[CFP387]

Rowan County has been considering using (and has started testing today) DTMF tones to activate some FDs sirens because the Bramco model decoders that they once used are now obsolete and parts aren't available. My knowledge is very little concerning this system but I understand that it is a series of tones much like what's heard on a touchtone telephone.

I am sure that many more here have knowledge of this system and how it works. I would like to know how this works, if it's better than two-tone decoders, and if others have DTMF as their department's means of getting dispatched. Can DTMF be used to set off all series of Minitor pagers? Is DTMF designed only for a certain frequency range? I'm also curious as to why they're considering DTMF because they already have all the Z-group tones from the Motorola package they bought in the 1970s. Why not buy some new decoders that would be compatible?