Should I look for a system with 2-way voice

Support
1

I was comparing providers and it seems some provide 2-way voice coverage and some don’t. I’m not really sure whether this is a must have when designing a security system. Looking for advice.

Thanks.

2

Personally, I do not use 2-way voice in my own home. Some companies advertise that it’s an all important necessity for a good alarm system. Some pros are that 1) the central station might be able to use it to audibly verify a break by listening in (notice I said might, it’s not always easy) and 2) if you don’t have a phone nearby you can cancel a false alarm by talking directly through the panel.

Some cons are that 1) when you’re not home it adds 15 or 30 seconds to the response time while the central station is trying to talk through your panel instead of just calling your cell phone directly and 2) if you’re in a different part of the house when the alarm goes off you have to walk to where the panel or station is to talk through it. I prefer the central station just calls my cell phone, which is always on me, first.

3

I am a big fan of 2way

Also, a lot of jurisdictions now will refuse to dispatch for an unverified emergency/alarm event. This is becoming more wide spread due to all the false alarms.

2way voice gives you a way to verfy the alarm, for CS to hear what is occurring in your home, say in a burglary, or for emergency medical. If your child is seizing, or has stopped breathing, or if husband/wife is having a heart attack,do you really have time to be hunting for that cell phone?

What if you are the victim of an armed home invasion, or an intruder is in your home, and you can’t answer that ringing phone? No help may be coming your way…

For more info on this see:
http://www.google.com/#q=police+will+not+respond+to+unverified+alarms

And see this for why you should include 2way voice:
http://www.diysecurityforum.com/index.php?topic=32233.msg145982#msg145982

4

I think it depends on your jurisdiction and how you use your system but it certainly has it’s benefits. If you’d like to try it, 2-way voice is included in our Gold level service and if you don’t like it we can turn it off for you any time.