What is Cellular Alarm Monitoring?

Cellular alarm monitoring is a type of alarm monitoring service that involves sending signals across a cellular network. Whenever the system needs to send an outbound alert, it will send signals via cellular communication. The purpose of these signals to alert others about system events.

Like any type of alarm monitoring, cellular alarm monitoring involves having an alarm system send outbound communication signals to alert others about certain system events. These could include an alarm on the system or a system sensor being faulted. The signals will be received by a central monitoring station if the user has a central station monitoring plan. The central station can then send automatic emergency dispatch to the property. But if a user has a self-monitoring plan, then the signals will pass through an interactive service platform, such as Total Connect 2.0 or Alarm.com, before being passed on directly to the end user via text and/or email. From there, the user with the self-monitored system must contact any emergency help on their own.

The main advantage that cellular monitoring has over other types of alarm monitoring is its superb reliability. Cellular service is rarely down or unavailable, and this type of communication is not affected by typical power outages. Cellular communication is by far the most reliable communication path available for an alarm system. Additionally, cellular connectivity offers very fast speeds that are typically on par with WIFI service. Cellular connectivity will also allow an alarm system to be used with an interactive service platform, like Total Connect 2.0 or Alarm.com.

In order to receive cellular monitoring, a user must have a system with an active cellular communicator. Some systems, like the Qolsys IQ Panel 2, come with a cellular communicator that is built-in to the panel for this purpose. But most systems will require that a cellular communicator be added separately. The user will also need to have an alarm monitoring plan that includes cellular service. For Alarm Grid customers, these are the Gold and Platinum level monitoring plans. Please check out our monitoring page for more information.