Cox Phone Upgrade Incompatible with Home Security System - Still

Cox digital phone works fine with any security system. If your alarm company doesn't know how, I say get a new alarm company. VOIP/SIP has been the standard for almost 2 decades now. It's just a matter of wiring it a bit differently.

1. They can't give a choice because they can't leave a entire outdated system in place just for a few users.

2. They did give notice. Do you have a email address on file with them? At-least I got notice.

3. The solution is very simple. It's usually just a matter of changing where you connect the phone line feeding the system. Before it came from the demarc, now it comes internally from the phone modem. Any security technician not knowing this must not have worked on a system in 15-20 years.

See this post another user did which breaks down the issue technically. I almost wonder if they made the post because of this post.

Seems like it should be up to Cox to make it right, not the alarm company.  With the old wiring, the line went from the demarc to the alarm panel which would have a RJ-31 jack.  The line would go into the alarm system on pins 4 and 5, and come back out on pins 1 and 8 to return to the house wiring connections by the demarc.  By moving the demarc to the modem, wiring for the alarm would need to go on a dedicated pair from the modem back out to the old demarc, then to the alarm and house wiring as before.  As many complaints as there have been on this board it would appear that Cox's installers only know how to install modems and walk away.

"Seems like it should be up to Cox to make it right, not the alarm company. "

This is a horrible idea IMO. Cox technicians know almost nothing about alarms. This is like saying Cox should go out to everyone's house that has a entertainment system and difficulty hooking up their VCR to mini boxes after the encryption transition. Good in principle, but unrealistic and likely to cause more problems then it fixes. Changes in technology occur, and you pay your security company to adapt. 

"As many complaints as there have been on this board it would appear that Cox's installers only know how to install modems and walk away."

Yea, that's all they should have to know. Do security system installers know how to install coaxial cabling? No, then why should a Cox technician know about line seizure circuits? Did the security system people also complain when phone companies changed to tone instead of pulse? IMO most of the problems stem from security technicians not understanding the basics you put forth. Not all installers have 40 years experiance like you. I bet most don't even know what a RJ-31 jack is. 

BTW, who still uses POTS for security? Isn't cellular the norm now?

Cox is putting this 'upgrade' forth as a turnkey solution, with as little disruption to the customer's operations as possible.  I've installed small business systems all the way up to PBX's of over a thousand phones, and the idea is to have a boring day on Monday after the cutover, having disrupted the customer's business operations as little as possible.  Alarm lines are usually one of the first considerations.  As many complaints as there are on this board, not one of them are cell line oriented or network related, so Cox needs to get their stuff together and do it right.  It is not that complicated.

" so Cox needs to get their stuff together and do it right."

What would you consider "right"? Many security systems work just fine with non POTS phone. How would Cox even know which customers need assistance? 

"It is not that complicated."

I agree, that's why I don't understand why this isn't a simple fix for a security person. Lots of other providers besides Cox switched from POTS to packet switch. Did ANY of them "get it right"?

Why should the customer pay to get their security system to work due to Cox's decision to change stuff?  Why does it have to be a "security person" to fix it?  I was never a security person.  It was always a telephone person who fed dial tone to the RJ-31.

POTS or packet switch doesn't make a bit of difference, the line is analog and has the same characteristics.