Sees like a common problem with the Com-Wifi then, lets hope Texecom are working on a firmware fix.
Last edited:
Reliability of Alarm Notifications using SMS gateways (dial-up Tap to SMS)
- Thread starter PASUK
- Start date
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Don't you have a com wifi not a com IP ?
yes, getting mixed up with the name now.
Hello
As promised here are the Dial up TAP to SMS notification results over a 10 day test period.
As a reminder the test had the Vodafone number as primary and OpenTAP as back up.
36 Open/Close events during this period with the digi configured to notify on these events.
The good news is that both my wife and I received SMS notifications for every event which is a significant improvement on the previous test where we only had Voda as the TAP gateway.
On three notifications Voda failed, and the SMS came from OpenTAP.
I checked the phone bill, both SMS msgs to my wife and I are executed from a single call, not two separate calls. Having read up on TAP a little further, it confirms support for multiple msgs. As my number was programmed first and my wife and no.2 what is most likely to have happened on the call I described in my first post is that the call was for some reason cut short, but was enough to communicate the msg and my number but not long enough to transmit my wife's number.
Overall I am very happy with this setup compared to my initial tests:
1. Voda reliability on this test was much better, which suggests my initial tests where during a particularly bad week for Voda's TAP service.
2. OpenTAP, while more expensive, is a good back up.
I would never say this is a perfect notification channel but given the low risk profile of my situation and that this is what came with the kit I think I am good with it. When I have more time on my hands I probably would like to go with the ComIP approach.
Cost wise:
The calls to voda were about 35ppm while OpenTAP comes up at about 65ppm. Calls with Virgin media seem to always be rounded to 1 minute, so adding the 2nd person (wife) to the data which extends the call doesn't make a difference to my bill.
While all this testing has probably cost me in total about 20quid moving forward using this method for Alarms only and open/close while on holiday is not expensive.
I hope this helps for anyone looking into this in the future!
As promised here are the Dial up TAP to SMS notification results over a 10 day test period.
As a reminder the test had the Vodafone number as primary and OpenTAP as back up.
36 Open/Close events during this period with the digi configured to notify on these events.
The good news is that both my wife and I received SMS notifications for every event which is a significant improvement on the previous test where we only had Voda as the TAP gateway.
On three notifications Voda failed, and the SMS came from OpenTAP.
I checked the phone bill, both SMS msgs to my wife and I are executed from a single call, not two separate calls. Having read up on TAP a little further, it confirms support for multiple msgs. As my number was programmed first and my wife and no.2 what is most likely to have happened on the call I described in my first post is that the call was for some reason cut short, but was enough to communicate the msg and my number but not long enough to transmit my wife's number.
Overall I am very happy with this setup compared to my initial tests:
1. Voda reliability on this test was much better, which suggests my initial tests where during a particularly bad week for Voda's TAP service.
2. OpenTAP, while more expensive, is a good back up.
I would never say this is a perfect notification channel but given the low risk profile of my situation and that this is what came with the kit I think I am good with it. When I have more time on my hands I probably would like to go with the ComIP approach.
Cost wise:
The calls to voda were about 35ppm while OpenTAP comes up at about 65ppm. Calls with Virgin media seem to always be rounded to 1 minute, so adding the 2nd person (wife) to the data which extends the call doesn't make a difference to my bill.
While all this testing has probably cost me in total about 20quid moving forward using this method for Alarms only and open/close while on holiday is not expensive.
I hope this helps for anyone looking into this in the future!
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I thought it was 17p and 50p. Where's the additional cost coming from? Those charges make IP and GSM even more compelling. If no open/close set up, you'd at least need a weekly test call to make sure the PSTN is still working.
Ultimately your telco provider sets the charges. In my case Virgin Media on the basic package.
I think that's why when you hear television programs quote the cost of calling in / voting etc, they usually say charges from a BT landline, other networks and mobiles may charge more.
The main reason I went down this route is that when I bought my equipment the panel, keypad and this digi was a package and the bundle was extremely attractive price. In fact the cost of the keypad and panel bought separately seemed to cost more than the 3 items in a bundle. So I thought it was a good starting point.
At the time I could not find a bundle that had the GSM or ComIP.
So by my calculations assuming about 4 false alarms, 10 open close notifications during vacations, and a weekly test call works out to about £25-£30 per annum.
While on topic, would anyone know the price of GSM + ComIP ?
depends on where your buying from COM GSM around £150 and com-ip around £100, com wifi under £50 with aerial.
Hello -
It has been a while since I originally posted this but I wanted to provide long run test results on using this way of sending alerts.
Hopefully useful for anyone who may do a search in the future.
After two years (a total of 68 SMS msgs) of using dial up TAP to SMS to alert me of security system notifications, so far it hasn't failed me.
I have set it up for alarms, faults, maintenance, and entry/exit (of house minders while I am on vacation).
On 4 occasions the primary gateway (vodafone) failed but the secondary gateway (OpenTAP) successfully kicked in and I get the SMS from that gateway.
I have checked the event logs on the alarm system to see if I missed anything but it all looks good.
I do still think that this approach has weaknesses and could easily fail should both gateways be busy/faulty or if my phone line is busy but as a low cost solution which provides a good amount of detail regarding the notification type, I'm happy.
Hope this helps.
It has been a while since I originally posted this but I wanted to provide long run test results on using this way of sending alerts.
Hopefully useful for anyone who may do a search in the future.
After two years (a total of 68 SMS msgs) of using dial up TAP to SMS to alert me of security system notifications, so far it hasn't failed me.
I have set it up for alarms, faults, maintenance, and entry/exit (of house minders while I am on vacation).
On 4 occasions the primary gateway (vodafone) failed but the secondary gateway (OpenTAP) successfully kicked in and I get the SMS from that gateway.
I have checked the event logs on the alarm system to see if I missed anything but it all looks good.
I do still think that this approach has weaknesses and could easily fail should both gateways be busy/faulty or if my phone line is busy but as a low cost solution which provides a good amount of detail regarding the notification type, I'm happy.
Hope this helps.
Hello again and for a final time on this thread.
4 years since the previous update I wanted to give very long run results on this test we started a very long time ago!!
Since the last set of results my texecom alarm system has sent a further 96 test call messages and four alarm notifications (deliberately triggered in three cases, one false alarm) = 100 calls to the SMS gateway.
In all cases the system worked its way through to a SMS to myself and my wife on all 100 occasions.
71 through the cheaper vodafone sms gateway (set as primary), the remaining had to fall back to the secondary OpenTAP gateway which was more expensive.
As I have said before in this thread: SMS gateway is not a 100% guaranteed notification method, but depending on your situation it may be a good solution. It works for me, it won't be for everyone.
I hope no one minds that I bumped this back up and gave a final result. I hope it is useful!
Once again thanks to @secureiam @sparkymarka @Paulj48 for getting me started on this all a ew years back!
4 years since the previous update I wanted to give very long run results on this test we started a very long time ago!!
Since the last set of results my texecom alarm system has sent a further 96 test call messages and four alarm notifications (deliberately triggered in three cases, one false alarm) = 100 calls to the SMS gateway.
In all cases the system worked its way through to a SMS to myself and my wife on all 100 occasions.
71 through the cheaper vodafone sms gateway (set as primary), the remaining had to fall back to the secondary OpenTAP gateway which was more expensive.
As I have said before in this thread: SMS gateway is not a 100% guaranteed notification method, but depending on your situation it may be a good solution. It works for me, it won't be for everyone.
I hope no one minds that I bumped this back up and gave a final result. I hope it is useful!
Once again thanks to @secureiam @sparkymarka @Paulj48 for getting me started on this all a ew years back!
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