VoIPAlarm, Vontronix take up the gauntlet

OJAI, Calif. and BRICK, N.J.--Voice over IP phone service is expected to reach 18 million users by 2007, according to Frost & Sullivan. Instead of fighting the VoIP revolution, Alex Elliot, founder of NextAlarm and VoIPAlarm, and Ron Polli, founder of Vontronix, have teamed up to create a system that answers the VoIP question and earns added RMR for security dealers. VoIPAlarm, a division of NextAlarm.com, has announced that it has teamed up with Vontronix, of Brick, N.J., to offer a combination VoIP telephone service and VoIP alarm system to dealers and resellers. The product will have its official debut at the VoIPAlarm booth at ISC West. "This offering provides alarm reporting through the Internet and includes all the services from NextAlarm," said Elliot. "Vontronix is already selling Voice over IP telephone service to end users," said Elliot, so it was a natural fit. After meeting at ISC East in New York, Elliot and Polli decided to combine their services. "It allows the dealer to sell VoIP telephone service to end users and, through the same adaptor, provides NextAlarm's alarm broadband network service through us," said Elliot. Said Ron Polli, founder and president of Vontronix, "Alex has taken a Linksys device designed for VoIP and modified it. We're sharing a two-line analog telephone adaptor. One line will be for VoIPAlarm, and one line will be for Vontronix." The Linksys unit will be on display at the VoIPAlarm booth at ISC West. "We'll be selling it through ADI and other distributors," said Polli. The system currently works with any central's existing equipment as long as it's in contact ID format. Other formats are currently in development. "We're very excited about this opportunity," said Polli. "The alarm industry has had a lot of challenges sending alarm signals to centrals through VoIP."