Communicators for monitoring stations

What is an alarm communicator?

An alarm communicator sits between an alarm or fire panel and the monitoring station, translating the panel's own signaling (Contact ID or SIA FSK) into a format it can send over a modern network — 4G LTE, WiFi, or Ethernet — instead of the 2G/GPRS or dial-up phone connection those panels were originally built around.

Which communicator keeps reporting if the 4G link goes down?

• SC-4G PSTN — 4G primary connection with automatic fallback to a physical PSTN landline if the mobile link or both IP receivers stop responding.
• D-COM — dual-SIM 4G plus an Ethernet path, with the operator able to set channel priority.
• FireLink — dual independent LTE modems, or one LTE modem paired with Ethernet, built specifically for fire-panel reporting where a single path isn't acceptable.

Which communicator also gives the end user app control?

• SuperLink 4G — Contact ID reporting to two receivers, plus a companion app for remote arm/disarm.
• SINGULAR W4G — WiFi primary with automatic 4G fallback, push notifications, dual monitoring-station reporting.
• LANCOM — Ethernet-based reporting plus app notifications, with the connection checked every 30 seconds.

How does Contact ID reporting over 4G work?

The communicator emulates the panel's own landline port, reads the Contact ID event codes the panel would normally dial out over a phone line, and forwards them as SIA DC-09 IP messages to one or two pre-configured monitoring receivers — the panel doesn't need reprogramming beyond pointing its dialer at the communicator.

FAQ

What happens to alarm communicators when the 2G network shuts off?
Any communicator that only reports over 2G/GPRS goes silent once that network is retired. Du-Pol's range reports over 4G LTE, WiFi, or Ethernet instead, so panels keep reaching the monitoring station.

Which communicator is built specifically for fire alarm panels?
FireLink, with dual independent transmission paths and SIA DC-09, MQTT, and Modbus RTU support.

Can one communicator report to two monitoring stations at the same time?
Yes — D-COM, SC-4G, SC-GPRS 4G, SC-4G PSTN, SuperLink 4G, SINGULAR W4G, LANCOM, and FireLink all support two independent SIA DC-09 receivers simultaneously.