Can I Use Digital Voice Travel for My Home Security System?

Power Outage

• Although your security system might have a back-up battery to allow it to continue working during a power outage, Digital Voice Travel doesn't. If your power goes out, your home phone lines cease to work for the duration of the outage. This means that your security system can't contact the monitoring center in case of an emergency while the power is out, leaving your home vulnerable to intrusion or to damage from fire or powerful storms.

Internet Outage

• Because Digital Voice Travel uses your Internet connection to transmit data from your home phone line, your security system relies on a strong Internet connection to work properly. If your Internet connection fluctuates or goes down completely, your security system can't contact the monitoring station to notify a customer care representative of an emergency, even if your home's power is working properly.

Wiring Issues

• For your home security system to work properly with Digital Voice Travel, you may have to rewire -- hire someone to rewire -- your phone lines. StarHub's voice-enabled cable modem, or VeCM, must have a direct phone wire connection. The other phones in your home must use a secondary connection, making sure the security system can override any calls or Internet data transfers in progress to call the monitoring station during an emergency.

Other Options

• Instead of connecting your home security system to your Digital Voice Travel modem, consider keeping an inexpensive, basic land line for your security system to use. Some home security companies also offer a wireless system, which avoids your home phone lines altogether. These systems use cell towers to make calls instead of land lines.