• We should now be fully online following an overnight outage. Apologies for any inconvenience, we do not expect there to be any further issues.

Question about home security systems and *needed land line*

rocadelpunk

Diamond Member
Jul 23, 2001
5,589
1
81
Does anybody know if home security companies like adt...etc consider the digital phone service as a landline?


thanks
 

rocadelpunk

Diamond Member
Jul 23, 2001
5,589
1
81
I'm waiting on sis to find out what company she has to transfer service over, it might be adt/might not be

but I need to go ahead and get the other stuff setup...cable etc, move in for apartment was today.
 

thomsbrain

Lifer
Dec 4, 2001
18,148
1
0
if your digital phone service can use regular analog phone sets, then it's probably ok. if you need special sets, then probably not.
 

kranky

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
21,019
156
106
On a side note, be very careful before signing a contract for an alarm system. Many people have found themselves locked into a multi-year deal with no right of cancellation, even if you move, even if the system doesn't work. And if you DO want to cancel, some require you to give 30 days notice and will only accept that notice in the 30 day window prior to the contract expiring. In other words, you can't tell them 31 days in advance you don't want to renew the contract.

And even more scary, some companies will accept your request to cancel in that 30 day window, then keep billing you because you don't have a confirmation number (which they never gave you when you cancelled).

Google for some horror stories.
 

BoomerD

No Lifer
Feb 26, 2006
66,291
14,710
146
We had an ADT system for about 4 yrs, and recently changed to a contract with Monitronics. Yes, it's a 24 month contract, with many of the same provisions that ADT had, at a considerably lower price.
Because we already had the same basic wireless system installed, we got a ton of upgrades at no cost. Things like an extra motion sensor, smoke detector that ties into the alarm system, cell phone system, etc. Should our home phone line go out, or the wires get cut, the alarm automatically calls over the cell system.
Our city, in an attempt to control the costs of responding to false alarms, implemented a policy this year, where they won't respond to an "unverified alarm event"...so, if you aren't home and they can't contacy you via cell phone, or are tied up by the "bad guys", they won't come out, even though your alarm is blaring...
The Monitronics system we had installed gives more contact options, including 2-way phone/intercom service thru the alarm panel. On top of getting all the freebies, by having the smoke detector tied into the system, we got a 10% discount on our homeowners premiums...
 

Drekce

Golden Member
Sep 29, 2000
1,398
0
76
You should not be paying for ADT anyway. There is no reason to pay $35 a month for alarm monitoring. Go with a local company (they usually use the same call centers anyway) and save about half of the monthly fee, plus have no contract. I just had an alarm installed at my house last month and it works over Vonage. The company did not charge anything extra, as the system still plugs into a regular phone jack anyway (I setup all of my jacks to use the Vonage line). My monitoring is only $17/month, and it is connected to the largest alarm monitoring facility in Florida. For those worried about losing signal if the power goes out...how often do you lose power? I have had Vonage for over two years and have only had maybe an hour of no phone service. I will take those odds rather than paying for the cellular add on.