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.

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

The Beaver made me do it – Security Alarm Systems and Telecom Companies

I can’t really say I blame them, in a business model; alarm monitoring is very much like cell phone service. There is however one major difference, a faulty cell phone merely needs to be brought into the local sales office for replacement. When it comes to a security system, a higher level of service is required… after all you are dealing with the safety of your home and family.

The phone companies will argue, the system is wireless and a failing device can easily be pulled from the wall and brought in for replacement… just like a cell phone? Seriously now, is that really effective home security?

It is all about the contract - This is by no means a new venture, cable companies and local phone companies have all ventured into the home security realm. Tempted by fast profits and re-occurring revenues, how can one argue. The thing is, pretty much every one of the previous companies has sold all their accounts to a third party, usually a foreign Based Company with cheap out of country monitoring. To a company less concerned with maintaining a loyal and happy client base, a monitoring account is worth anywhere from $ 600 to $ 900 on the open market. These large monitoring stations are often located out of the country where local regulations are less strict when it comes to the employee’s they hire. I am by no means saying all monitoring stations operate in this manner; in fact there are plenty of local monitoring stations within the Vancouver area who are highly regulated by the Attorney Generals Department of British Columbia.

So before you let yourself be tempted by the Beaver and their cute marketing techniques, think about how you want to be treated… as a commodity… or a person? Remember, although cute on the outside, beavers have sharp teeth. Has anyone ever truly been happy with the level of service from their cell phone company?

Gee, Joel sounds like a nice guy – Home Security the Alarmforce way

If you live in Canada and you are looking at purchasing a home security system, I am sure you have heard the AlarmForce commercials. After all, who outside someone living in a cave hasn’t heard the irritating little jingle consisting of nothing more than a phone number?

I will be the first to admit the obvious lure of the soft spoken voice, the false empathy and of course the price…. Who can beat FREE!!!! Don’t let yourself be fooled, when it comes to home security, nothing worth getting will ever be free. This especially holds true for wireless security systems.

Wireless security systems are flawed in their design and manufacture. Mr. Matlin of AlarmForce may tell you his system is superior to hardwired and is the latest and greatest technology available. The reason he can say this with such confidence is he knows he is not marketing to people within the security alarm industry. He is taking full advantage of the naivety of the security alarm consumer and those who do not research a company fully before they purchase a home security alarm system.

Here are some simple facts about Mr. Matlins’ AlarmForce neighbourhood.


1 - The Wireless technology used is similar to that of early model garage door openers. Remember the ones with the little switches inside you could move around and open your neighbours’ garage door?

2- Aside from being bulky and ugly, sensors are put up on your wall with Velcro tape.
The “thundering” 2-way voice comes from a small transistor radio style speaker mounted in the main control unit. This is also the location of the microphone, the dialer and everything which controls the security system.

3 - The main control unit is nothing more than a box about the shape of a loaf of bread. This box is typically set in a convenient place to access. Unfortunately this is also a convenience place for the potential burglar who could easily disable the alarm by stepping on it or putting it in the neighboring microwave oven. (It fits perfectly, I’ve tried.) In fact, many in the security alarm industry refer to this type of alarm as a “toilet alarm”, as it also fits nicely in the toilet bowl.

4 - Line seizure is a term in the industry referring to the ability of the alarm panel to take control of your phone line. This ensures picking up any phone in the house will not interfere with the transmission of the signal to the monitoring station. Since a counter mounted toilet alarm which plugs directly into a regular phone jack does not have line seizure, your home is further at risk.

5 - The monitoring contract. Oh ya, Joel Matlen of AlarmForce never mentioned the contract in his ad. Yes this is typically seven years. Seven years aside, the toilet alarm being sold here is not usable by any other alarm company, therefore you will never be able to cancel with Joel and switch to another company unless you switch out all your equipment. Therefore, Joel is really not giving you anything for free, his little box is a disposable technology, similar to a cell phone which will be out of date and non-functional in a couple of years.

I sincerely hope you found this information helpful. All the information contained within this article comes from industry experience and personal observation. I am by no means stating Joel Matlin or Alarmforce are lying to the consumer, I am simply pointing out some weaknesses in the system. Yes, I am in the industry but I will not mention my company name because that would make this nothing more than a marketing piece for my company. I do not wish to diminish the seriousness of this article just to boost my credibility in the industry at the cost of another. My sole purpose with this blog is to educate potential consumers on the predators of the security alarm industry. To be quite honest, my market is local and I have plenty of happy customers to keep me busy.

I will leave you with this one last though.
Hardwire security systems will ALWAYS be superior to wireless. Wireless security systems are flawed in their design and the failure rate is higher than that of hardwired security systems.

Good Luck in the installation of your home or business security alarm system.