Browse Forums Safer Living Re: Alarm System - Monitored or Other? 21Nov 27, 2013 3:02 pm I would be extremely wary of purchasing an alarm system off a company like ADT and read over their contract carefully in regards to monitoring. ADT lock you into 3 year contracts which is where they actually make their money not on the actual install. We have a fully licensed electronic security company in the family, and personally would not have a house that is not alarmed and monitored. If you have a monitored system, then a fully operating control room monitors the alarm 24/7. If you set the alarm off they will often call to check everything is okay and request a code word. If the correct word cannot be supplied they call the police and report the issue immediately. A good quality alarm system that is correctly monitored is well worth its money. Another point to remember is that if you have an alarm system installed, don't use it and are broken into this often voids your insurance as well. Having an alarm reduces your insurance premium too. Researching a build in South Australia from Sydney. Re: Alarm System - Monitored or Other? 22Jan 05, 2014 7:44 pm Althom If you do decide to go with a monitored alarm just don't go with ADT. When the alarm triggers they'll send you an SMS advising that the alarm has gone off. If they don't get a response that's the end of the service - no one sent around to check, nothing. And I believe it is not just ADT either. I have been told that you need to check the fine print of monitored alarms, in particular call out fees and the like, which is worse when it is a false alarm. Some just pass the call on to police and do nothing else about, but still have a charge for ringing the police on top of the monitoring charge. Only you can decide whether or not to get an alarm system in, be it just a noisy one or a monitored one. Whilst some burglars will run with a noisy alarm, some have done their research on previous false alarms, and just continue ransacking your house. Owner Building at Jimboomba Woods in Logan City Qld. Blog : http://bandlnewhomebuild.blogspot.com H1 thread : viewtopic.php?f=38&t=68283 . Re: Alarm System - Monitored or Other? 23Jan 06, 2014 10:24 am Every house and suburb and situation is different. If you know your neighbours well, and they are home during the day, you will go for a different solution to someone who doesn't know their neighbours at all, or perhaps has had arguments with over boundary fences etc. They may not call the cops if they hear an alarm from your house. I plan to install several cameras that start recording when triggered and I can monitor from my smartphone. If something is amiss I can call the cops. Re: Alarm System - Monitored or Other? 24Jan 20, 2014 3:16 pm I had a Ness alarm system installed in my home some time ago, the system itself has been great, but the security companies who offer a monitoring service can vary a LOT. If I could give any advice I'd definitely avoid entering into a contract where possible as i've been with a few different security companies and its only until now that i've realised what true security monitoring service is all about. Fast response times, personalised service and not being locked into a contract is so important. Its luck of the draw with the service you get, but definitely a better bet going with a smaller company where you get more personalised service. On the other hand, if you don't want to pay for a monitoring service, I think a good investment would be enabling your alarm system so that it can communicate to your mobile phone via an app to tell you whats going on i.e. siren going off, system is armed/disarmed. I think i just gave myself an idea for a new forum post... I recently went through a similar renovation and move scenario when updating our family home. We also swapped some rooms around and tackled a major… 2 10032 Once you know the basics, the rest is easy. Read my post in the thread linked below. viewtopic.php?p=1919271#p1919271 2 19516 It's all about wireless, self install now. The cost/benefit of wired setups for the house are no longer what they used to be. Lots of wireless options. Eufy, Arlo and… 2 9793 |