Bosch 880 Telephone Line Fault Option

[tready]

Hi Austech crew,

Just wondering how the phone line monitors works and if it's recommended to turn on. I like the idea of having but my installer doesn't.

The reason i want it as i use voip for my main line, and have second pstn for the foxtel and alarm system and sometimes the fax, I have no real idea if something is up with the line other then the weekly test reporting. So what are your guys opinions. I have the installer code and can turn it on (Have already tested it and know how it functions)

Thanks

[kiwitech]

turn it on but make sure the system is programmed to generate a fault condition at the code pad and not to trigger the sirens. I think this panel is checking the line voltage for the fault condition which is not the best way but it is better than nothing.

[AdRock]

Phone line monitoring is always after the fact (unless you have GPRS backup) It can't report anything to the control room if the phone line doesn't work.

As Kiwitech mentioned, you'd need it to produce a fault on the keypad for it to be of any benefit.

[tready]

thanks to those who helped.
If anyone else has some more info on how it actually works would be great to know

[downunderdan]

Tready, it's very basic in operation. The alarm panel is looking for voltage (think dialtone) on the line. The absence of this indicates to the panel that the phoneline might have been removed from the panel (telco outage, line unplugged, line cut etc.)

In such a case, depending on its programming the alarm panel can do a number of things including triggering the sirens (not really a good idea in most cases) or displaying a fault message.

What it cannot do, of course is ring a monitoring centre via the phoneline to say there's a problem, as..... The phoneline has been cut.

Generally speaking your monitoring centre is expecting to receive at least one signal on a regular basis e.g. once every 7 days (168hrs) at a minimum. The failure to receive one will trigger a message in their software saying your system might have a problem.

This is why phoneline 'dialler' monitoring is considered low-security. If the line is cut, no signals can reported and you might only be aware of a problem days afterward (having been cleared out by crooks). More modern technologies such as 'IP Monitoring' allow for a more regular 'heartbeat'. So whereas your system is 'polled' once every 7 days, this could be reduced to once an hour, once every few minutes or even seconds. Moreover such systems generally do not rely on a phoneline to begin with so cutting it is of negligible impact.

Does that explain it?