A Complete Guide for Dealers to Select a Modern and Future-Ready Communicator
Selecting the right alarm communicator for your security system is a decision that can impact the long-term reliability and performance of your customers’ system. However, replacing or upgrading older systems can come at a substantial cost. With current and rapid advancements in communicator technology, it’s important to consider your options carefully, so that you can benefit from modernized, advanced devices – while keeping costs low. This guide will help you make the best choice for your needs while ensuring seamless upgrades and integration in the future.
Time to Upgrade
Mitigating the 3G Sunset
With cellular networks phasing out 3G technology, it’s critical to replace communicators that rely on these networks. Failing to upgrade could leave your system unable to transmit alarms to monitoring stations, leaving your customers’ property unprotected. Opting for a security solution that supports both LTE and IP to fit your customers’ needs is essential to keep your system running smoothly after the 3G sunset.
5G Ready Solutions
Cellular networks are upgrading at a rapid pace, and keeping up with these accelerating advancements is key to ensuring your customers’ security systems maintain high performance. Look for an alarm communicator that offers 5G ready capabilities, to ensure that your current upgrades will continue performing as intended for many years to come.
Remote Control & Interactivity
Remote Interactivity with a Full-Featured Mobile Keypad
Look for a communicator that offers mobile access for remote panel programming and basic user programming capabilities for both dealers and users. This supports the ability to program or arm/disarm remotely and more, using a mobile keypad.
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- For dealers: Simplified programming is key. Remote programming for panels like the DSC PowerSeries or Honeywell Vista Series can reduce labour cost, time, and unnecessary service calls.
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- For users: Select a security solution that offers remote user programming through a fully functional mobile keypad that offers remote arming, disarming, and managing of user codes.
Remote Access & Control
Having remote access and control over one’s security system can create substantial peace of mind for your customers. When selecting an alarm communicator and cloud platform, look for the following remote features:
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- Support for different arming methods (stay, away, night, and no entry delay) to suit your customers’ lifestyle and preferences.
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- Remote bypass, un-bypass, and group bypass / un-bypass.
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- Ability to view zone definitions and statuses in near-real-time, including open, closed, in-alarm, trouble, or bypassed statuses.
Remote Diagnostics
Select a product line that provides remote diagnostics, monitoring, and sends a wide range of troubles and alerts to dealers and CMS. System status, supervision alerts, and daily reports are important criteria when choosing a solution. These features will help you troubleshoot issues quickly and efficiently, thereby reducing downtime and the need for service calls.
