder of the holiday. But then I have good neighbours who would deal with it in my absence.

If I was that paranoid about having the house "protected" by the alarm then I would contract to a monitoring service.

 

[yaleguy3]

Personally I think it is a real advantage.
In terms of the Yale system you mention and not knowing what you could do with the alarm it has the following capabilities.

You can include a linked optical smoke alarm.
If the sensor detects smoke while you are out you will get a phone call letting you know.

Even if you don't use any of the features of the intruder alarm this alone is an undoubted benefit.

In terms of the intruder alarm itself.

The system allows you to

1. set and unset the alarm remotely using your mobile phone
If you get halfway to the airport on holiday no need to go back home and miss your flight if you forget whether you have set the alarm -

2. which you can also find out because a call to your alarm will tell you the alarm status so you know whether it is set or not.

3. You can also listen in to your home via the panels microphone via your mobile phone.
This could help you decide whether the alarm was false or not.

4. You can activate the alarm and make it sound via your mobile . This could be useful if you didn't set the alarm at night and you hear intruders downstairs. (Like a panic alarm)


With imagination it can have many uses. If you have workmen at home and don't want to give your alarm code out you can arm and disarm the system from your work location.


basically via your mobile you can
a. Get a call on your mobile if the alarm is activated.

The following buttons on your mobile works as follows

1. Listen in to home via panels microphone
2. Arm the system
3. Disarm the system
5, check system status
7 activate siren
8 silence siren
9 or 0 disconnects call and informs alarm that a contact has been made to prevent it ringing the next numbers on its list.


Your YALE telecommunicating alarm will contact the three telephone numbers stored in its memory in the event of the alarm being activated. You will then hear your pre recorded message. In the event of a door contact or PIR being activated you will recieve the message BURGLAR followed by your pre recorded name and address message. In the event that your alarm has been triggered by the LINKED smoke alarm (if fitted) you will receive the message EMERGENCY followed by your pre recorded details. If you are not able to answer your phone the control panel will then call the next number on your list and so on until all three numbers have been contacted.

Use these instructions if you need to access your alarm. Using these instructions you will be able to SET your alarm remotely for example if you have got to work and forgotten to set it. No need to rush back or worry. UNSET the alarm if you have visitors or workmen etc . CHECK the alarm status , Is it armed or disarmed or part armed? ACTIVATE and DEACTIVATE your siren.



REMOTE ACCESS INSTRUCTIONS YALE 6400 Premium alarm You will need a tone dialling handset either mobile or landline.

1 Dial the phone number associated with the Control

Panel ( usually your home land line).

2 Hang up on the first ring.

3 Wait 5-10 seconds.

4 Dial the number again.

5 The control unit will now answer the call you

Will hear a beep. (If not repeat the above)

6 Enter your alarm PIN Code within 3 seconds.

7 If the PIN code is correct, you will hear another

beep you are now connected to your alarm.




Once connected the following apply

Press 1 to listen in to the home via the panels microphone

Press 2 This will arm the system

Press 3 To disarm the system.

Press 5 Check the system status. Long single

beep for Away Armed, two beeps for

Disarmed and three beeps for Home Armed.

Press 7 Siren on.

Press 8 Siren off.

Press 9 or 0 Disconnect.

• Remember to press 9 or 0 before you hang up, or

the control unit will hang up automatically after 30

seconds.

 

[bernardgreen]

Just out of curiosity how does the auto dialler know for certain that the call it makes has been answered ? End of ring tone or recognition of speech ?

Can it determine that the call has been answered by someone who is able to deal with the call ?

The most reliable but still not 100% sure is for the person answering the call to key in a PIN to confirm to the auto dialler that the call has been answered by someone who knows what to do in response to the call.

Simply recognising end of ring tone or recognition of speech can result in the emergency message being left on an answering machine or the au pair answers the call and has no idea how to react to it.

 

[yaleguy3]

Oh Bernard there you go again mr glass is half empty

The autodialler knows the call is answered when the person receiving the call presses 9 or 0 on the phone keypad - it's in the instructions above.

 

[yaleguy3]

Hi
Just wondering what people think about the Yale system (or any other system)
That will ring up to 3 telephones to warn you that you are being burgled.

I suppose if your mum and dad live two doors away it might be handy but if you have no one locally you can call I wonder whether it is worth the extra expense?

I can also see that getting a false alarm could be very annoying if you are on a day out 200miles away and you rush home

Mike

I had a chap who I had put in an alarm for call me up to say he had been sat on a chair lift in france when his yale called him. His gardener had gone into the garage which was also alarmed to get a hose pipe.

Rather than being upset he was impressed although he did have the ability to phone a neighbour to check things out for him.

You say you would not like a call when you were 200 miles away?

What if you live rurally as you probably do by the sounds of things... you leave home and within two minutes you get a call because someone was waiting for you to go out and as soon as your car is down the road they break in.

You have picked the scenario of being 200 miles away - fine but in reality most of the time you will be there or therabouts at your local supermarket - pub - shops etc.

 

[mpooley]

YaleGuy

thanks very much for that reply it has made my mind up for me

yeah your dead right about being up the pub lol

thanks

 

[bernardgreen]

Oh Bernard there you go again mr glass is half empty

or the system is half hearted

The autodialler knows the call is answered when the person receiving the call presses 9 or 0 on the phone keypad - it's in the instructions above.

It is not clear in your transcription (?) of the instructions that 9 or 0 is needed to verify the call.

9 or 0 disconnects call

So the autodialler mis-dials ( or the calls is mis-routed ) and the annoyed person jabs at a few buttons and chances on 9 or 0. The system sees this as "verification" that the call has reached a person able to deal with the problem and ceases any further attempts.

Surely a 3 or 4 digit PIN should be used to verify the call has reached the right person.

 

[Jibbeh]

So the autodialler mis-dials ( or the calls is mis-routed ) and the annoyed person jabs at a few buttons and chances on 9 or 0. The system sees this as "verification" that the call has reached a person able to deal with the problem and ceases any further attempts.

Hands up who has ever jabbed at buttons when they get a wrong number? No one?

 

[JohnD]

So the autodialler mis-dials

I think your hatred of Yale is leading you to clutch at straws.

 

[bernardgreen]

I think your hatred of Yale is leading you to clutch at straws.

It is not a hatred of Yale alarms. It is the experience gained from 12 years employment where one of my tasks was the design of safety critical alarm systems.

Mis-dials do happen... admittedly they are far less common than they were with electro-mechanical telephone exchanges.

 

[yaleguy3]

ok then Bernard and to be fair to you i will go along with the assumtion that misdials can happen . It is not likely to be at the yale and as the numbers are preprogrammed in but if it could happen at the exchange lets just say it does - would that not be the very same likelihood of exactly the same thing happening with a professionally monitored system?

You are comparing apples and pears Bernard,

Your safety critical system would no doubt be protecting much more than domestic chattels.
In the average burglary the most important items stolen are of little monetary worth.

The iphones , chargers , etc even flatsceens car keys and even cars are all covered with insurance and replaceable -

sentimental gifts and digital photos on your laptop are not!

But they have no or little insurance cover.

The main purpose of the alarm is to try and make the burglars look elsewhere.

In reality the Yale is a better system than some alarms as its an autodialler.

Systems sending out txt alerts are problematic as the texts aren't necessarily 'real time'