Today’s end users expect the highest levels of protection from their security solutions, whether for their businesses and organisations, or their homes. Given the inherent flexibility in modern systems, this is a reasonable and realistic expectation. With the development and adoption of new technologies, integrators and installers are increasingly able to offer enhanced functionality.
The communications sector has evolved in recent times, and the reliable delivery of alarm notifications is now considered to be a critical element of system design. However, much of the security sector is still reliant on older telephony technologies, which is at odds with a growing number of other sectors.
In order for the added value of an intruder alarm system to be realised, it is vital that all alarm notifications are received, and to achieve this best practice is to install a secure signalling system. BT Redcare has been an industry leader in this field for decades and offers a wide range of secure signalling products designed to ensure consistent communications when it is needed the most: during an incident. Whether signalling intrusion or fire alarm notifications, or generating site status data for a smart solution, BT Redcare empowers integrators and installers to ensure their systems remain connected, no matter what challenges are faced.
Recently, BT Redcare announced the launch of Essential IP, a future-proofed IP-based alarm signalling solution that was introduced to simplify the transition from legacy dial up systems ahead of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) switch off by the end of 2025. Essential IP is easy to install and is able to connect via ethernet or WiFi, which makes it ideal in areas with poor mobile coverage. It exceeds SP2 performance levels, notifying ARCs of a path fault within 60 minutes, which is much faster than older dial-up signalling systems. It has eight standard alarm channels and dial capture on-board, and data sent to ARCs is encrypted with high-level AES.
The use of common serial connection capabilities – RS232 and RS485 – means Essential IP is compatible with a wide range of established intruder alarm panels, so there is no need to upgrade system hardware.
The migration to all-IP communications remains a huge driver in the security industry, and many alarm installers face a challenge to transition their customers away from systems which rely on the PSTN to dial out to ARCs. Delivering high levels of protection requires alarm signalling being future-proofed, and if customers migrate their telephone services without checking the compatibility of their alarm systems, legacy dial-up solutions will stop working leaving them unprotected.
Essential IP is an out-of-the box ready solution, which is easy to install, with push button or app programming, OLED displays giving clear status and programming information and compatible with existing alarm systems. It has been developed with installers and customers at the forefront of thinking.
Like all solutions in the BT Redcare Next Generation alarm signalling portfolio, Essential IP comes with a 10-year product guarantee and its packaging is manufactured from recyclable materials.
Other signalling options from BT Redcare are Essential, Essential Extra, Advanced, Advanced Extra and Ultimate. Essential is a wireless, SP2 device with an integrated SIM that switches between mobile networks to find the most reliable coverage. Signalling uses 4G and 2G networks. Essential Extra is a wireless dual path, dual radio using a fixed network EE SIM* for its primary path and a roaming sim for the secondary path. Advanced is a flexible dual path alarm signalling system which utilises both a wired IP connection and dual 4G SIMs, while Advanced Extra includes rapid alert response times, so ARCs will be notified of connection faults on the primary path within three minutes. Ultimate uses a private IP connection on a dedicated BT Redcare broadband network, with its own built-in hub, backed up by two 4G SIMs.
*EE’s UK number one ranking is based on the RootMetrics UK RootScore Report: H2 (Jul-Dec) 2020. Tested at locations across the UK with the best commercially available smartphones on 4 national mobile networks across all available network types. Your experiences may vary. The RootMetrics award is not an endorsement of EE. Visit ROOTMETRICS.CO.UK for more details
