re: Home alarm system...who do you use?

I read a while back that the alarm going off is really the only thing needed. 99.9% of burglars are gone once that is set off.

My house is wired for that on all the doors and windows and motion sensor when I'm away (which I can't set because of my pooch).

Why should I get a contract for remote monitoring? So I get a call if something happens? Is that worth $25 a month?

I am undecided. Sway me.

quote:

---

Why should I get a contract for remote monitoring? So I get a call if something happens? Is that worth $25 a month?

---

Not sure if you're serious, but most people want the monitoring so the system will notify the police if you have an alarm. A local alarm is about as useful as an unloaded gun. Otherwise, you just have a car alarm for your house that your neighbors more than a house away cannot hear and it will probably annoy the neighbors right next to you if it keeps going off for hours on end.

My alarm has panic buttons on the panel to call the police, fire department and heat sensors to call the fire department automatically if fire is detected. If you have kids who stay home alone, if you ever travel, if you leave an iron plugged in accidentally, would the $300 you save be enough satisfaction if your house burned down while you weren't home?

I think you're overestimating the deterrent effect of the sound itself on an intruder, its only value is if the intruder thinks the police are coming. Do you want the police to come if someone actually comes in your house, whether you're there or not? Do you want the fire department to come if you're on vacation and they call you to tell you your kitchen is on fire?

That said, the monitoring is a commodity that has gotten much cheaper to provide via a wireless GSM card and you shouldn't pay more than $15-25 per month. It's a discrete service and the monitoring company location doesn't matter, they're all going to call the same local police/fire department that serves your house.

I pay the monitoring fee annually to a company in North Carolina that I found through the installation company. The installation company was bought by a larger local company (APS in Metairie) that wanted to charge more for the same monitoring and to charge me to install "their" GSM card. I kept the original company in North Carolina, as I really don't want the monitoring subject to the same geographic/weather disruptions of Louisiana. I explained to the guy at APS I considered locally-based monitoring in South Louisiana as a reason to avoid his company, not to mention charging $10/month more for the exact same service.

FYI, every alarm company will try to charge more for the GSM/wireless monitoring but it's actually cheaper to provide than wired monitoring.

The monitoring service isn't tied to the system and any alarm company can accommodate your system with a few technology tweaks these days.

Also, most retail alarm companies labor and overhead are dedicated to selling/installing equipment. It costs the retail alarm company relatively no labor & overhead to outsource the monitoring service to a third party call center. Use that knowledge to negotiate your best deal on monitoring.

I leave my doors unlocked come on in baw