A common form of attack on alarm panels is cutting its telephone line connection to the telephone company exchange. Once the connection is cut, the alarm panel cannot send emergency signals via the telephone to the Central Monitoring Station.
This prevents the proper authorities from promptly responding to the robbery taking place. In the Philippines, telephone lines from banks and establishments connect to posts above ground, which makes it easy for robbers to cut the phone line from outside the establishment, before breaking in.

Alarm Data Security System Inc. offers GIDACS, a GSM Integrated Dual Alarm Communication System. The system consists of a wireless terminal and a central GSM server system. The terminal sends emergency signals via Short Message Service (SMS) when the alarm is triggered, the telephone line is cut, or if there is an AC power failure.
A central GSM server operates at the CMS and monitors the status of all installed terminals simultaneously. In case there is a fault in the GSM network or GSM terminal, the terminal triggers the alarm panel to communicate via the telephone line of the fault.

The terminal can be integrated with standard alarm panels and offers protection from telephone line-cut attacks. The system operates without disrupting or hindering any of the panel’s functionalities. With the integration of the wireless terminal to standard alarm panels, communication of alarm signals can be simultaneously through the GSM and the regular telephone line network, providing redundancy for increased reliability and security. An optional sub-monitoring system is installed in the bank’s central office.

The system has the capability and option of periodic security polling via SMS, instead of the usual telephone line. Once the system is installed, an option of polling via SMS or telephone line can be selected. For Metro Manila establishments, polling through the telephone line can be selected to remove the overhead of periodic SMS delivery costs. For provincial establishments however, alarm panel polling via SMS (1.00 Php / message) is less costly compared to long-distance calls (4.58 Php / per minute). In this scenario, the system can be set to perform polling via SMS. This feature keeps recurring costs low.

GIDACS is a low-cost and effective solution against alarm-panel attacks. It is a fraction of a cost as compared to installing new alarm panels with built-in SMS communicators. It can be quickly integrated to any installed alarm panel and is robust against any form of tampering and signal jamming from outdoors. Because communication is via SMS messages, the system is immune against line-cut attacks thereby considerably strengthening the reliability of Alarm Signal Communication. It also results in significant cost savings for terminals in the provinces.

GSM Alarm Server Snapshot (Alarm Monitoring)