This article is for users of back to base alarm monitoring systems in Australia and New Zealand. It highlights some of the dodgy practices that consumers need to be aware of.
There are understandably very tough standards in place for manufacturers and installers of high security equipment and applications in Australia and New Zealand. The AS/NZS 2201.5:2008 standards are well within the technical reach of many manufacturers, however at the time of writing, the costs of achieving certification are so expensive that only 3 companies have been able to do it so far. The two incumbent Telco's Telstra and Optus were first on the list. The third is an English company who are a spin-off from British Telecom. Small and medium sized manufacturers, including some highly respected manufacturers that have been in the industry for decades, do not seem to have the finances to achieve certification and risk losing out to the large corporates.
Perhaps a more interesting inconsistency in the standard is at the lower end of the graded market and the regulations for upgrading a system that currently uses a PSTN line and a basic alarm dialler. You would think that by adding line supervision, an upgrade to any IP solution would be an improvement and surpass, or at least meet the new standard. Sadly, this is not the view of the standards committee.
The problem is that there are around 900,000 such dialler systems using the PSTN landline network and Telstra and Optus would stand to lose a big chunk of revenue. Not just from line rental, but from the calls that are made by monitored alarm systems throughout Australia and New Zealand on a daily basis.
In view of the above, it should be clear why it was written into the standards that any upgrade of such systems must travel over a private network and not over the public Internet. It should also come as no surprise that Telstra and Optus are the only two companies large enough to own their own private network. Great news if you are a Telstra or Optus shareholder, but not so good for consumers who are owners of a back to base monitored alarm system.
As if that was not bad enough for fair competition, the situation is compounded by a large number of Alarm Companies. Enforcement of the standards are seen as a convenient way to hold onto the rebates they receive from the Telcos and the 1300 security industry rebate system. Alarm companies and Alarm Monitoring Centres receive a portion of the 25 cents consumers are charged every time their alarm panel makes a call. It is well known that alarm calls over the Internet are free, yet a consumer who arms and disarms their security system just twice a day using a 1300 number will be charged over $30 per month on those calls alone.
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