Hills District Alarms

A few months ago iCentral and NESS Corp. took over the VALET brand and all its product line, spares etc. Here is the official release

"Ness Corporation and iCentral are pleased to announce that we have reached a commercial agreement with Electrical Home Aids Pty Ltd to purchase all Valet stock, Valet trade marks, the Valet web site, and the Valet 1800 050 333 support line."

As a result the support for the VAlet branded product range should inprove considerable. As time allows, we will have more of the VALET product on our site and in stock for all our customers and the existing VALET customers.

The new NESS Navigator Touch Screen Code Pad is now available and suits all NESS D8 / 16 version 7 or later alarm panels. Ness Navigator Touch Screen Keypad is surely the best looking and most functional alarm interface ever made. We have tested it extensively and so far the feedback from our customers is that they  love its look and its ease of use.

HDA has recently taken on an iCentral Dealership. iCentral is a member of the NESS Corporation group. Many of the iCentral products are manufactured here in Australia, but all their products are put through rigorous testing to meet the high standard set by iCentral and NESS. iCentral have a range of intercom systems, from their System One Intercom with built in Music and Video, to their new 4 Station Video  Intercom with a 7inch screen. iCentral have recently gained access to supply the VALET range of products. So if you are looking for VALET spares or repairs, give HDA a call. Check our on line store for some of the vast range iCentral have available for all your Ducted Vacuum and Intercom needs.

The close of the Telstra Securitel Network is looming. Telstra have put the service costs up again recently, they say to cover increasing costs? Our clients need to update their systems urgently. There are a few alternatives available, but we have been recommending the Emizon 21 Dual Path Communicator to our clients. Check our products section for details or contact Central Monitoring for further details.

After many years of deliberation the N.S.W Police have put in place new regulations regarding how and when they will respond to alarm system activations. We will publish the complete document on our web site, as soon as we make sense of it, how ever in brief the police will be contacted in accordance with the following schedules:

• Schedule One: Urgent Alarm Line Calls for Life Threatening Situations
• Schedule Two: Non Urgent Calls for Verified Alarm attendance with a key holder.
• Schedule Three: Alarms which must not be given to Police unless Verified Crime In Progress
• Schedule Four: Information to be provided to police.

There is a need to clarify the response instructions for all monitored clients as a number have ‘ If no key holder available send police’. This instruction is no longer possible. It is now imperative that clients provide additional key holders who are willing to attend to an alarm callout. Alternatively you can nominate, ‘if no Key holders available, send Patrol.’ Patrol response fee is not included in your monitoring fee,and generally our customers can nominate a prefferred Patrol Company or we can arrange one.

In the circumstances where police are called there will be a fee charged by the police which would be passed onto the client. Central Monitoring have recently had a client fined $200 for attendance to a false alarm as above your call out instructions need to be updated urgently.
If you want further information contact Central Monitoring Services.

DataDot DNA Do-It-Yourself Kits

HDA can now supply our customers with Do It Yourself DataDot systems. DataDots are state of the art technology that allows any property to be quickly, simply and effectively marked by you with a unique DNA coding.

DataDots are smaller than the head of a pin and each DataDot is laser-etched with microscopic lines of text. These are applied to items by you with a patented spray system including a specially developed adhesive which contains an ultra-violet trace that will fluoresce under a UV black-light.
If thieves want to take your property that is marked with DataDot DNA, they need to be absolutely sure that they remove everything that will assist Police prove true ownership.

Has your alarm been tested lately

. Alarm systems need regular checks performed on them and this can be done initially by yourself. If your alarm goes back to base you’ll need to tell your base before and after you test. If you find any sensor no longer covering as effectively as it used to or as you expected, contact our office for a service call. We have found a lot of split batteries from this past summers electrical storms. Some system are not indicating the
faulty batteries as they should so you should have your batteries checked if you have any concerns, contact our office to have it replaced.

Check Your Smoke Sensors

Customers should remember to check their smoke sensors. Most sensors have a test button, but you can get a can of ‘Test Smoke’ from us. The batteries should be changed if you haven't already.

We can now offer our customers our new Emizon Managed Network I.P Communicator.

Emizon 21 is the smart, secure alarm, dual-path signalling service for commercial and domestic premises.

Using both broadband and GPRS networks, Emizon 21 is an advanced dual-path signalling interface for your new or existing alarm control unit less than the cost of conventional competitive services. This new communicator is compliant with the new classes of signalling standards. Serial interfacing between the panel and the device(E.g Emizon Unit) is needed to meet Class 3, 4 or 5 of the newly released AS2201.5:2008 Alarm Transmission Standard and the Emizon 21 provides this level of protection..Contact our office for further details.

An exert from Central Monitoring's Web Page

23rd July 2008

"Telcos Announce Digital Network Rollout:-
Both Optus and Telstra have announced that they have commenced rolling out their digital networks that will see the closure of PSTN switched networks using copper infrastructure and replacing it with fibre to the pit or the curb and voice over IP for the telephone communication. This will mean that Security Alarm Diallers using DTMF format may be effected from today. Please be aware that loss of communication or multiple call costs could result and be the only sign that rollout has occurred near your premises.
So check your phone bills. Your alarm could be running up huge bills!!"

New Office For Hills District Alarms

After more then 13 years of giving up three rooms at our home we have moved the business to a new office at South Windsor. It gives my family a little breathing room ! Unfortunately for Jenny she looses the view of our gardens and gets a view of a brick wall. The office has a small showroom where in time we'll have some of the products on display. We will have in stock more spares for your ducted vacuums as well. We will let you know in future news letters when this happens. The address of the office is : shop 7, 507 George Street South Windsor 2756. The phone number remains the same.

Telstra have announced the end of the Securitel network. A number of our customers currently use the high security monitoring format for their monitoring back to Central Monitoring Services. Telstra have decided that they no longer wish to support the “old technology” so they will be shutting it down toward the end of 2009. So as you can see there’s no need to rush into making changes, but is worth keeping in mind in your planning. As mentioned in previous news letters there is a new monitoring format that Central Monitoring have, utilizing your broadband service. When this service first became available an I.P stu (the communicator to base) was approximately $1500.00 installed. The price has dropped to approx. $1200.00 installed incl. G.S.T. I would expect now that Telstra have made their announcement and as the cut off date gets closer there will be more companies making I.P stu’s and there should be further price drops. The I.P stu’s can be fitted to almost any current alarm panel that Dials Back to Base so if you or your insurance advisor feels you need a higher level of security this system may be suitable for you.