QUESTION
Telephone in gatehouse
02/11/2021
We currently utilize cordless phones in our gatehouse for the officers mobility that are connected to outside lines from AT&T. We have one landline phone connected to our internal system and server. I am look for an alternative plan, recognizing that if the server goes down we lose our internal communications, but more importantly, if there is a catastrophic failure with AT&T, I lose all of my “outside lines.” What have other properties done to avoid this, outside of satellite phones like we used in law enforcement. Both of our patrol officers carry cellphones btw. Ideas are welcome!
Harbour Ridge – Scott DeAtley
REPLIES
Carlos Morales – Bay Colony
We have two-way radios for internal communication, which also work well with management staff that live within a 5 mile radius. We also have cell phones in our patrol vehicles as well as in the gatehouses.
Tony Giles _ Mediterra
Currently using a phone system thru TPX, which has servers in different quadrants of US, so if part of system goes down, it
reverts to one of the other servers. So as long as gas power Generator provides power we have phones. We also utilize 2 way radios
thru Motorola and a FCC license , we have about a 10 mile range from tower which is on Clubhouse, highest elevation possible. Hope
this helps.
Michael Charbonneau – Wyndemere
We have VOIP phones from Comcast. No problems so far accept they ring way too much!!
David Weatherwax – Hilton Head
The issue of whether or not it will be allowed to park on the street, or if it is mandatory to park in the driveway of the residence in question, that is for the POA or appropriate committee to decide. If it is decided that the only place contractors can park is on the street, there is no way to prevent traffic issues. What your department will need to do is identify potential issues while on patrol and have them move to avoid the issue. Also when there is a complaint, respond and move whichever contractor vehicle(s) you feel should be moved. If they have to move 100 ft down the road, too bad, they don’t have a right to block traffic or make traffic be a safety concern.
Contractors will do whatever they can get away with.
Renato Nova – Ocean Club
Primary 8X8 VoIP phones with 2 internet providers comcast primary and ATT fiber as a fell over, I also have a cellphones with ATT and a ATT iPad with 8X8 calling application installed
Daniel O’Connell – Williams Island
Hey Scott call me, as I have had quite a bit of experience with this..
If at all possible get an analog line into the gate house just for back up and emergency.
We have 2 cell phones on standby as well.
Our phones systems are backed up in 3 different ways here.
Tim Cook – The Landings
Cell phone backup and then satellite.
The last hurricane that passed through, the cell network was so jammed it would take approx. 2 hours to receive a text.
We use Mitel VOIP phones for our primary “land line,” and I wouldn’t wish them on my worst enemy.
Orlando Ortiz – Old Marsh
We have three layers of back up communication.
Our first line, is with hotwire.
If hot wire goes down we forward to our Verizon wireless phone
If Verizon goes down we transition to our comcast fax number.
If all three are out, we’re in radio mode.
Paul Abrams – Lost Tree Village
We contract Level 4 and they have all our lines roll over to a copper line that never fails.
Ryan Bell – Fiddlesticks
We have an IP based phone system for the Club. The security gatehouse is on the same system but on a different network and server so that if/when the main servers fail at the clubhouse, Security is still operational. The gatehouse also maintains one ‘old school’ hardline so if everything else fails, we can fall back on that hardline. We have cell phones also. We maintain that hardline in the event we have a hurricane and all else is down, that might be our last best hope.
Joe Starns – CC of Louisiana
We have all IP phones so I have the same issue but we do have a dedicated cellphone in the gate as well and so far (I hope am not hexing myself) the cell has taken the slack.
I would love to hear if anyone does have a better system because this does cause a bit of concern. During a disaster like a storm ect having even working cell towers overloaded with calls is a very real possibility.
That was the case with Katrina. You couldn’t complete a cell call with any regularity.
Larry Lemon – Pipers Landing
Scott, we use Level 4 which are all IP phones. They work fantastic until there’s an internet issue. We have Comcast and if that goes down it rolls over to an AT&T modem/router. So in theory we shouldn’t ever be without internet. We also have an AT&T hardline that everything will roll over to if both are out simultaneously.
Robert Modica – Orchid island
We use Motorola digital(hand held) radios. Repeater system with generator back up.
Dennis Marinan – Trump National
I would suggest you have either a SAT phone or Cell Phone kept locked up for emergencies such as what you are describing. See my questions below for a better understanding…
- Who are you looking to connect to by phone from the gate in such an event?
- Do you have a radio/repeater system? Can you back this up by connecting it to a small generator?
- Is the loss of phone lines from a power loss or natural disaster or accidental cutting of your lines?
We use a VOIP phone system. If our internet goes down…our phones go down. We do keep an old phone and pay for a basic phone line to connect by copper phone line. We have one cell phone kept in a box that has a small plan as a backup. I have multiple small generators to power certain devices on property and that includes the radio system.
Louis Chiapetta – Audubon
We had that same problem when I took over so what I did was I got a cell phone for each gate and it stays at the gate house so that they can still make and receive calls if we have a phone outage
Josh Bieri – Loblolly
I know we spoke on the phone regarding this earlier this week.
We have the VOIP phones, so when a failure happens and phones go down, all phones in the company get routed to the Director of Security’s cell phone.
This decision was made due to Hurricanes and normally I would need to be on the property, thus people could get a hold of Security.
Now with phones going down semi often it’s a pain in the rear end. We do not have a back-up copper line and the idea to get one was shot down.
