A power outage detection system. The system includes a device configured to increment a reboot counter when the device is powered up, and to transmit a first message when the device loses power and a second message when the device is powered up, and a back office system. The first message includes the value of the reboot counter and a timestamp, and the second message includes the value of the reboot counter. The back office system includes a finite state machine configured to receive the first and second messages. The finite state machine determines if the received first message is valid using the value of the reboot counter and the timestamp, and determines if the received second message is valid using the value of the reboot counter. The finite state machine then outputs an accurate indication of the state of the device.