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Frequently Asked Questions & Answers
Q. How often do I need to test my alarm system
A. Test it Monthly.
There is simply no other way to verify that it is operating.
Q. Who do I call for testing and how do I do it
A. Call central, 1-800-933-4762
give them your name and your account number
and ask to be placed on test for thirty minutes.
Afterward, simply arm your system, wait at least 90 seconds
and then intrude one or more zones.
Then wait 10 seconds more and then disarm the system.
Now wait one minute
and then call central once again to see if they received your signals.
They should be able to specify which
door, window or motion that you tripped. One zone per test will suffice to tell you that you are transmitting
but it's ok if you want to test more than one.
When done, turn off your alarm a second time in order to clear the
screen of the alarm condition and all goes back to normal.
Q. What does
it mean when FC shows up in keypad window
A. This is very serious because it indicates that your system attempted to dial central station but Failed to
Communicate.
The reason for failure to communicate is essentially that the system could not dial out to central.
Here is
what you need to ask yourself in order to assess your situation. (a) Has a person been to your home recently and worked on your phone
system? (b) Have you changed your carrier or (c) do you now have DSL for internet?
It is entirely possible that this was a one time incident of unknown cause and that it prevented the system from
dialing out and that the issue has cleared itself, without you doing anything, so let's begin by ruling that out
first.
Go to your keypad and enter your 4 digit code and OFF, two times. Did the FC go away?
If not, then follow the directions above for calling central and
testing.
If central received your signals after testing, then you are done.
If not then we have to take a step back to the above (a) which is
usually followed by either (b) or (c).
It's bad enough that most phone workers have no alarm knowledge and that
they sometimes change the wiring to omit the alarm system but the greater issue these days occurs upon changing
services.
Oftentimes filters are required on every phone but few remember to treat the alarm system like
another phone and since it needs to dial out, that's how it should be considered.
Therefore, find out if your
phones now require filters because if they do, then your alarm does too and it simply won't work if one is
required. They're very visible and can be seen where the phone plugs into the wall. Conversely, if the phones
don't have them, the alarm doesn't need one either.
If you find that it is required on your phone system and the alarm
doesn't have one, call the phone company or go to Radio Shack and get one in
asap.
If you've done all of the above without success, and you still see
an FC in the keypad window then your problem could be more serious. Time to Call
772-349-1153
Q. What is Low battery in the keypad window followed by continuous
keypad beeping
A. Most people seem surprised by this and they seem to expect their batteries to last forever.
Here is the reality
of the matter:
Batteries in door/window contacts and motion detectors last about three years, depending on the
amount of action they experience.
Smoke detectors may last up to five years.
In essence battery life is excellent but the best way to avoid all battery problems is to automatically change them when that amount of time
has expired, even if the battery has not yet called central.
Of course you can wait until the system does call
central, usually at around three in the morning, always followed be the incessant beeping to let you know that you
have a low battery.
When the beeping starts you can push the Star Key and it will stop for a period of time but
be warned, it will start again.
When one battery goes, others will surely soon follow. If you need to replace one, then why not replace all.
Door/window transmitters utilize one battery, motion and smoke detectors use two.
They are available at Radio Shack or
most camera stores. Just ask for three volt lithium. You can buy them at this site but we take no
responsibility for quality, etc. http://www.onlybatteries.com/index.asp
There is a search bar where you can type in 3 volt lithium. Careful because there are different types. I would
only buy Duracell and make sure it's the right style.
Before replacing batteries it is best to short circuit the positive and negative terminals inside the
transmitter.
This resets it so that it will clear the keypad upon powering up.
It's ok to skip this step
and sometimes you can reset the keypad with arming and disarming or by waiting 24 hours. It's up to you.
There can be rare occasions when transmitters die or go bad, which
simply put means that contacts and motion detectors don't actually last forever. If the battery dies after only
one month, chances are you need a new unit. However, before you toss one out, we can upload your history and
pretty much determine what's really going on, so call first.
Q. Do I have to mail in my monitoring payments or is there another
way
A. There
is another way and we're planning to completely switch over to it. In fact, unless you have extremely good cause
we plan to have everyone pay On Line via Paypal
Your invoice will now arrive by email about two weeks in advance of
your due date. All you will have to do is come back to this page and click on the link on the the top right that reads (Pay Monitoring On Line) and you're on your way.
Click on the Paypal Link and the amount that you need to pay will
show up. Don't worry, you haven't paid yet.
Once you see the amount you are given the opportunity to accept or go
back.
If you accept, you'll be asked to fill out credit card information on
a secure server. No one can see it.
You will also be asked for a password. Make something up that
is easy to remember but hard to guess.
You'll then be asked to accept the charge. Answer yes and
you're done.
The beauty of this system is that next time, or for other purchases,
you will not be asked again for your credit card information, but instead you will only need to know your password.
This adds to the safety of the process.
Our annual monitoring price has been $227.40 for quite a long time,
in fact a lot of years. Have you noticed a reduction in your billing
statement?
We've been trying to reward those customers who have been with us
for many years by bringing the price down but in all fairness, those who pay late really don't deserve a discount
because we're not in the business of chasing people for payments. This has always been a problem to contend with
even though there are very few people who actually fall into this category. It's always difficult, if not
embarrassing to have to tell old friends that it's time to pay up.
Enter, PayPal as our solution. When you go to the PayPal page
to pay your monitoring, the button will tell you the discounted price before the due date but it will tell you the
regular price after the due date, which is $227.40. Anyone paying prior to the due date will see a
very nice discount, but if you don't make it in time you get to pay the regular price, which still isn't that bad,
just not as good. Additionally, the discount may get even better year after year.
Paypal is the safest payment method that we could find on the Internet. The price you see
actually cost us approximately 3% for utilizing this kind of payment option but it saves time and time is money.
You can use any charge card, get points or other benefits and you can
stretch out your card payment till it's due, so you get to hold your money an extra thirty days or so.
Hope you give it a try... besides you will get the lowest price when
using Paypal before the due date. Go there now and check out the current early payment figure.
Q. Can I pay for equipment with PayPal
A. Yes. All equipment is now listed and can be ordered with
the click of a button and the programming is, as always, free.
Q. What's the easiest way to change my central station
information
A. We've got a new method that we've recently instated to make
it easier for all of us. The link is at the top of this page and reads, (Monitoring Change or Add Information)
Go there and just fill in the necessary changes, always include your name and account number. Also,
remember that our primary method of contact is now email, so if you change your email, please go to the form and
let us know.
Q. How do I understand the call list and zone list?
A. Your information will look something like this
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