Tag: redcare

Upgrading from Redcare or downgrading your insurance? that is the question?

The BSIA has recently become involved in the row regarding the swapping out of Redcare units for other products such as Emizon and Dual-com. So why is there a problem? Well some installers have taken it upon themselves to swap out the communicator used to send signals through to the central station without the knowledge of their own customers. The reason for this is simple , the margins are greater for the installer and both Emizon and Dual-com do exactly the same job so why not. Well essentially its a technicality. Its all down to the grading. Redcare is a grade 4 product and the monitoring price reflects this. Emizon and Dualcom can be either grade 2,3 or 4. The problem does not lie with the manufacturers but with the alarm installers . Some have tried to maximise profits during hard times by putting in grade 2 communicators where previously they were grade 4 and this has given the insurance companies the opportunity to wriggle out of claims if they so chose. Of course the buck will stop with the installer in the end as the loss adjusters come after them and a large claim could put him out of business , but in many cases they were going to the wall anyway and by adding monitoring income to the balance sheets they have been able to keep their heads above water.

So what is the answer. Well both Emizon and Dual-com are as good as Redcare, the simple fact is that the installer must keep their customer informed and the customer must inform their insurance company and in truth the installer should pass some of the savings back to the customer, but in this day and age will they?.

Policed intruder alarms

Most insurance companies insist on an intruder alarm that is policed. This is obviously to minimise their risk and ensure that the end user installs a system that is from an accredited company such as an NSI installer.

The Police however have had a gutful of of call outs that have been generated as a result of false alarms and have therefore insisted on strict critera before they will attend any alarm call.

Confirmation is the main item they insist on and this can take one of 3 formats

Sequential confirmation

Audible confirmation

Or visual confirmation

Each of the above use a technique that ensures there are two factors involved in the process of signalling before the police can be called.

By far the most common form of of confirmation is sequential.This is a method whereby the alarm panel will need to process two signals from two separate devices within the building before sending a code to the central station that confirms movement in the premises .The number of  false policed alarms has reduced dramatically since this technique has been enforced.

Another factor insurance companies look for is secure  dual path signalling. This is where the panel is connected to a Dualcom or Redcare or Emizon. These signalling devices provide two paths to the central station the first over the phone line the second over GPRS or GSM. Each of the above have their own particular features but in essence all provide the dual path signalling that insurance companies insist upon.

If a premises loses policing or has not had policing in the six month previous a new application to the police must be sought .This often causes problems as many systems will need an upgrade to the latest European regs  in order to comply .

So if your premises requires a policed response please contact us and we can fill you in on all the critiera you will need to ensure you can get police cover.

Panels that are commonly used to ensure a policed response incude

Risco

Castle

Galaxy

Pyronix

Europlex

DualCom GPRS

CSL DualCom GPRS.

CSL have always actively challenged Redcare when it comes to dual path signalling solutions. With Dualcom GPRS they have produced a hardware platform that can monitor any grade of security installation. Each grade has a sliding scale of charges to ensure you only pay for the monitoring you need depending on the grade of install.

Vodaphone.

The dualCom uses the Vodaphone network in conjunction with the main telephone path to transmit alarm signals. This is the case even if the the telephone path is IP. Many customers find much comfort in dual path signalling and most insurance companies insist on it , whats more it helps confirm alarms in the event that one of the signalling paths is deliberately attacked. This technology has been continuously improved since its development in 1996.

Partnership.

DualCom formed a strong partnership with Vodaphone because of its reliability , speed and above all its integrity. Other benefits include a fixed tariff so this allows unlimited transmissions from either path but with no additional cost. It is not beholden to the BT network so it can be used on any line providers signalling path. If there is no phone line on site the GPRS can be deployed to at least give one route to the central station.

Can it share lines with existing communication equipment?

It can share existing telephone lines with no interference to the operation of other signalling or communication equipment. All in all DualCom has become recognised as a very stable and cost effective solution for alarm signalling to your central station.

Conclusion.

With insurance companies now fully on-board and DualComs reliability accepted as second to none, the product will continue to challenge in the monitoring market place very strongly.

FAQ about Redcare

Redcare Classic.

Redcare Classic was the first really secure form of monitoring introduced into the intruder alarm market. It worked by continuously monitoring the copper pair of wires that connected the alarm panel to the central monitoring station. A series of chirps could be heard on the line under certain conditions but in general it worked over the top of the speech so was inaudible to the phone users. Redcare claim it could not be defeated and to be fair we at Integrated CCTV have never heard of a situation where it has.

Redcare GSM.

Redcare GSM was the next generation of signalling product and  was developed in order to give police a confirmed alarm in order to comply with DD243 that came into effect earlier this decade. It allowed the secondary path to still tell the central station exactly what was happening even if the line was cut. This mean that you could have a com fail followed by a code 3 burglary signal and you could be certain a break in was occurring. The Police of course were very pleased with this solution and again we do not know of any circumstance where it has been defeated.

Competition.

In recent years Redcare has finally come under pressure from other products. It has enjoyed many years where it dominated the intruder alarm signalling market place but broadband has started to change all this. Being a BT product it has always needed a BT line to allow it to work but now Broadband means that some sites don’t even have a BT line on site.

Solution.

Redcare Secure is the latest product that BT have launched and this is aimed at sites that have installed broadband and are considering competitor products such as Emizon (integrated into the Castle Caretec Euro 1 as standard), DualCOM or Chiron. It is cheaper than previous Redcare products and promises to help Redcare recapture some ground lost over the last two or three years.

Conclusion.

Despite claims to the contrary Redcare is very much still a favorite of the Intruder alarm industry and the major insurance companies still make reference to Redcare being the primary product that should be installed in order to meet their requirements. Redcare have a major conference in Birmingham during IFSEC week to show off new products. It will be interesting though to see who comes out on top under the new challenging conditions created by the changes within the communication market place.


Digicoms fail under BT 21st Century Network upgrade.

Industry release warning.

Central stations have released more information about Digicom failures that are now known not just to be BT 21CN related but also associated with other NGNs (next generation networks) that other communication companies are supplying.

Examples of problems or failures.

1) Broadband installations

2) Star services

3) Lease cost routing

4) Changes from one supplier of communications to another.

Line providers change T & C’s.

The problem is starting to be considered serious enough by some communication companies that they have decided to to actually change their terms and conditions  to absolve themselves of responsibility if digicom signals fail to get carried across their network.

Upgrade now.

Central stations are now speaking to all intruder alarm companies advising them to speak to their customers and get their systems upgraded to 21CN compatible communication products these are as follows.

1) Redcare secure range.

2) Emizon.

3) CSL DualCom.

4) WebWay

5) Chiron

6) Risco.

Most of the above products are well established and proven solutions to current problem. More importantly they mostly offer duel path signalling and this is obviously much more secure and acceptable to insurance companies.

Prices.

Although monitoring prices are generally slightly more expensive than the  original Digicom would have been. The situation has forced the cost of dual path signalling down significantly and this means great opportunities for new sales, something that should not go unnoticed by security companies.