Ditching Landlines for Built-In Connectivity

The limitations of using barn alarms connected by a landline are no secret: Phone service is unreliable, remote visibility into your barns is impossible, and your alarm is one lightning strike away from going offline and leaving you in the dark. But soon enough, landlines and the alarm systems they service will become a thing of the past.

In the early part of 2022, the Federal Communications Commission issued Order 19-72, which no longer requires U.S. Telecom companies to provide landline service. As the expansion of the fiber optic network continues, alarms connected via landline will no longer work.

Clipping the Line

Wayne-Sanderson Farms grower Wade Andrews first bought his landline-based Farm Alarm system in 1996. “With landlines where I live, it wasn’t any good anymore. I was hunting for something that would work.”

Wade looked into switching to a digital Farm Alarm system, but he still would have had to connect the alarm via landline. While broadband in his area has been upgraded to fiber optic, Wade would have to switch to a new telecom provider and find an alarm that was compatible with the new service. With the option ruled out, Wade started researching BarnTalk and found that its built-in rural connectivity with no landline needed was the way to go.

Since making the switch, Wade has been impressed with the system’s strong reception and reliability inside his poultry houses. “I’m amazed how the Gateway can transmit through these tin buildings where a cell phone signal won’t work.”

Real-Time Flock Visibility

“With the Farm Alarm system, I could call it up and it’d tell me the temperature — but with BarnTalk, I can just open the app on my phone and see my house conditions automatically.”

Since birds do not typically consume water during dark hours, Wade is also using real-time water readings to identify signs of water leaks. He can set alarms to detect any issues with water consumption.

“We turn our lights out at 11 at night until 5 in the morning. Sometimes, a chicken will knock a water nipple off and the water would run all night. If the recent measurement is zero when I check my app at 4 am, I know there were no leaks.”

The ongoing retirement of landline service is leaving growers like Wade in search of next-generation barn monitoring solutions. Using alarms they can depend on and immediate visibility into their operations, growers are ushering in a new era of flock management with BarnTalk.