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InstallAlarm.com |
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Alarm Monitoring Ever see the ads for a $99 alarm system that includes installation? Or worse yet, maybe you bought one. For some people, this is a great solution. But I doubt you would be reading this if you were one of those people. The $99 or $199 installed alarm system typically does not include the monthly monitoring cost that MUST be paid as part of your contract. Monitoring is the hook! Even after your contract expires you may find that the panel is useless (disabled by the co.) unless you continue to pay monitoring fees. If you read the fine print, you will find that you don't even own the panel in most cases! In other words, you pay the monitoring fee forever. You may also find that monitoring does NOT include any service on the system itself! If it breaks you pay for that separately. Alarm monitoring is where the big alarm companies make their money. So what is monitoring? An alarm monitoring co. is usually a state licensed business that requires expensive UL rated facilities and equipment. The entry price is high in this business, but so is the payoff. A handful of individuals can monitor tens of thousands of alarm systems with today's technology. At $20 plus each per month, the payoff can be huge! So what do they do? They sit around waiting for your alarm system to call them on your phone lines and tell them that the alarm is sounding. Not exactly rocket science. In all fairness, they also check on your system periodically to let you know when the system needs service. They can tell if your backup battery needs replacement, a sensor is malfunctioning or some other trouble condition exists. The reality is that they can tell you whatever the panel can tell them! Most of the intelligence is in the panel. Their systems are designed to tell you from your neighbor. They also call your home to make sure that you did not accidentally set the alarm off by mistake. In some cases, that call service can be worth cost. Especially for the elderly or bed ridden. Many commercial panels are designed only to communicate with commercial monitoring systems. They have their own standardized protocols for doing this. Of course that won't help you. Some panels also periodically check communications with the monitoring co. and will go into an error state if it fails. So what you end up with is a very annoying panel that is always beeping at you. Of course there are ways around everything. Most commercial panels (that you can program) can be setup to run in an unmonitored state. This means that the panel does NOT look for a monitoring co. You can add an external voice dialer that will pickup from that point. Self Monitoring For the other %90 of us, self-monitoring may be a better (and much less expensive) option. Self Monitoring requires that you have the tools to do it yourself. This can be as simple as a cell phone! Most panels can be programmed to call any number you want. The question is what can they do next. Ideally, you should choose an alarm that is designed to be self monitored. Check features before you purchase!!! Buying an alarm yourself can save you a lot of money in the long run and YOU own the panel. You are also not tied into some long term contract and you get the same warranty as a system you don't own. I like knowing my system and being able to take care of any problems without having to schedule a service call. Problems are rare, but do occur. If you are using a system designed to work with commercial monitoring, a voice dialer can be setup to dial any number(s) you want and play a pre-recorded voice message. Very simple and efficient. The dialer typically connects to the siren output so that it is triggered by the system when the siren sounds (indicating an alarm). BTW, make sure you call yourself AND someone who does not live with you. What if your cell phone is off? Out of range? Or you forget to change the alarm after you change cell phones? More importantly, if you use the "panic" button on your alarm while at home, it won't do much good to call yourself. I think you see where this is going. I like to see self monitored alarms call at least 3 people, starting with me! Next would be a neighbor, and then another family member. You should discuss this with them of course as well as talking through alarm scenarios so everyone knows what to do. If this makes you uncomfortable, by all means go with a professional monitoring service. They can be found for less than $10 per month online. Of course you supply the alarm and make sure that is compatible.
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