Reap the benefits

Monitoring an alarm system is generally good value, but monitoring the communications trans- mission system can be very expensive, and often requires the cost of a dedicated telephone line.

With the introduction of broadband, and the lowering of tariffs for GSM, there is an opportunity for installers to both improve security systems and reduce the annual cost of ownership.

For those installers that acknowledge and understand these technologies, rewards will be forthcoming.

The residential market for broadband will reach 2m connections by April 2004 and BT predicts that 750,000 SME's (small to medium enterprises) will rely on ADSL as their communications media by the end of 2005.

As the broadband market opens up to competition from alternate service providers, such as Cable and Wireless and Energis, the SME fore-cast connections also increase to 2m.

The major change to the security industry will come when the line supervision service comes under the control of the alarm receiving centres, significantly reducing the cost of third party monitoring. This provides installers with a major opportunity to deliver technically advanced solutions with a short-term payback, potentially increasing the market for monitored installations.

Bandwidth not a problem
Security systems use very little bandwidth and are an ideal candidate to share this exciting new technology. Issues associated with this migration to new technologies have been addressed by new European legislation. This has the support of both the police and the insurance industry.

The real benefits start with the growth of applications such as security which share broadband (ADSL) for the transmission of alarms and CCTV. Access to the Internet is gained through the Internet Service Providers (ISPs). They offer connection to the Internet using conventional telephone lines with ADSL modems.

ADSL modems give us a common point of access using ethernet technology for the connection of all new applications. Sharing the line spreads the cost over all the services. Corporations are choosing IP solutions configured to give increased security to their business-critical applications.

This generally includes a significantly higher grade of support from the major carriers such as Cable & Wireless, Energis and British Telecom. These secure protocols will enable alarm receiving centres to work with businesses to provide safe connections between the ARC and the corporate network.

Alarm Receiving Centres
Alarm receiving centres are beginning to introduce new IP (Internet Protocol) Gateway technology that can receive alarm activations whilst ensuring the transmission path is monitored at all times. In order to achieve this they need to introduce an infrastructure that integrates with existing alarm receiving software. This enables the new technology to make a seamless entrance with little impact on day to day operations. Over and above the new British and European standards, there have been additional requirements from both the ABI (Association of British Insurers) and ACPO (Association of Chief Police Officers) that stipulate alarm verification and more comprehensive line monitoring including GSM back-up. The result is a robust system that provides benefits for the ARC, the installer and the client.

GSM Backup
GSM as a backup service to the network offers a security system second to none. The key advant-ages when combining GSM backup with the new standards are dual path signalling, continuous line monitoring, encryption, substitution protection and simple installation.

It is likely that the insurance industry will insist on a minimum level of line monitoring in the event of the primary path failure. All systems should be capable of providing dual signalling capabilities, whilst the Gateway at the ARC provides configur-able line monitoring to the required level of service.

The early adopters of these new products are the large corporations including retail, travel, and banking. They all have an incentive to improve security and lower the cost of ownership of all their commercial applications including security. Many of them have already invested heavily in broadband technology and they are now expanding the capabilities of the circuits to carry other important data.

Dual Path signalling
IP Wide Area Networking (WAN) with GSM back-up is the best solution for dual path communica-tions. Using SMS text message transmission is a highly secure method of transferring alarms in the SIA format and will meet all the stringent new standards for alarm transmission systems. Combining GSM with an IP Communicator ensures both transmission paths are continuously monitored and any link failures are reported within a few seconds. The circuit remaining can then be polled at short intervals to confirm its availability to transfer alarms. All of the major SMS services have very reliable transmission networks and offer delivery confirmation. Fast and accurate transmission of encrypted security information is possible now and installers can rest assured that the networks will only get better, cheaper and more resilient.

For those installers that acknowledge and understand these technologies rewards will be forthcoming.

Integrating the alarm panel
Even the best engineers can accidentally cross wires during an installation causing messaging confusion for the ARC and often a second site visit to correct the problem. But with SIA messaging, zones, door locations, user entry codes and much more can be identified. SIA level 4 reverse commands can be used to isolate zones, set and unset etc.

All of the leading alarm panels can provide SIA protocol connectivity to the ARC, however none of the current line monitoring services offer a comprehensive solution to take advantage of this valuable feature.

ARCs that provide SIA protocol communication for alarm panels offer a superior service against companies that are restricted to simple pin alarms. The installation of SIA systems is also more effective and reliable as the alarm designations are defined by the panel and translated by the ARC software.

If a communications device can provide a common interface to an alarm panel a major advantage can be exploited, namely high speed upload/download of new configurations.

IP connectivity will provide speeds greater than the fastest dial-up modems and as the more modern alarm panels come onto the market, configuration changes will be handled more quickly and efficiently. A great deal of automation can be expected to follow allowing estates to be updated automatically.

By connecting the communications device via the serial interface of the alarm panel, installers can quickly and accurately deploy systems.

Network management
Adds, moves and changes are very easy with IP connectivity. IP commissioning and de-commissioning is provided through a highly secure gateway at the ARC. Each remote device is allocated an IP address and a security "key" that can be verified by the gateway.

The ARC manages the distribution and allocation of this information in conjunction with the equipment suppliers.

With support and training the ARC and manufacturer partnership will provide engineers or an installer base with a swift and easy transition from traditional signalling methods to IP based systems.

For those installers who manage their client's security portfolio themselves the new technology will provide total secure access via the gateway into the network and directly to the IP communicator.

Parallel running
The EN standards for Alarm Transmission Systems have been drawn up and are completed. Whilst full ratification and enforcement is due in March 2005, parallel running with existing British standards is expected during 2004, and new systems should be designed with this in mind. Indeed there is no reason why existing systems communications media cannot be upgraded either.

With the new technologies providing substantial cost benefits to the end user this must be seen as an opportunity by the security industry to generate business that will not only provide financial gains for clients, but technology based systems that conform beyond the requirements of the standards.

The standards offer four grades of security with levels 3 and 4 being the most likely grades required by the insurance companies for any serious security installation. Insurance companies have already designated grades to different types of installation and location. The European body responsible for these standards is CENELEC, made up of organisations from each of the European member states of which the BSI (British Standards Institution) and BSIA (British Security Industry Association) are active contributors.

Single line failure
Installers must also recognise that there are additional requirements laid down by the ABI and ACPO. These organisations are very important for the owner of the security system as they will want to obtain competitive insurance whilst maintaining police response when required. It should be remembered that a single line failure requires a key holder response but does not qualify for police response. The ARC must be adequately equipped with technology to advise the key holder of the status of the alarm system and how they should approach the situation.