When Ian Harvey's home was broken into, he decided to have an alarm installed. He remembered an advertisement he'd caught from a company called Alarm Force. Harvey gave Alarm Force a call.
"It was a quick, clean, ten minute installation," Harvey recalls. "The system was simple and ... we seemed fine."
But a few months later, Harvey's house was targetted again.
"Somebody came along and smashed in the front door," says Harvey. "Just splintered it into matchwood [and] got into the house."
Alarm Force wouldn't agree to an interview with Marketplace...
Monday, October 6, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
More ALARMFORCE REVIEWS
NOT Alarmforce anymore.We have had Alarm Force for 10 years and now we are going away from it due to their one-man service. "Free"is good until you have a problem. their system shorted the phone line ( relay locked open probably) and cooked the high speed modem ($79.95 plus tax) but the fellow refused to admit any problem, and insulted my friend the phone line fellow. then he said we should have been running a full test of the system every month. then he suggested over the phone a "hard reset" of the system. I wanted another unit; he didn't want to do that and said again that "you can never be too sure with the phone system"I'm going local with the ADT all in one price, and they have a line check they do every month for problems. AND no extra charges for battery service.AlarmForce, the main unit, which they own, has to have the battery replaced $100 plus sooner or later, 3 or 4 years max.If we were broken into would they say the system was not at fault because we didn't test it every month?There are problems getting calls back within 2 days, and I heard it cost one older lady $200 to have him come and check and replace her batteries throughout the house.Certainly something similar I know of happened to my folks, $100 plus to check the batteries.I'm not happy with service, a one man show.Me? I'm an Electro-mechanical research gadget builder and know a little bit about this over the last 30 years, so to hear it passed off on the phone company again when I was there with the meter in my hand- well that's just crap.- Unknown
4 comments:
Anonymous said...
This guy is a moron. I do not have an alarm service yet and was doing some research to see if there were any issues/complaints about the company. I want to add, that I worked for a security company for 14 years as a service technician. The way an alarm system works is a sensor connected to the main control panel triggers an alarm event when armed. This in turn, activates the dialer inside the control panel. The dialer does a couple of things then. 1 - The dailer relay which is a dry contact NO VOLTAGE what so ever, changes position/toggles to check for dial tone. When the control panel senses the dial tone, it then dials - hence the name - a preprogrammed number, just like a redial on your phone. The monitoring center is then called, again just like your phone at your house. Data is normally exchanged between the Control Panel and the Monitoring Center and then the Control Panel hangs up. The more likely cause is that the phone line probably took a surge that back fed the Control Panel, fused the relay shut and continued to the next device, the modem. This guy probably doesn't realize this but the alarm probably took the brunt of the surge and slowed it down. He is lucky that all his phones in the house were not damaged. You see in order for the alarm to have priority over other phones in your house, it is usually the first in line if installed properly. In 14 years, I have seen my share of cooked phone lines and equipment. NEVER was it the cause of the alarm system. IT IS A LOW VOLTAGE SYSTEM! It operates in most cases at 12 volts DC and pulls realitively no noticeable current unless the siren is sounding during an alarm. The a/c transformer is usually 12-18VAC. The same as a cordless phone. Come on you Thomas Edison want to be - Don't talk about things you don't understand.
June 28, 2007 5:40 AM
Anonymous said...
ADT Isn't the Greatest Solution either. They are just as bad when it comes to scamming the consumer... They just do it on a larger scale.As far as Dialer tests go, they are useless unless they are done daily. With how overleaded the receiver lines at ADT are, they generally ignore 1 fail to test, sometimes even 2. In this scenario, you will not find out about a buggered panel for up to 3 months. Yes, some panels will indicate a failure to communicate trouble, however ADT disables that on most of their panels because they do not want extra service calls.In addition, ADT has a 30 to 45 second Abort Delay STANDARD. What this means is if a crackhead breaks into your home, they have the initial 30 seconds to do whatever. Once the alarm starts to ring, they have up to an additional 40 seconds to find your panel and destroy it. This is not difficult as most ADT Systems are wireless and the whole alarm is on the keypad, or the panel is right next to the siren.... Not hard to find that with the siren ringing and the panel doing squat for 40 seconds. That is over 1 minute of useless alarm people. Think about it.
May 19, 2008 7:07 PM
Anonymous said...
I have worked for an security alarm compeny for a little over 5 year 3.5 as tech 1.5+ as an inspector. Alarmforce should be called Alarmfarce. The sytem they use is antiquated by design. What i mean is the technoligy is at least 20 years old. Also most of their customers use the phone to arm/disarm system (can you say redail!!!!!) also they do NOT have phone line siezure which means that if the phone is off hook it can NOT call out or if the Bulglar calls in it can NOT call out. Placement of the panel is another story. The kichen counter or behind a couch is good enough?? Next most devices are 2-way taped on?? Also for the first 30 to 90 seconds the "operator" you hear is a recording until a live operator can get to your alarm. Next and most important Joel advertises his 2-way as a good way to confirm alarms only thing is if the bulglar is queit the it goes the same way as any other alarm unverified. Next if it is a robbery in progress and the operator comes on after you press your panic button i really hope you are wearing a bullet proof jacket>>>>
June 20, 2008 12:37 PM
4 comments:
Anonymous said...
This guy is a moron. I do not have an alarm service yet and was doing some research to see if there were any issues/complaints about the company. I want to add, that I worked for a security company for 14 years as a service technician. The way an alarm system works is a sensor connected to the main control panel triggers an alarm event when armed. This in turn, activates the dialer inside the control panel. The dialer does a couple of things then. 1 - The dailer relay which is a dry contact NO VOLTAGE what so ever, changes position/toggles to check for dial tone. When the control panel senses the dial tone, it then dials - hence the name - a preprogrammed number, just like a redial on your phone. The monitoring center is then called, again just like your phone at your house. Data is normally exchanged between the Control Panel and the Monitoring Center and then the Control Panel hangs up. The more likely cause is that the phone line probably took a surge that back fed the Control Panel, fused the relay shut and continued to the next device, the modem. This guy probably doesn't realize this but the alarm probably took the brunt of the surge and slowed it down. He is lucky that all his phones in the house were not damaged. You see in order for the alarm to have priority over other phones in your house, it is usually the first in line if installed properly. In 14 years, I have seen my share of cooked phone lines and equipment. NEVER was it the cause of the alarm system. IT IS A LOW VOLTAGE SYSTEM! It operates in most cases at 12 volts DC and pulls realitively no noticeable current unless the siren is sounding during an alarm. The a/c transformer is usually 12-18VAC. The same as a cordless phone. Come on you Thomas Edison want to be - Don't talk about things you don't understand.
June 28, 2007 5:40 AM
Anonymous said...
ADT Isn't the Greatest Solution either. They are just as bad when it comes to scamming the consumer... They just do it on a larger scale.As far as Dialer tests go, they are useless unless they are done daily. With how overleaded the receiver lines at ADT are, they generally ignore 1 fail to test, sometimes even 2. In this scenario, you will not find out about a buggered panel for up to 3 months. Yes, some panels will indicate a failure to communicate trouble, however ADT disables that on most of their panels because they do not want extra service calls.In addition, ADT has a 30 to 45 second Abort Delay STANDARD. What this means is if a crackhead breaks into your home, they have the initial 30 seconds to do whatever. Once the alarm starts to ring, they have up to an additional 40 seconds to find your panel and destroy it. This is not difficult as most ADT Systems are wireless and the whole alarm is on the keypad, or the panel is right next to the siren.... Not hard to find that with the siren ringing and the panel doing squat for 40 seconds. That is over 1 minute of useless alarm people. Think about it.
May 19, 2008 7:07 PM
Anonymous said...
I have worked for an security alarm compeny for a little over 5 year 3.5 as tech 1.5+ as an inspector. Alarmforce should be called Alarmfarce. The sytem they use is antiquated by design. What i mean is the technoligy is at least 20 years old. Also most of their customers use the phone to arm/disarm system (can you say redail!!!!!) also they do NOT have phone line siezure which means that if the phone is off hook it can NOT call out or if the Bulglar calls in it can NOT call out. Placement of the panel is another story. The kichen counter or behind a couch is good enough?? Next most devices are 2-way taped on?? Also for the first 30 to 90 seconds the "operator" you hear is a recording until a live operator can get to your alarm. Next and most important Joel advertises his 2-way as a good way to confirm alarms only thing is if the bulglar is queit the it goes the same way as any other alarm unverified. Next if it is a robbery in progress and the operator comes on after you press your panic button i really hope you are wearing a bullet proof jacket>>>>
June 20, 2008 12:37 PM
Some Alarmforce Stories
Hopefully this information keeps others for falling into the Joel Matlin Alarmforce trap
Source: http://blog.eagleinbc.com
AlarmForce Annoyance
Published by Cameron at 7:54 am under Business, Customer Service, General, Technology
Since I seem to be on a bit of a rant this morning, I figure, why stop at toy recalls!
I have had an alarm system from AlarmForce for a couple years now. Overall, I’m not very impressed with there alarm system. They advertise a free alarm system, but there “free system” doesn’t include much, so you end up buying lots of add-ons to actually make it worth having an alarm from them. Without getting into the technical details, I’ll just say
that in my line of work, I’ve seem considerable better equiped systems out there. But until my contract is up in another 2 years, I’m stuck with them.
Back to my point though. About a week ago, I started getting a message from my system that it has a low system battery. So, I called up the Technical Support line, and was told that for $19, they’ll mail me a new battery. Maybe it’s me, but this seems like a load of crap. I did not have to purchase the system itself, I have not done ANYTHING to the system that would cause this “rechargable” battery to not hold a charge, and yet, after 2 years, it won’t charge. Personally, I think that they should replace it free, and send someone out with it. If the power goes out now, and someone breaks in, I don’t have an alarm. You’ll be sure that I’ll be holding AlarmForce accountable then.
Maybe I’m wrong.. But I don’t feel like a “valued customer”.. certainly not a satisfied one.
3 Responses to “AlarmForce Annoyance”
# AlarmForce - The Follow-Up Post! « Cam I Amon 03 Oct 2007 at 8:17 pm
[…] I’d leave a follow-up comment on AlarmForce. A few weeks ago, I put a post up about my disatisfaction with how AlarmForce handled my back-up battery replacement. The battery arrived, about three days after this post. […]
# Jonon 17 May 2008 at 12:30 pm
In April, 2008, Alarm Force stopped my wireless line cut protection without notifying me that they required a system upgrade, yet continuted withdrawing money from my account for both April and May 2008. They told me I wasn’t being monitored at all. So for two months they were stealing my money and providing no service!
Alarm Force refuses to release me from the contract even though they broke their end of the contract! I have contacted the Better Business Bureau, my bank is investigating, and I am also going to contact my State Attorney General’s Office.
Alarm Force is a total fraud. They stole my money for two straight months and did not provide the service I signed for. Further, they tried to extort me into paying for a system upgrade at the same time they told me I was not being monitored!!! Either I pay more money than I signed for in the original contract, or I am not monitored! Yet, they want to lock me into this contract for the remainder of the term or force me to pay the remainder of the contract which would be almost $550. Yea right….. they’ll never see a dime. And if they put it on my credit, I will fight them to the bitter end in court.
Alarm Force is OUTRAGEOUS.
# Fredon 24 May 2008 at 8:57 am
Alarmforce ?Duh !.I complained to the installer that the cat would trigger the motion detector. He ignored me. The cat did set off the alarm and I got a $75 bill from the municipality for a false alarm call. I called Alarmforce - they were RUDE, and said “how can we know why it happened, we weren’t there”.
They are still sending invoices with GST at 6% for services received in 2008 !.
Joel Matlin - “Mr. Cardboard Cut-Out” - you suck, bite me !
Source: http://blog.eagleinbc.com
AlarmForce Annoyance
Published by Cameron at 7:54 am under Business, Customer Service, General, Technology
Since I seem to be on a bit of a rant this morning, I figure, why stop at toy recalls!
I have had an alarm system from AlarmForce for a couple years now. Overall, I’m not very impressed with there alarm system. They advertise a free alarm system, but there “free system” doesn’t include much, so you end up buying lots of add-ons to actually make it worth having an alarm from them. Without getting into the technical details, I’ll just say
that in my line of work, I’ve seem considerable better equiped systems out there. But until my contract is up in another 2 years, I’m stuck with them.
Back to my point though. About a week ago, I started getting a message from my system that it has a low system battery. So, I called up the Technical Support line, and was told that for $19, they’ll mail me a new battery. Maybe it’s me, but this seems like a load of crap. I did not have to purchase the system itself, I have not done ANYTHING to the system that would cause this “rechargable” battery to not hold a charge, and yet, after 2 years, it won’t charge. Personally, I think that they should replace it free, and send someone out with it. If the power goes out now, and someone breaks in, I don’t have an alarm. You’ll be sure that I’ll be holding AlarmForce accountable then.
Maybe I’m wrong.. But I don’t feel like a “valued customer”.. certainly not a satisfied one.
3 Responses to “AlarmForce Annoyance”
# AlarmForce - The Follow-Up Post! « Cam I Amon 03 Oct 2007 at 8:17 pm
[…] I’d leave a follow-up comment on AlarmForce. A few weeks ago, I put a post up about my disatisfaction with how AlarmForce handled my back-up battery replacement. The battery arrived, about three days after this post. […]
# Jonon 17 May 2008 at 12:30 pm
In April, 2008, Alarm Force stopped my wireless line cut protection without notifying me that they required a system upgrade, yet continuted withdrawing money from my account for both April and May 2008. They told me I wasn’t being monitored at all. So for two months they were stealing my money and providing no service!
Alarm Force refuses to release me from the contract even though they broke their end of the contract! I have contacted the Better Business Bureau, my bank is investigating, and I am also going to contact my State Attorney General’s Office.
Alarm Force is a total fraud. They stole my money for two straight months and did not provide the service I signed for. Further, they tried to extort me into paying for a system upgrade at the same time they told me I was not being monitored!!! Either I pay more money than I signed for in the original contract, or I am not monitored! Yet, they want to lock me into this contract for the remainder of the term or force me to pay the remainder of the contract which would be almost $550. Yea right….. they’ll never see a dime. And if they put it on my credit, I will fight them to the bitter end in court.
Alarm Force is OUTRAGEOUS.
# Fredon 24 May 2008 at 8:57 am
Alarmforce ?Duh !.I complained to the installer that the cat would trigger the motion detector. He ignored me. The cat did set off the alarm and I got a $75 bill from the municipality for a false alarm call. I called Alarmforce - they were RUDE, and said “how can we know why it happened, we weren’t there”.
They are still sending invoices with GST at 6% for services received in 2008 !.
Joel Matlin - “Mr. Cardboard Cut-Out” - you suck, bite me !
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
It seems many people are unhappy with a certain company starting with the letter "A"
So far, they have not contracted out to India, but with Globalization I'm sure it will come. Yet another reason to deal with a local alarm company when choosing your home security system.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Attorney General Announces Court Action Against Protection One Alarm Monitoring
Attorney General Hardy Myers today announced that one of the largest alarm monitoring companies operating in Oregon has agreed to pay $125,000 to the Department of Justice and modified its business practices in compliance with a court action filed today in Multnomah County Circuit Court. Named in an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance, which admits no law violation, is Protection One Alarm Monitoring, Inc. of Irving, Texas.
"More than 170 consumers were concerned enough about Protection One's business practices to file complaints in our office," Myers said. "With this agreement, Protection One not only will modify its operations but it will be responsive to the problems of present and future complainants."
The number of complaints filed with the Department of Justice against Protection One increased dramatically in 1999 and an investigation was opened. During that time, the company expanded its operations in Oregon and purchased the rights to alarm monitoring contracts owned by other alarm companies.
Investigators found the company violated the Unlawful Trade Practices Act by continuing to bill consumers long after they had officially cancelled their contracts; by failing to provide timely alarm repair service and then refusing consumer requests for contract cancellations; by misrepresenting the length of contract terms; and by assuming contracts from other firms without insuring that consumers' alarms were connected to Protection One's monitoring system.
During the course of the investigation, new management assumed control of the company and immediately was responsive to the concerns of the Attorney General.
Under the settlement, Protection One agrees to continue to improve its customer service practices and pay $75,000 to create an arbitration fund in support of any future consumer claims. Arbitration will be available at no cost to consumers with good-faith claims of less than $5,000. The company claims it will make every effort to solve consumer problems and avoid arbitration with the more than 30,000 active customers in Oregon
Protection One also paid $50,000 to the Department of Justice consumer protection and education fund.
Attorney General Myers suggests the following when shopping for a home or business security system or an alarm monitoring company:
Ask friends and co-workers for recommendations.
Call the Attorney General's consumer hotline and the Better Business Bureau to check on complaints.
Don't buy from a company selling door-to-door. Before buying, consumers should get at least three written bids and make sure the companies have the correct state and local licenses.
Contact the Oregon or National Burglar and Fire Alarm Associations for a list of member companies. Members subscribe to a voluntary code of ethics and quality standards.
Understand all contract provisions before signing. Look for sections covering automatic contract renewal or requirement of a written cancellation notice due 30 days in advance of the contract renewal date.
Consumers wanting information on consumer issues may call the Attorney General's consumer hotline at (503) 378-4320 (Salem area only), (503) 229-5576 (Portland area only) or toll-free at 1-877-877-9392. Information online is at www.doj.state.or.us.
CONTACT:Jan Margosian, (503) 947-4333 (media line only) jan.margosian@doj.state.or.us
"More than 170 consumers were concerned enough about Protection One's business practices to file complaints in our office," Myers said. "With this agreement, Protection One not only will modify its operations but it will be responsive to the problems of present and future complainants."
The number of complaints filed with the Department of Justice against Protection One increased dramatically in 1999 and an investigation was opened. During that time, the company expanded its operations in Oregon and purchased the rights to alarm monitoring contracts owned by other alarm companies.
Investigators found the company violated the Unlawful Trade Practices Act by continuing to bill consumers long after they had officially cancelled their contracts; by failing to provide timely alarm repair service and then refusing consumer requests for contract cancellations; by misrepresenting the length of contract terms; and by assuming contracts from other firms without insuring that consumers' alarms were connected to Protection One's monitoring system.
During the course of the investigation, new management assumed control of the company and immediately was responsive to the concerns of the Attorney General.
Under the settlement, Protection One agrees to continue to improve its customer service practices and pay $75,000 to create an arbitration fund in support of any future consumer claims. Arbitration will be available at no cost to consumers with good-faith claims of less than $5,000. The company claims it will make every effort to solve consumer problems and avoid arbitration with the more than 30,000 active customers in Oregon
Protection One also paid $50,000 to the Department of Justice consumer protection and education fund.
Attorney General Myers suggests the following when shopping for a home or business security system or an alarm monitoring company:
Ask friends and co-workers for recommendations.
Call the Attorney General's consumer hotline and the Better Business Bureau to check on complaints.
Don't buy from a company selling door-to-door. Before buying, consumers should get at least three written bids and make sure the companies have the correct state and local licenses.
Contact the Oregon or National Burglar and Fire Alarm Associations for a list of member companies. Members subscribe to a voluntary code of ethics and quality standards.
Understand all contract provisions before signing. Look for sections covering automatic contract renewal or requirement of a written cancellation notice due 30 days in advance of the contract renewal date.
Consumers wanting information on consumer issues may call the Attorney General's consumer hotline at (503) 378-4320 (Salem area only), (503) 229-5576 (Portland area only) or toll-free at 1-877-877-9392. Information online is at www.doj.state.or.us.
CONTACT:Jan Margosian, (503) 947-4333 (media line only) jan.margosian@doj.state.or.us
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Tell me what it really costs - The security alarm system package deal scam
We have all heard of them, those TV, radio and newspaper ads touting free of very cheap security alarm systems. Usually these “Complete security systems” system consist of nothing more than 2 stick on / fall off door window contacts and one cheaply made wireless Motion detector made in Mainland China by children. As far as security alarm systems go, this would be a perfect solution for a very small apartment or single room construction trailer. Also, with the system being wireless, it would be best if your home was lead lined and did not contain any forms of RF interference (Cordless phones, cell phones, wireless transmitters, or electricity). Yes, common household electrical wiring can also cause problems on most any wireless security systems.
On the other hand, let’s say the “free” alarm system you just signed up for is hardwired; you still should approach this “deal” with caution. After all, rarely anything worth getting in life is really free. Properly installing a hardwired security alarm system requires skill, the best installers often have years of installation training and experience.
In conclusion, anyone considering purchasing a security system should do some research on the installation company prior to signing their contract. A poorly installed security system can result in false alarms or worse, an ineffective system with dangerous holes for potential criminals to take advantage of.
Having done some reaseach on customer complaints, false alarm statistics and over-all truth in advertising, companies with poor reputations to be weary of include, Alarmforce, ADT (Authorized Dealers & Corporate), Brinks, Protection One, Voxcom etcetera......
On the other hand, let’s say the “free” alarm system you just signed up for is hardwired; you still should approach this “deal” with caution. After all, rarely anything worth getting in life is really free. Properly installing a hardwired security alarm system requires skill, the best installers often have years of installation training and experience.
In conclusion, anyone considering purchasing a security system should do some research on the installation company prior to signing their contract. A poorly installed security system can result in false alarms or worse, an ineffective system with dangerous holes for potential criminals to take advantage of.
Having done some reaseach on customer complaints, false alarm statistics and over-all truth in advertising, companies with poor reputations to be weary of include, Alarmforce, ADT (Authorized Dealers & Corporate), Brinks, Protection One, Voxcom etcetera......
Discount alarm monitoring services - So what's the big dif?
As with any other volume based scam, the commercials seem to be everywhere. Deals from $ 9.99, $ 14.99, $ 19.99 and pretty much everything in between.
So with all the different prices out there, what is the difference and what is the best way to go when it comes to monitoring your home or business security alarm system.
The first thing you should know is the industry standard rate for monitoring is right around $25.00 per month. Some companies may charge you a few dollars more of you are leasing the equipment. Some will charge you a little extra for a service contract. The thing is this $25 is pretty much what the service is worth. If you see a price for anything less than that you should be suspicious as to why the price is lower.
One needs only to call a credit card company or computer technical support to realize many companies outsource their call center work to foreign countries (Often India.) In theory, this should not be too big of a problem; in fact I have received some fairly good technical support from India. Personally, when dealing with the dispatch of police to my home during a break-in, I do not want my safety to be the victim of a breakdown in communication.
Further to that, foreign alarm monitoring stations are not subject to the same laws as domestic. In other words, your personal and private information may be exposed to the less reputable in society. Be careful who you give your banking information to. One need only look at what is happening with all those nigerian internet scams. For the most part, this sould not be a concern as there is usually some sort of local representation. The thing is to be careful and aware of the possibilities.
Even if the monitoring station is not in a foreign country, long distance carriers use a technology referred to as “Least cost routing” Basically, this means long distance calls are often routed through several switches, all with the sole purpose of saving money. With voice calls, this could result in a slight echo, or maybe a little bit of static or a change in voice frequency. These issues are not a big deal when it comes to voice. The problem arises with frequency based data transmissions such as alarm signals. A slight deviation in bandwidth could have serious side effects on the ability for the signal coming from your security alarm system to be understood.
So what does this mean in the real world? Failure to communicate is a security alarm term referring to the security alarm panel not being able to communicate an event to the alarm central monitoring station aka Monitoring Center. In other words, neither the police, fire department nor the ambulance will know about your alarm going off. Burglars will have their way in your home, your home could burn down, or worse, an elderly family member calling for help may pass.
On a lighter note, when choosing a security alarm monitoring station or security alarm Installation Company, one should also look at the service policy and labor rates. In the case of a discount monitoring center, there usually is NO service. This is not saying they will not come out, what I am simply stating is if they do have a service technician in your area, you will be charged beyond normal industry rates for any kind of service calls. This includes simple instructions, entry delay changes or even code changes. Some of these companies even have the balls to charge an activation or connection fee.
In conclusion, be careful who you choose to trust your home or business security to. Maybe you are on a tight budget and you cannot afford quality alarm monitoring services. In that case, maybe the cheap guys are for you. What ever you decide, do yourself a favor and look at all the details. Choosing the cheapest monthly rate may result in you paying more in the long run.
So with all the different prices out there, what is the difference and what is the best way to go when it comes to monitoring your home or business security alarm system.
The first thing you should know is the industry standard rate for monitoring is right around $25.00 per month. Some companies may charge you a few dollars more of you are leasing the equipment. Some will charge you a little extra for a service contract. The thing is this $25 is pretty much what the service is worth. If you see a price for anything less than that you should be suspicious as to why the price is lower.
One needs only to call a credit card company or computer technical support to realize many companies outsource their call center work to foreign countries (Often India.) In theory, this should not be too big of a problem; in fact I have received some fairly good technical support from India. Personally, when dealing with the dispatch of police to my home during a break-in, I do not want my safety to be the victim of a breakdown in communication.
Further to that, foreign alarm monitoring stations are not subject to the same laws as domestic. In other words, your personal and private information may be exposed to the less reputable in society. Be careful who you give your banking information to. One need only look at what is happening with all those nigerian internet scams. For the most part, this sould not be a concern as there is usually some sort of local representation. The thing is to be careful and aware of the possibilities.
Even if the monitoring station is not in a foreign country, long distance carriers use a technology referred to as “Least cost routing” Basically, this means long distance calls are often routed through several switches, all with the sole purpose of saving money. With voice calls, this could result in a slight echo, or maybe a little bit of static or a change in voice frequency. These issues are not a big deal when it comes to voice. The problem arises with frequency based data transmissions such as alarm signals. A slight deviation in bandwidth could have serious side effects on the ability for the signal coming from your security alarm system to be understood.
So what does this mean in the real world? Failure to communicate is a security alarm term referring to the security alarm panel not being able to communicate an event to the alarm central monitoring station aka Monitoring Center. In other words, neither the police, fire department nor the ambulance will know about your alarm going off. Burglars will have their way in your home, your home could burn down, or worse, an elderly family member calling for help may pass.
On a lighter note, when choosing a security alarm monitoring station or security alarm Installation Company, one should also look at the service policy and labor rates. In the case of a discount monitoring center, there usually is NO service. This is not saying they will not come out, what I am simply stating is if they do have a service technician in your area, you will be charged beyond normal industry rates for any kind of service calls. This includes simple instructions, entry delay changes or even code changes. Some of these companies even have the balls to charge an activation or connection fee.
In conclusion, be careful who you choose to trust your home or business security to. Maybe you are on a tight budget and you cannot afford quality alarm monitoring services. In that case, maybe the cheap guys are for you. What ever you decide, do yourself a favor and look at all the details. Choosing the cheapest monthly rate may result in you paying more in the long run.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Alarm Force Employees Speak Out
It is very cheaply made and can be bypassed very easily. As a customer service representative I deal with more complaints about door sensors falling off, motion detectors going off for no valid reason and the system not arming. 90% of the product sold to customers is refurbished and sent out as new. It's very tiresome to hear irate customers calling in and not be able to talk to someone in the technical support staff. Why? Because at any given time there maybe 3 or 4 people dealing with all of Canada's and the US's problems. So as a customer service rep, we generate a service ticket and tell the customers someone from service will call you back. People call back sometimes up to 2 weeks later saying that no-one from service called them back therefore having customer service deal with many irrate customers demanding service now. People are paying for a functional alarm not for a piece of trash that keeps breaking down. People then try to get out of their contracts because of constant problems only to find out that "Oh well that's to bad your locked into a contract." People beware the company does not like law suits or people going to the Better Business Beaureu. So rather then getting upset with the Alarm Force Rep. Don't just threaten to go the the BBB follow up with it and they will let you out of your contact. They don't want to ruin there reputation with BBB.
As for the Central Station, again there are only 4 to 5 people covering active alarms. So when you think it's a good idea to get Two-way, it's not. It may take up to 10 minutes before you get a response on the two-way from someone in central station. In the meantime you could be dead or your contents stolen from your home thus defeating the purpose of a two-way system. I strongly recommend you consider another company. As a employee insider they are very un-organized and they scam people when signing work orders to get them to commit for another 4 years without even advising them. They have no compassion for people who become disabled, the elderly, people who have lost there jobs or even people who run into hard times. They protend to give you the best for your money but in the end you are a number, not a customer. Just to inform you that they are losing at least 100 to 150 customers a day because people are becoming wiser that this company is a joke. THINKING ALARM FORCE THINK AGAIN
As for the Central Station, again there are only 4 to 5 people covering active alarms. So when you think it's a good idea to get Two-way, it's not. It may take up to 10 minutes before you get a response on the two-way from someone in central station. In the meantime you could be dead or your contents stolen from your home thus defeating the purpose of a two-way system. I strongly recommend you consider another company. As a employee insider they are very un-organized and they scam people when signing work orders to get them to commit for another 4 years without even advising them. They have no compassion for people who become disabled, the elderly, people who have lost there jobs or even people who run into hard times. They protend to give you the best for your money but in the end you are a number, not a customer. Just to inform you that they are losing at least 100 to 150 customers a day because people are becoming wiser that this company is a joke. THINKING ALARM FORCE THINK AGAIN
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