Appendix B
Communication Formats
Introduction
The ability to report alarms to a monitoring station is one of
the most important attributes of any security system. Today,
thousands of Central Stations monitor the alarm systems
protecting a wide variety of premises and facilities, including
residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional.
As the electronic security industry matured, it attracted
manufacturers who developed both innovative methods of
reporting alarms and the equipment with which to do so. As
a result, a variety of communication formats evolved, and
Central Stations were soon required to process multiple
reporting protocols to remain competitive.
As you would expect, the CP-220A Digital Receiver can
receive and process a broad range of reporting formats, any
of which should satisfy the needs of virtually all Central
Station subscribers and their installations.
Reporting Formats
Some Definitions:
•
handshake
:
When the Digital Receiver at the
Central Station answers an
incoming call, it sends a
handshake
tone (either 1400 Hz or 2300 Hz)
that invites the Digital
Communicator at the protected
premises to proceed with its
intended message.
•
kissoff
:
Once the subscriber's message has
been received and verified, the
Central Station's receiver will
similarly send a
kissoff tone (either
1400 Hz or 2300 Hz) back to the
premises' Digital Communicator
indicating that the message has
been successfully received and
processed, and instructing the
communicator to hang up.
In the security industry, the term
Reporting Format
is a
regularly used term that has been given a rather broad
meaning. A
Reporting Format
can actually relate to two
separate categories of the communication process:
•
the
handshake
frequency, the method of encoding and
verifying data, the transmission rate, and the
kissoff
frequency
•
what the actual data represents and the manner in which
it's composed and sent to the receiver
The names given to the reporting formats often reflect the
manufacturer(s) responsible for their development, but may also
be identified by simple generic designations that indicate only the
layout of the characters they produce on the Digital Receiver. No
matter what name it's given, each format in use today is quite
capable of reporting to the Central Station all significant events
that take place at the subscriber's account. Some of the more
powerful formats, like those with the designation of
Superfast
,
PID
(Point I.D.), or
CID
(Contact I.D.), may convey additional
information while taking less time to do so.
CP-220A Central Station Receiver Appendix B:
Page B-1
Hook-Up and Installation Manual
Communication Formats
