Are you prepared for Y2.007K?

by Alan Glasser

The security industry has been smitten with many plagues that by no rhyme, reason, or fault of our own have caused havoc, and required needless man-hours to correct or make right.

If you have been around long enough, you might remember when the telephone company upgraded from pulsed (rotary) dialing to Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) or as you may know it, TouchTone dialing. So we ran around reprogramming Tape Dialers (ugh), Digital Dialers, a.k.a. Digital Communicators, at our expense or we charged the customer. (As many may not know, FCC Tariffs required that all telephone companies converting to DTMF would be required to always provide pulsed (rotary) dialing on DTMF lines.)

Remember when the police and fire departments didn’t have “911” numbers and you dialed a seven digit number? Then they did have “911” numbers? So we ran around reprogramming Tape Dialers (ugh), Digital Dialers, a.k.a. Digital Communicators, at our expense or we charged the customer.

Remember when the police and fire departments stopped allowing Tape Dialers (ugh), Digital Dialers, from calling their “911” number? So we ran around again reprogramming Tape Dialers (ugh), Digital Dialers, a.k.a. Digital Communicators, at our expense or we charged the customer.

Remember when “212” was all of New York City ? Or “516” was all of Long Island ? So we ran around reprogramming Tape Dialers (ugh), Digital Dialers, a.k.a. Digital Communicators, at our expense or we charged the customer.

Remember when you didn’t have to dial “1” before every phone call? So we ran around reprogramming Tape Dialers (ugh), Digital Dialers, a.k.a. Digital Communicators, at our expense or we charged the customer.

You programmed a “feature code” to disable “call waiting” and then the telephone company changes their computerized switch so the feature code you programmed no longer works or creates an error message. So we ran around reprogramming Tape Dialers (ugh), Digital Dialers, a.k.a. Digital Communicators, at our expense or we charged the customer.

VoIP! POTS line out, high speed internet access in. We’re still running around providing fixes at our expense or we charge the customer.

Land Lines are not the only nemeses. The cellular networks are phasing out analog service and we are now in the process of replacing older cellular technology with the newer cellular technology (but that was another article). So we are running around swapping out cellular radios at our expense or we charge the customer.

And then there was Y2K!

The whole world was going to end as we knew it. Well for our industry: Tape Dialers (ugh) were not affected (if any were still working), but Control Communicators (that’s a control panel with a digital communicator built in) with internal date calendars and clocks may or may not automatically adjust to the new “2000” date. 1998, 1999, oops! So we ran around reprogramming Control Communicators (yes, I know you can upload/download from your office or central station. I’m being a little melodramatic here!) at our expense or we charged the customer.

We did the same Y2K fixes for Video Tape Recorders, Digital Video Recorders, Fire Alarm Systems, Access Control Systems, Test Timers, Central Station Receivers and Computers, and a whole bunch of other things that I can’t remember.

And now there is Y2.007K!

With a couple of strokes of the pen President Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

Starting in March of 2007, daylight saving time (Y2.007K-DST) in the United States will begin on the second Sunday in March and end on the first Sunday in November.

Last year, 2006, daylight saving time started on the first Sunday in April and ended on the last Sunday in October. It has been pretty much that way since the Uniform Time Act of 1966. Spring ahead one hour at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in April and fall behind one hour at 2 a.m. on the last Sunday in October.

I would assume, and you can too, that almost every existing Control Communicator, Control Panel, Video Tape Recorder, Digital Video Recorder, Fire Alarm System, Access Control System, Test Timer, Central Station Receivers and Computers, and a whole bunch of other things that I can’t remember has an “old” clock/calendar chip, also known as Real-Time Clock (RTC) chip, that won’t take into account the new daylight saving dates of the Energy Policy Act of 2005! (I would also assume that the “new” clock/calendar chips or firmware would. But you never know!) Clock/calendar or Real-Time Clock chips may be smart enough to have the firmware integrated into the chip to accommodate changes in days, dates, length of each month, leap year, and daylight saving time. In some cases these functions are part of the security device’s firmware embedded into the CPU’s instructions or in a device’s BIOS. It is beyond the scope of this article to discuss the actual methods used to control the calendar function of the chip. What is important follows.

So why is that important to us?

Well to begin with, all the clock/calendar chips, in the above-mentioned devices and systems, that may have a program to automatically adjust for daylight saving time, will be WRONG on March 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, and on April 1, 2007 because the current program in the clock/calendar chips looks for the first Sunday in April and not the second Sunday in March. On October 28, 29, 30, 31, and on November 1, 2, 3 and 4, the clock/calendar chips will be WRONG again because the clock/calendar chip was programmed to change back to standard time on the last Sunday in October and not the first Sunday in November!

For those dates listed above, clock displays on keypads may show the wrong time. Central stations will be inundated with missing or wrong test times or wrong opening and closing reports, test timers will be one hour off either way (spring ahead, fall behind), access control systems may keep the doors locked (or even worse, unlock them before their time). VTRs and DVRs will have the wrong times and may not be admissible in court, “But your Honor, that couldn’t have been me being recorded. I have a solid alibi. I was somewhere else at that time!” So we have to run around reprogramming Control Communicators (yes, I know you can upload/download from your office or central station. I’m being a little melodramatic here again!) Video Tape Recorders, Digital Video Recorders, Fire Alarm Systems, Access Control Systems, Test Timers, Central Station Receivers and Computers, and a whole bunch of other things that I can’t remember, at our expense or we charge the customer. BUT IT HAS TO BE DONE!

But wait... there’s more... Y2.008K!

In 2008, daylight saving time begins on March 9 and ends on November 2! Same thing all over again, that is unless your device has an upgraded or new clock/calendar chip or some other software fix.

Y2.009K, Y2.010K, etc., etc., etc! Same thing!

NOW is the time to contact your customers, plan your actions, and take action!

DON’T wait for the phones to start ringing on Sunday morning, March 11, 2007.

Contact the manufacturer of the equipment you use. Find out if there is a software patch, new firmware you can flash, or equipment upgrade. Find out if new revisions of their equipment contain a compatible clock/calendar chip to meet the new dates of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

How is your central station going to handle test timers? Opening and Closing reports? Find out now. Don’t wait till March 11^th!

In some cases, you will have to bite the bullet and the cost of changing dates and times may be yours. In some cases, you may be able to charge the customer a “programming fee” or “upgrade fee” and actually make money on the Energy Policy Act of 2005. It may depend on the wording of your sales, lease, or installation agreement. It may depend on the wording of your service agreement. What is your customer entitled to? I suggest you take a look at and review your agreements and contracts now, not on March 11 or 12 when your customer is on the phone.

Please note, that while this article is focusing on the devices we use in the Security Industry almost anything around you with the ability to “automatically adjust” for “daylight saving time” will surely be affected. Perhaps your office fax, perhaps your digital watch. Just be aware when you wake up on the morning of March 11, 2007, the time you think it is may not be!