Need recommendation for monitoring on DSC Power632 with no POTS phone

[tauchris]

Hi folks,

My brother-in-law has a DSC Power632 board in his house, and is currently coughing up $40/month to a mainstream monitoring company, plus $35/month to the phone company for a land line that is only used for the alarm.  He wants to cut costs, and I'm trying to give him a recommendation.  He wants to drop the land line altogether.  I don't think he'll want to have internet monitoring only, since power outages typically interrupt internet service.  So the monitoring will either be internet+GSM or exclusively GSM.

I have a few simple questions:

1. Can monitoring be done exclusively over GSM?  (No landline, no internet?)  Are there significant limitations to that?

2. What GSM modules work with the Power632?  I realize many GSM modules are proprietary to the monitoring company; if you recommend one that is, can you please give me a hint as to who can monitor it?

3. What internet modules work with the Power632?  Are those also proprietary in some cases?

4. Is internet module the same thing as ABN?  If not, what is the difference?

Thanks for any advice!
Cheers,
Chris

[corxxgold]

If you are paying that much a month for a DSC 632 panel which is OLD, you are insane,,,, This system you could do a TG-1 Express 2 and open up the open close feature on the panel and download a app so u can arm and disarm the system,,, you should be paying about 30.00 a month for monitoring for a UL listed monitoring station

[danb35]

Your b-i-l is paying way too much for monitoring; there are a number of providers who do this for ~$10/month for landline.  A web search should find them; I don't believe forum policy allows me to name any.  IIRC, my monitoring company is somewhere around $12/mo for cell-only monitoring (but I don't have cell monitoring with them, so my memory could be wrong on that amount).  Presuming he owns the equipment and has (or can get) the installer code, he can change the service to any other provider he wants.  If he can't get the codes, he should be able to install a new DSC panel with all his existing contacts and then program that for whatever monitoring company he chooses.  If he doesn't own the equipment (check his contract with his monitoring company), things may be more complicated for him.

To your questions, first, yes, you can have GSM-only monitoring.  Of course it's going to be subject to signal strength at your b-i-l's house, and to the condition and capacity of the cell network.

There are a number of "universal" GSM communicators available; the Telguard TG-1 Express would seem to fit your criteria nicely.  It works with virtually all panels and most monitoring companies, and is designed to act as a primary communicator.  It can also be installed and configured to allow him to arm and disarm the system remotely (via web or smartphone app), though there would likely be an additional charge for that service (somewhere around $5/mo, I believe).

The ABN is one monitoring company's internet interface; my company calls theirs the ARIM, but I believe it's pretty much the same thing.  They're both special-purpose VOIP routers.  They look like a phone line to your alarm panel, and send the signals over the internet to your monitoring company.  They should work with any alarm panel.  I have the ARIM installed with my alarm and it seems to work pretty well, though I did need to have it replaced a month or so ago when it stopped working.