As wirefree systems are rapidly becoming more established there are some very significant opportunities for installers – if they take the right approach. The important thing is to recognise that wirefree systems aren’t just a wired system without the wires; they are fundamentally different and require an approach that reflects those differences.
In fact, wirefree systems can be extremely liberating as a result of that freedom from cables, and modern systems also incorporate a number of other features to make life a lot easier for the installer. Modern systems have also overcome the security concerns that were prevalent with older wirefree systems, so any opinions that were formed a few years ago may need to be revised.
Without a doubt, however, for any installer who’s been installing hard wired systems for years, there is a transition to be made.
A transition in terms of both planning the system and in evaluating the costs of the installation. Clearly the first stage of planning on site is to ensure that the layout of the building will be suitable for a wirefree system and that the transmitters and receivers can be located in the best sites for a strong reliable signal.
To that end, the wirefree alarm system itself should include installation tools such as an integral signal strength meter and one man audible walk test facility.
Another liberating factor of wirefree systems is the installer is no longer tied to putting detectors in the corners of rooms because of access to cabling. Now, the detectors can be put almost anywhere you like, as long as they provide the necessary coverage.
For these reasons, it really is worthwhile investing some time in a thorough site survey, because the savings on installation time will more than compensate for those extra few minutes of planning. With the cost of engineers increasing, time is rapidly becoming a more important consideration and time-saving products are delivering a faster payback. Also, as installers get more experience of wirefree systems they quickly develop a ‘gut-feel’ of how the project is going to work.
And even greater time savings can be achieved in a multi-site project where the layout is repeated, such as a housing development. On these projects the system can be pre-programmed before it goes to site, so that very often a lower skilled, and therefore lower cost, operative can be used for the installation work.
Laying fears to rest
Since wirefree systems were first introduced there have been a number of concerns expressed about their security and reliability. Some of these fears were based on misconceptions from the very start, while others were legitimate fears in relation to the earlier, more primitive systems, but are no longer relevant to today’s systems. So it’s worth considering some of these and laying any fears to rest.
Interference from other systems has been a concern in the past and early systems shared the same, junk-everything-in-together frequency as devices such as baby minders and wireless doorbells.
And while there was some encoding of the signal, these systems weren’t foolproof.
Now, however, the 868MHz wave band has been designated exclusively for wirefree alarms systems. At the same time, the encoding is considerably more sophisticated, so you could have 30 systems in one road, all operating at 868MHz and there would be no danger of cross-transfer of information.
Security has been another concern for people – in particular that an enterprising and highly technical burglar could find a way of jamming the signal so the alarm would not operate. That might happen in Mission Impossible but it’s not going to happen in the real world. This is because modern systems use a rolling or hopping code system that selects a different code at random each time a signal is sent.
With 16 million codes in the system to choose from there is no realistic way for anyone to hack into it.
Battery life is another fear that can be laid to rest, because while the old systems used alkaline batteries that only lasted seven to eight months, the lithium cells in use now will last up to five years. Furthermore, the system’s control panel will detect whether batteries are low in any of the devices and indicate where batteries need to be changed during routine servicing.
And servicing is still an important part of the service, even with longer lasting batteries. It’s also a useful source of additional revenue.
In fact, a wirefree system presents a great opportunity to add value to the routine servicing by making it easy to ‘tweak’ the system to suit the end user and by adding extra functionality and new devices as required. For example, if an extension is added to a house, or other changes result in different usage patterns, it makes sense to reconfigure the alarm system to ensure it’s still providing the necessary levels of protection.
With a wired system this work may be deferred or ignored because of the disruption and cost. With a wirefree system it is very easy to move devices around to suit the new layout.
The latest wirefree systems offer a much wider choice of accessories to encompass environmental as well as security parameters such as flood detectors, CO detectors, and low temperature alarms, integrated if desired with home automation functionality.
These systems are now a “must have” product through desire rather than necessity.
As a result they play a bigger part in the user’s everyday life, so they value it and are likely to invest in it .
The future holds even greater opportunities for the installer; live video streaming and control of the home via the internet is already a reality.
Dramatic developments of the domestic alarm system can only now be restricted by a lack of imagination.
