What to do › Fire alarm panel

A fire alarm panel on a copper line

Fire alarm panels often report to the monitoring center over phone lines. Those lines are part of an inspected system, so the replacement is chosen with your fire alarm service company.

First: is the line on copper?

• Ask your phone company: “Is this line on copper or on fiber?” They can see it on the account.
• A corded phone that kept working through a power outage, with no battery backup, usually runs over copper.
• If the phone line plugs into a Verizon Fios box (an optical network terminal) on a wall or in the basement, the line already runs over fiber, and a copper notice may not apply to it.
• Lines from a cable company or a mobile company don't run over Verizon's copper.

The plan

1. Call your fire alarm service company now

   Tell them the line may be on copper, and give them the date in Verizon's notice for your office.

2. Schedule the change before that date

   Book the work so it is finished well before the date. Ask the company to send test signals to the monitoring center when it is done.

3. Keep the paperwork

   Keep the work order and the test results with your inspection records. If the company says your fire official must be told, ask them to do it or to tell you how.

Each office's page shows the date in Verizon's notice. Verizon says it may ask customers to move “well before” that date, so it pays to start early.

What to ask

• Does our panel report over one copper phone line, or two?
• Which replacement do you support for this panel: a cellular communicator, or a dual-path communicator that uses cellular and the internet?
• Does the change need a permit or a new acceptance test?
• How soon can you do it, and what will it cost?

After the change

• The monitoring center receives a test signal from the panel.
• Trouble signals still reach the monitoring center.

From MeiSIM USA

MeiSIM USA doesn't sell fire alarm communicators or monitoring. These devices are listed equipment installed by alarm companies.

In New Jersey?

Check whether Verizon has filed a notice for the office that serves your line, and get an email if it changes.

Check a New Jersey number

The other plans

• Elevator emergency phone
• Fax machine
• Security or burglar alarm
• Gate or door phone
• Card terminal or ATM
• Home phone or medical alert

Verizon's New Jersey copper retirement notice names the alternatives itself: “VoIP service from Verizon or a cable company, or fixed or mobile wireless service from multiple providers including Verizon Wireless.”