Freeze Alarms with Cellular Options

With the growth in both coverage and affordability of cellular services many vacation home owners are looking at ways to ditch their land lines in favor of cell phones while they are at their vacation properties. This is great for personal communication but poses a problem when it comes to using a freeze alarm or temperature alarm system to protect the property as these alarms typically all require a phone line for their alarm call outs.

There are a few options available however for these cottage owners;

1. Use a freeze alarm with a built in cellular modem.
   Pros:
   • Involves only Purchasing One Stand Alone Unit
   • In Control of the Monthly Bills (Owner supplies the SIM card)
   • No cords which can become unplugged or Bluetooth connections which can drop or disconnect

   Cons:

   • Not many units offered (only one at this time, the TemperatureGuard CM712)
   • Can be difficult to understand the programming (for the CM712)
   • Can be a high upfront cost for the unit
2. Use a Freeze Alarm with a cellular terminal
   Pros:
   • Cellular terminals are very reliable, typically have better cellular connectivity than cell phones
   • Cellular terminals are flexible in that any device requiring a phone line can use them, some even offer data and can act as WIFI routers
   • In Control of the Monthly Bills (Owner supplies the SIM card)
   • Any Freeze Alarm can be purchased to use with these units

   Cons:

   • Upfront cost is quite high
   • Needs to be a unit with battery backup if user is using an alarm dialer to monitor for power outages
3. Use a Freeze Alarm with a Blue Tooth device
   Pros:
   • Inexpensive and easy to setup
   • In Control of the Monthly Bills (Owner supplies the SIM card and Cell Phone)
   • Any Freeze Alarm can be purchased to use with this device

   Cons:

   • Bluetooth connection can drop
   • Cell phone needs to remain on and powered up constantly (any resetting can drop the Bluetooth connection)
   • Needs to be a unit with battery backup if user is using an alarm dialer to monitor for power outages

Bottom Line:

It is possible to now monitor your property remotely without a landline, however each user should do a cost comparison and determine whether the additional cost of the cellular devices, plus plans, makes sense for them. If you have an internet connection at your location already, that’s a different story, for a different blog article. So stay tuned!

To browse our cellular alarm units which do not require land lines, follow this link – http://www.absoluteautomation.com/power-alarms/web-based.html