The BT Home Monitor VP1000 burglar alarm unit calls either 0870 160 1348 or 0870 160 1349.  I'm running up a bill with BT due to continually dialling up during installation and testing.  Does anyone have the geographic versions please?

~ Edited by Dave: Thread title amended

Hi there!

I am afraid, that you may be snookered.  I have just visited the BT website and have found out the following to your horror:

The BT Home Monitor VP1000 starter package costs £179.99(inc. VAT) and includes the first 3 months of the monitoring service*.


What charges are there?
£179.99 (inc. VAT) for the BT Home Monitor home security system including Control Panel, 1 Wireless Magnetic Contact, 2 Wireless Movement Detectors, Keyfob and External Dummy Siren, plus all the necessary mounting equipment and installation guides.

This includes 3 months monitoring, ensuring that you and your contacts will receive alerts via fixed line phone, text message or email(your 3 month home monitoring service starts from the time you register your details online).

After the first 3 months, you can continue the monitoring service for a low monthly charge of £5. It is easy to renew your BT Home Monitoring service, just visit and register on BT click&buy

Your Control Panel makes outgoing calls using your phone line when events (e.g intrusion, smoke or pressing the panic button) happen in your home. It also dials out to tell you of changes to your system status (e.g. low battery or power failure). These are charged at BT standard rates and appear on your bill as an 0870 number.

I do not know, what to suggest.

Sorry.

James Bond  



 

What I would like to know is, what are you going to do with the Geographic numbers IF you get them?
Does the unit really let you program alternative numbers into it or is it in the system firmware ?
Why is it calling those 0870 numbers ? (To get the list of contact numbers you provided from the internet ??)
If it will allow other numbers, try putting your own home number (busy/1571) for BOTH while testing, then you can change it to your mobile number & your work number for live use.

I suspect that the numbers are in held Firmware (Rom) & not easily changeable. Nothing of help in the manuals that I could find. The Firmware can be altered, but only if you have the means to do it. :o

Let us know what you find and we'll see what we can do to help further. :)

Btw the price is reduced to £149.99 - More information for those interested at the BT Shop or call 0800 587 8877

Hi, a Challenge for ya!  My BT Home Monitor dials out to an 0870 number! its 0870 1601348, but this is obviously expensive! can any1 find an alternative!

Now explain something to me because we had this query before. See the Arrogant Companies - ADT posting for the previous conclusion.

So after reading that, why do you think that it's more expensive using the 0870 ??  ::)

well im sorry! in case u didnt notice this was my first visit to the forum!

I read the other thread but the way I see it then it will be 5p daytime, evening or weekends as aren't all calls on BT subject to a minimum call charge of 5p including 0845/0870 numbers.

A 20sec geographical call and a 20sec 0870 would still cost at least the minimum call charge of 5p whether this be daytime, evening or weekend.

This is of course assuming that the person uses BT and is not on the BT together option 2 or 3.

If they use an alternative carrier for calls the chances are they'll have free weekend calls at the very least, possibly even evening calls as well.

If the alarm systems are only plugged into a telephone socket and not hard-wired into the telephone system then using Call18866 it would only cost 3p.

My view is that technically the geo number would still be the cheapest route but only by a few pence unless they are on a free minutes tariff.

It still seems to me to still be a scam to gain extra revenue despite charging an annual fee.  The revenue may be very little unless they have absolutely millions of customers and get a lot of calls to their 0870 number.

Quote:

. . . all calls on BT subject to a minimum call charge of 5p including 0845/0870 numbers

All that happens is that the Alarm system calls the base site (re-routed as required by the 0870), who then alert the appropriate persons. Police & registered person by phone (mobile or whatever), then presumably the alarm system itself to monitor & confirm reset status.

Less than 30 seconds on the line means that it's the same price via either means of access. They're lucky that unlike ADT it hasn't gone to 0906 ! The NGN has the advantage that it's capable of being re-routed to other locations & calling the next available number on the list if others are engaged. The Geo number isn't so what is the Alarm system going to do if the number called is engaged ?? Redial later !

But wouldn't it be cheaper on 0845 someone shouted. Please try reading the ADT post again.

It's the same cost whichever you use, unless they go over to 0906, then you're really gonna pay for it !!   :-/

wrote on Sep 6^th, 2005 at 8:32pm:

The NGN has the advantage that it's capable of being re-routed to other locations & calling the next available number on the list if others are engaged. The Geo number isn't so what is the Alarm system going to do if the number called is engaged ?? Redial later!

It is possible to have a geographical number re-routed if they have the necessary equipment and as its BT then I would have thought they have this equipment.  This is all done similar to a dial-up modem and therefore I can imagine that their equipment can receive thousands (if not more) calls at the same time similar to a dial-up ISP.

They are gaining revenue everytime someone switches the alarm on (as it then calls home) or obviously when activated by a break-in, etc.  Now for a busy person/family that is constantly in and out of their house a few times a day therefore they would need to deactivate and re-activate their alarm, this earns them money for doing nothing.

If it was just when activated by an attempted break-in or something then this isn't so bad as it wouldn't make that many calls - well hopefully - lol  ;D.

I agree that their is no difference in using an 0845 or 0870 but using a geographical could be cheaper for those on packages with free calls.

I do agree though that its cheaper than ADT's 0906 number.

Luckily my bt home monitor has the option to switch off the call home when arm/disarmed feature!   However, the instructions do say that the alarm may call home to register a status request every so often! Its still a bloody cheek though! having to pay the monthly monitoring fee AND paying an 0870! Its ridiculus!.  I have got the manual here with me and below is when the system will call home!

Tamper Alarm
Wireless Sensor signal blocked
power failiure
power restored
when a sensor is disconnected by the user
sensor batt low
sensor batt replaced
control panel back up batt low
control panel batt recharged

bbb_uk -
Quote:

It is possible to have a geographical number re-routed if they have the necessary equipment

All well & good but that's extra cost which would be passed on to the customer in higher monthly charges ! NGN's have that capability without the extra equipment.

grtrekkie -
Quote:

0870 1601348 . . . is obviously expensive!

So far we have shown this NOT to be the case. It only costs extra if you have an inclusive call account with a Telco. For those people without (still well over 50% of UK), it costs the same.

I'm not denying that with the number of calls that would seem to be made, it starts to mount up even with a basic 5p call cost, but that's part of the cost of owning/ using these units. Just thank your lucky stars your not on an 0871 or 0906.

The chances of finding an alternative for this number I'm afraid is extremely small, unless someone can provide it (as we had with ADT). There are NO known locations & NO previous numbers for us to work with in our searches. Get us some more info & we might be able to go further.

Some additional information, courtesy of a very nice man at Quicksafe who supply and fit the systems.

The BT unit is made by Visonic (badged BT). The systems are actually monitored by -

Intamac Systems Ltd	. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Brooke House
4, The Lakes
Bedford Road	Tel. 0870 1117234
Northampton	Fax. 0870 1117235
NN4 7YD	www.Intamac.com

Their old numbers, 01604 679530 thru 679539 no longer work. The company that were at the Brooke House site before them were HM&S Ltd on 01604 615800 - that also doesn't work. The other company in the same building, British Hardware and Housewares Manufacturers' Association (01604 622023) are not linked in any way (phonewise).

There are 3 numbers the Alarm unit will call (apart from the call centre), which can be changed online at your website. Also available online are alarm monitor setup and the statistics.

Does anyone have any more useful info please ??   :-/

my unit will only call 2 numbers! both of which are programmed via the comms menu in system profile setup on the panel itself!
0870 1601348 and 0870 1601349

This is probably going to be near impossible to find as looking at a .pdf on their website here reveals a geographical number (01604 679260) to contact a Scott Crowther but this now asks you to ring an 0870 number.  Now that press release was in April 2005 therefore in the last few months they must have got rid of all their geographicals they used and moved to 0870.

Reading the press release though I noticed that they've teamed up with Cisco Systems, Inc, a recognised leading global manufacturer of VoIP systems, etc.

They may have moved over to VoIP now.

apart from the numbers the system unit dials, it would be useful to know the geographic numbers for the help desk - 0870 240 1979 and, more usefully, for the number to call after an alert - 08704 05 05 04.
When asked for the latter, with the reasonable explanation that one might want to dial it from another country, the (un)help desk simply said they had no idea!

As mentioned by bbb_uk, and supported by my own assessment of the companies new location, they are probably on VoIP.

Whether you want another number or not, all you'll ever be likely to get, if it's at the same location, is the 0870. They don't have any other number so it's NO GOOD nagging them for it.

I'm afraid that this technology is beating us, unless someone can come up with a successful way to bypass it. Something on VoIP maybe, or using a computer ??

Or, of course, where we had a regulator prepared to look after the customer (sorry, the citizen-consumer) without necessarily penalising the operator or business. What was that about fairness and equity?

For what it is worth, the 08704 number of the monitoring service can be called just fine from abroad. Goodness knows what the charge is, not had the mobile bill yet, but at least you can access and use the service.

Hi, does anybody happent to know or be able to find out the geographical numbers which the BT Home Monitoring System (Home Alarm System) could use to dial out? The 0870 numbers it currently uses to dial out to are: 0870 160 1348 & 0870 160 1349. These are running up my phone bill dramatically as I have it set to update my status on my internet user page to show whether the alarm has been switched on or not. Their website is: www.myhomemonitoring.bt.com - All of the numbers on there are only for their customer service department all of which also 0870 numbers. Any help would be much appreciated. :)

[edit]by Dave: This post has been joined onto the end of this thread.[/edit]

The numbers they use when they call you to inform you of an alert is: 02920 729021 & 02920 729022 and you are actually able to call those back to respond to an alert rather than using the 0870 number 0870 405 0504. I wonder if there is a number similar to these which they use as their incoming number for the alarms to dial in to.

wouldnt it be crazy to put in a 01 or 02 number into the box becuz as soon as companies realize that the number dailed isnt 0870 0845  they then change the 01 number to another makin the alarm system useless....

perhaps i'm wrong in thinkin they will change it  ::) ::) ::) ::)

DaveM wrote on Sep 7^th, 2005 at 12:35pm:

The systems are actually monitored by - Intamac Systems Ltd   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   Brooke House 4, The Lakes Bedford Road Tel. 0870 1117234 Northampton Fax. 0870 1117235 NN4 7YD www.Intamac.com Does anyone have any more useful info please ??   :-/

Intamac were formally at unit 9, Westlea Business Park, Scirrocco Close, Moulton Park, Northampton NN3.  I don't know if this helps?

I am sure that this will cause a stir, but some (sme) companies use 0870 type non geo numbers to route calls to multiple places or to hide their home phone number if they work from home.

I have had (in the past) an 0870 number ported over the top of my landline, by my work so that they could re-port it when my contract ended and customers couldn't contact me direct afterwards.  Shame I emailed them all first!!!!

The number of repeated requests for this and associated numbers being called from their telephone account without their knowledge is amazing.

When you get these systems, surely it's in the paperwork that it does these checks. Doesn't anyone read the booklets that come with them or is it that the companies selling them don't give out this information to the users ??  ::)