Digital Voice + Home CCTV question

Hey all

I have a Hik-Connect DS-7204HUHI-K1 DVR device that's connected to the BT master socket to make outgoing PSTN calls in the event the alarm goes off. With the migration to Digital Voice, and PSTN being switched off, how do I get my DVR to continue functioning (with the outgoing calls when the alarm goes off) as normal once the migration over to Digital Voice takes place?

TIA!

In reply to a post by Bobby_Valentino:

I have a Hik-Connect DS-7204HUHI-K1 DVR device that's connected to the BT master socket to make outgoing PSTN calls in the event the alarm goes off. With the migration to Digital Voice, and PSTN being switched off, how do I get my DVR to continue functioning (with the outgoing calls when the alarm goes off) as normal once the migration over to Digital Voice takes place?

First stop is to plug it into a VOIP service and see if it works as some do and some don't, also could contact Hik-Connect and see what they have to say but thats unlike to prove fruitful. You may be lucky and someone on here may have the same kit and can advise.

Are you sure that the alarms are via PSTN as that model doesn't appear to have an inbuilt PSTN connection - just dry contacts for alarm in/out, RS485 for PTZ/alarm and ethernet for IP connectivity, plus the typical camera / audio / monitor connections.

In reply to a post by tdw42:

Are you sure that the alarms are via PSTN as that model doesn't appear to have an inbuilt PSTN connection - just dry contacts for alarm in/out, RS485 for PTZ/alarm and ethernet for IP connectivity, plus the typical camera / audio / monitor connections.

Hmmm, I think I'm confusing things here. Let me clarify it's not the CCTV system - apologies, it's the alarm system that I should be talking about! The phone line (RJ11 cable) goes into the alarm system (box) underneath the staircase. This makes a phone call to our mobiles if the alarm goes off when set. So the rephrased question is, how do I get the alarm box to notify us if the PSTN is being switched off?

As PCJM40 suggests connecting the cable from the communicator in the alarm panel to a router with inbuilt VoIP interface or a separate analogue telephone adapter (ATA) might work.

It very much depends on the signalling - alarm panels sometimes do not use standard DTMF which VoIP adapters fail to recognise correctly and/or they may not be able to successfully recognise the end of a call (this has been an issue with answering machines / call screening adapters).

Depending on your alarm panel it should be possible to replace the just the communicator with something which uses IP or 4G rather than PSTN rather than the whole panel or system.

What alarm system?

If it's just an auto dialler that plays a recorded message after you answer the call then I would be very surprised if this didn't work with a VoIP service.

However, if this is the only thing that you use your PSTN line for then it might be worth upgrading this part of the alarm to use IP over your broadband link, optionally with an LTE backup, to push a notification to your phone or send an SMS, rather than trying to recreate exactly what you currently have.

In reply to a post by jpm:

If it's just an auto dialler that plays a recorded message after you answer the call then I would be very surprised if this didn't work with a VoIP service.

Yes this is exactly what it is!

In reply to a post by jpm:

However, if this is the only thing that you use your PSTN line for then it might be worth upgrading this part of the alarm to use IP over your broadband link, optionally with an LTE backup, to push a notification to your phone or send an SMS, rather than trying to recreate exactly what you currently have.

How do I upgrade this part of the alarm? Theres a square white box and a very old looking keypad unit (0-9). Not sure there's a VoIP option on that lol ... this alarm system was originally installed in 2000.

You'd probably want to find out who made the alarm and get a list of their approved installers and have someone round to take a look. Chances are if it was installed 20+ years ago and not had maintenance it doesn't work as well as you might want to believe, and would at least need batteries changing.

In reply to a post by jpm:

You'd probably want to find out who made the alarm and get a list of their approved installers and have someone round to take a look. Chances are if it was installed 20+ years ago and not had maintenance it doesn't work as well as you might want to believe, and would at least need batteries changing.

It's had maintenance done like battery changing and the alarm system works well, it's just old. I'm in doubt about hooking this thing up to VoIP :/