This summer, something strange happened at the Sklar Technology Partners’ office. Something tripped our security alarm. Fortunately, that something was ME and not a dire security breach. I turned the alarm off with ease, but we never got a call from the security company to check in on the situation. We reached out and the alarm company’s records showed that they had not gotten a signal from our office in two years. Our alarm has definitely been tripped more than once over the last two years.

The security company looked into the situation and asked, “Has your office upgraded to voice-over IP?” In fact, we had upgraded just over two years ago, right around the same time the alarm company stopped getting our signal.

When we upgraded to voice-over IP (VoIP), we cut off our regular analog line. We thought that we didn’t need it anymore. What we didn’t know is that our 30-year-old alarm system didn’t have the technical capabilities to connect to the VoIP system. For two years, our alarm system was basically just a loud noise with no actual security measures attached. Thankfully, we’ve never had a real problem during this time.

Our alarm company came out to double-check the system, and sure enough, VoIP was the problem. They upgraded our alarm system and connected a cellular signal as a fail-safe, in case the alarm goes off when the internet goes out.

We deal in protecting our client’s digital property, but we know how important your physical property is to running a business. Consider this a public service announcement: If you’ve upgraded to VoIP in the last few years, call your alarm company and make sure your security system hasn’t become obsolete.