How cost effective are telephone based intercoms?...

How much to Install:

Communicating with visitors from behind a closed door or gate has been a necessity ever since the good old door or gate lock was invented. Keeping unwanted people out and only letting friendly folk in, is as common today as it has ever been. In fact, one could argue that it is even more popular than ever.

Standing behind your front door and speaking. Or shouting at someone the other side is easy, unless either party cannot hear the other. Then some form of communication device is required.

Two halves of a coconut and a line of string is probably the simplest, with a tube to talk down, much like that used on board old ships and possibly the most reliable, may be the next step, followed by a hard-wired audio entry type product close behind. All of which are often limited or restricted by the distance between each point, the number of points needed and the obstructions in the way.

This is especially the case with powered gates or barriers at the end of a drive, or a perimeter access point, such as a turn style or pedestrian gate at the far end of a secure location.

Since the late 1980’s there have been alternative solutions that use the existing telecommunications infrastructure already established and already in most if not all of the right places.

In the mid 90’s this concept of combining door entry with telecommunications took a big leap forward, with the introduction of mobile network connective products and the ability to speak with visitors on your own personal mobile phone, enabling complete flexibility and convenience.

One major financial saving is the speed and ease of installation. Occupants do not have to allow access to each point, as their contact numbers can be added as and when required, remotely and without the need to be home.

Distance between a door and each flat, or a gate system and each property is no longer important, nor are follow on numbers or time selective diverts.

Features and functions of a telecoms-based solution are huge and far more cost effective that old traditional systems.

Developments can be built in stages without compromise to future alterations, additions or many changes.

Access control and Alarm interfaces are straight forward, with some products offering text alert services, keeping owners informed.

GSM based intercoms have now taken a lead over their landline connective cousins, but this was not always the case.

How much to Run:

Once upon a time telephone based door entry intercoms were considered as costly to run, this however is no longer the case.

With constant competition driving prices down, most telecom providers offer some greatly reduced deals. It was not that long ago, that mobile networks were known as an expensive alternative to the traditional hard wire BT land line offerings. But now there are numerous mobile network deals to be had that are far cheaper.

Contrary to common belief mobile network coverage is improving all the time and today, multi network SIM cards are easier to obtain, ensuring greater connectivity almost everywhere.

Pay-as-you-go, has been seen by most as the fixed network, low cost option, with offers around ￡10 a month, or less. However, there are short term contracts available that are even cheaper than this and without the need to regularly top-up or sign up for a year or two.

TG telecom is one such provider of a mobile solution that has been custom designed to suit the intercom market. Multi-network with a choice of tariffs ideal for small through to larger usage installations.

Back in the day, installers would have to wait days, or weeks for a land line to be made available and sometimes lengthy discussions were required for the line to be installed were it was needed. Today connection time is no longer an issue, with a greater level of fit-and-forget is achievable utilizing a mobile network, with same day commissioning.

With so many benefits and huge flexibility of use, telephone-based door entry solutions are becoming more popular as well as cheaper to own.

Lengthy cable runs, and damaged or rotten connections are also a thing of the past when a telephone-based system is installed. Also, remote management of a system can be backed up with some products, offering greater customer satisfaction, as well as technical support.

Changing caller details, access codes and time settings, along with temporary call diverts and many other functions, are simple to provide when remote programming and diagnostics can be offered.

Why use old static systems when modern reliable solutions offer so much more, and sometimes for far less?...