Why would a well known nationwide alarm monitoring tell me that for my privacy they do not support 2 way voice? Is there supposed to be a new concern about privacy? I already know from previous posts that the 2 way session with alarm.com is initiated by panel and not the central station according to Ryan and Rive and most people prefer to not have it, or find it not necessary , I Love the 2 Way voice as it can alert a would be intruder someone is responding, it could also help if an individual is incompacitated. I just find it troubling they would say that, does anybody know something I am not aware of?
I’m personally don’t use it, but it doesn’t suit how I use my system. It’s perfect for others. Since the central station can not initiate contact with the panel here, I don’t see why anyone would say it presents a privacy concern. Worth keeping in mind is that not all central stations have invested the time and effort into supporting Alarm.com 2-way voice.
Why would a well known nationwide alarm monitoring tell me that for my privacy they do not support 2 way voice?
Who is telling you this?
Its not a privacy concern as it can’t be initiated by central station, or remote personnel. They are just blowing smoke. Chances are, they have no idea how it even works. The 2way must be initiated by the panel itself.
The argument is it supposedly slows down response. I disagree. A lot of central stations don’t offer it because they can’t support it, their central station operators have no training on how to use it, or the provider that uses that station doesn’t think much of it.
I suspect the real reason is no training for using 2way voice, and they dont want to invest the time/money into training their operators, or that the system/station is unable to support the 2way voice IP capability.
Most jurisdictions now have a policy to not even respond to unverified alarm events, and those numbers are increasing. 2way voice gives that verification for emergency/alarm event if you are home…especially if you can’t answer that phone, and Image sensors/cameras allow you to verify event remotely when you are not.
My advice is steer clear of any central Station that is not UL Listed, CSAA Five Diamond cert, IQ cert, and that doesn’t support 2way voice capability or who’s operators are not adequately trained in its use.
Do you really want to be that person who has to depend on an untrained/poorly trained/minimally trained central station operator in a emergency event? Imagine if you were lying on the floor, unable to get to a phone, and screaming for help, and the operator on the 2way can’t figure out how to keep it open, and disconnects it?
I completely agree with you Rive , sad part is they are five diamond iq ul listed and certified. I was completely shocked at their answer, but not completely surprised as they have some bad reviews. I used them in the past but they are way too expensive. I am completely happy with SuretyCam and Monitoring America (Central Station) as they do have the extremely fastest response time I have ever experienced always professional, well trained and extremely nice to Deal with Thank you SuretyCam , keep up the great work !!!
It’s our pleasure!