Central station and wireless dialing w/elk

[PHJ424]

A few Newbie questions here.

My M1 is up and running adding a few accessories in the next couple of days I'm getting the family use to interfacing with the Elk for now before I link it to the central station.

Any opinions of using the wireless cell phone type dialers with an Elk M1 and if so what brands have been used? Can any central station monitor my Elk? Reason I ask is I called a local outfit here and they asked what system I have and they said they dont do the Elk stuff??? Seems to me they should be able to monitor any system out there.

Does the central station have to have access to your system and go online with it to determine what zone was violated or do I provide a list of zones to them?

 

[Kevin L]

I use the DSC GS3060 Cellular Dialer with my Elk system. It works fine, and response is much quicker than a POTS line. My central station monitoring company has a list of all my zones.

HTH,

Kevin

 

[WayneW]

Elk supports the UpLink cellular monitoring via an XSP. I have heard of others using Telular products with an M1. I suspect (I am not a security guru) that any monitoring service COULD monitor the M1 since the M1 uses industry standard communication methods. I suspect that your local dealer doesn't WANT to monitor the M1 because they don't know anything about it and are afraid of the support issues. HAI's cellular product looks very flexible. NextAlarm.com is used by many happy M1 owners for their monitoring. I provide NA with my zone and user definitions, then when the M1 sends NA a Contact ID signal, all the detail can be decoded to something user-friendly.

 

[JohnnyMac]

"Don't do Elk" means they don't have anyone that knows how to program your panel. The Elk will transmit alarm signals in standard formats that any central station can receive, but as with any panel, a technician needs to come out to test the devices, program the account info., etc.
Cell transmitters are typically used for back-up in the case of a line cut - at an additional (parts and recurring) expense. If you have a land line use that. (The monitoring company will install an RJ31X jack for you when they activate your account, usually no charge) It won't effect your phones. If line security is a concern, most providers offer cell, long range FM radio and Internet back-up as well.
Also - when you tie a land line down to your Elk, you can access and control your system from any phone. One of the primary benefits of its ability to "talk".
Hope all goes well! JMac