Microtel CellStat v.1.22 - Manual (Page 9)

MICROTEL CellStat
TM
7
Theory of Operation
How Does the Dialer Work?
This section provides a simple theory of operation by
asking a few questions about typical use of the dialer. The following paragraphs assume
the dialer is hooked up and running as described in the Installation chapter. The
Operation chapter provides the details that are missing from the discussion below.
What Happens when an Alarm Occurs? CellStat
TM
has a telephone directory of
up to eight people, answering machines, or pagers to call in the event of an alarm. It can
also transmit an email alert to an optional email address, or an alarm log to the optional
Microtel Log-Stat™ web application, via its built-in cellular communications capability.
When an alarm occurs, the dialer will first log the event to the user-specified email
address and/or Log-Stat™ web-based application, then begin to place a series of
telephone calls over the telephone line or built-in cellular module, or both, in an attempt
to have someone acknowledge the alarm.
The dialer reports the current alarm status when an outgoing call is answered. It repeats
the message several times while listening for a touch-tone being entered on the remote
phone.
How does an Alarm get Acknowledged? An alarm can be acknowledged in
three ways:
1) Entering the '*' key on your touch-tone phone during message playback.
2) Calling back the dialer immediately after it calls you or sends you an SMS text
message alert (callback acknowledge). This feature is necessary if the called party
does not have a touch-tone phone, or the dialer sent an SMS text message alert.
3) The dialer will automatically acknowledge a successful call to a pager, answering
machine, or P.A. system if the telephone number is embedded with an auto
acknowledge code. (See chapter 5, Advanced Topics).
What if I’m not Home? The Call Progress Decoding features of the dialer allow it
to determine if the called telephone number is busy or did not answer. In either case, the
dialer will wait 10 seconds before placing a call to the next number on the calling list.
Calls to mobile phones will usually roll over into a voice mailbox if the mobile phone is
not answered. In this case, the dialer will record a spoken alarm report, and treat the call
as answered but unacknowledged.
When the dialer is off-hook, it has the capability to detect dial tone, busy, ringback, and
voice signals. This allows it to detect if a called party answered or not, thus reducing the
time to alert authorized personnel of existing alarm conditions. If a call is not answered,
or the called number is busy, the dialer will abort the call and begin calling the next
number on the system telephone list.