UHS Systems Rolls out IP-Based Security Monitoring Services

Nov. 14, 2005
Company seeks to tap VOIP market, web-based video alarm verification market

Australian company UHS Systems has announced plans to introduce a broadband network in the U.S., with the ability to provide alarm monitoring via a high-speed IP network.

According to UHS (www.uhsus.com), the system is designed to service customers who have turned to Voice of IP (VoIP) systems for voice communications, rather than traditional POTS systems. The switch to VoIP has left many monitoring providers and alarm installing companies concerned over the fact that traditional analog signals that older panels use might not work with the newer technology.

The UHS Systems UltraSec broadband network is designed to route communications in an encrypted format over a redundant network, and will provide a digital wireless system in the case of power outages (which shut down IP communications) or network downtime.

"The increasing adoption of VoIP makes a broadband-friendly alarm transport service necessary to ensure that monitoring companies remain able to receive data that allows the dispatch of help to customers in case of an emergency," said Jack McCurdy, UHS Systems' general manager of U.S. operations, in a statement announcing the company's network-based monitoring services.

McCurdy also noted that the company's network monitoring system will not only provide for IP-based home burglar alarm monitoring, but also for commercial accounts, as well as with surveillance video reporting for alarm verification.

UHS Systems has its U.S. headquarters in Roswell, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta.