We discovered — thanks to a wee-hours incident which involved an ear-shattering siren and fumbling around on an ADT keypad — that our home security system was unhappy. Very unhappy. It wasn’t able to phone home to the ADT central office for its routine checkup, and it wasn’t okay with that. So the security system proceeded to regularly chirp at us for the next several days while I tried to sort out how best to proceed.
I spoke with ADT. I chatted with Vonage. And, of course, I dug around on the Web for any semblance of helpful documentation. All pointed to my one final and certain doom: Security systems and VoIP don’t mix. You lose. Give up and get a “real” landline, they all told me.
I threw in my towel and signed up for SBC service again. We had tried. It had been a valiant effort to step into the brave new world of digital telephony. But it just hadn’t worked out for us.
A few weeks later, after SBC had flipped the switch and welcomed us back, I contacted Vonage to cancel our VoIP account. Oddly enough, I was assisted through the cancellation process by a savvy tech support agent. He began to ask questions about why we were leaving and threw around sophisticated terminology. And there I was — canceling service, and yet with hope rekindled. Could VoIP and ADT indeed live in harmony? But my number was back with SBC. Goodbye, Vonage. Perhaps some other day.
Switching back to SBC brought its own troubles. Lo and behold, the security system didn’t get well again. It continued to chirp and tests of the system failed. I called ADT to request service and they committed to send someone out, free of charge, to correct the issue. The local dispatch office, however, had its own understanding of how things would go. They were convinced that they would charge for the trip and any required parts and time. I found myself very much ready to break contract with ADT, but then I happened to mention the magic acronym: VoIP. “Oh, this problem came about after you used VoIP? I’m so sorry for the misunderstanding! Our visit will be free of charge.” Wow. Case closed. The ADT technician fixed the wiring.
And yet, once again, the relentless burden of the SBC bills started weighing on me. Once again I was handing over vast sums of money each month for services that I knew could be bought up on the cheap with VoIP. I couldn’t tolerate it. I knew that Alexander Graham Bell would have wanted me to innovate and beat the system and find a way to make VoIP and ADT talk to each other. After all, this is the twenty-first century.
Thanks for posting this. Along these lines, i would love to know your opinion on landline service here in general. I live in Dallas and strongly considering returning to landline service from cell service. Yes....oooooooooo! Everyone says it can't be done but, alack, I am sure it can. My question is this, in the day and age with AT&T, Vonage and cable services running this show, which company would you recommend for this service. many thanks to you or anyone who responds!