The National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association (NBFAA) is staying active to help the industry deal with the looming Feb. 18, 2008, deadline the Advance Mobile Phone System (AMPS). After that date, cellular providers will no longer be required to support analog (AMPS) cellular communications, and to help the public understand that this could affect their alarm systems, the association issued a national press release on Tuesday to consumer media to advise alarm customers of this issue.
In the release, the NBFAA urged alarm users to contact their alarm company and/or monitoring provider to ensure that their system doesn't rely upon the AMPS technology as either a primary or as a back-up method of communication.
"We've been warning our member companies for some time to take action," said the NBFAA's President George Gunning. "Now with the certainty of the 2008 deadline, we are asking consumers to be proactive and make sure that their systems won’t be affected."
Alarm dealers may also want to contact their local community media in addition to their own customers to alert alarm users of this forthcoming technology change-over. It's a serious issue. A recent NBFAA survey of its members found that 92.5 percent of alarm companies have been using AMPS technology for their customers, and that 70 percent of those alarm companies have AMPS in place to relay essential alarm information for systems like fire and intrusion.
New technologies, of course, are available that provide cellular communications without relying on the fading analog standards.
