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My house (built in 01) has some type of system installed but I've never subscribed to any monitoring. I have one key pad by the front door and some type of control box in one of the closets. All the windows have sensors on them but none of the doors appear to have them. I also have a motion detector in the living room. I'm not sure if this was a half ass install since none of the doors are wired.
I want the system fixed and start monitoring but I don't have a home phone line. Just use cells but do have broadband internet. I'd really like to avoid paying for a phone line just for the security system.
Should I go with an ADT type company? Anything to ask about or look out for? Can the system run through my internet line?
Find yourself a good ol mom and pop outfit that has been in the area for a while. Someone who did not sell off all his accounts to ADT, Brinks, etc. In the phone book under burglar alarm systems. He will appreciate the business and he can advise you on monitoring options. His techs will be better trained and will give a damn...
As far as your doors..we use white 1/4" recessed contacts that cannot be seen with the door closed. Open your door and look up in the door opening. Could be painted over making it hard to see. Or you can look at the jamb side, also recessed into the door frame.
There are ways to transmit your signal other than a phone line. Cellular transmitters are common for homes without them.
There are also digital dialers that we used that would send a pre recorded message to the owners cell phone, home phone, dialing multiple times until a phone is answered. They were used in conjunction with several loud sirens, inside and outside and those systems were not direct monitored.
Good luck! Rick Thompson, former owner of Thompson Security, Inc...
PS if in the Tampa area I have a few companies I would recommend....
I would find a private alarm guy in your area. Just call around and see what they offer. I know I pay $200 for a year of monitoring, which is roughly $16.67 a month. I know in my area ADT is around $35 a month, depending on your service plan. ADT uses mostly wireless sensors, and this means false alarms due to dead batteries. If your doors aren't wired, it's easy enough to have them wired. Do you have a basement/crawl or a slab foundation? For the phone line, I don't think you can have it hooked up without one. I would check out a VOIP phone line, such as Telebland. That phone service cost me $15.84 a month.
That is the best suggestion I can make.
Agree with staying away from the big National firms and finding a small local firm. They outsource the monitoring but will provide installation & service.
You want a phone line for this. Get the cheapest one the phone company offers. Probably about $12/month
Any sensors that are not installed can be added. Either wired or wireless. Monitor everything - get smoke/heat/CO/water detectors as well as security.
Don't be so sure that you don't have the doors wired. 1/4 or 3/8" flush-mount mag contacts are extremely difficult to see, and if the guy went to the trouble of installing contacts on the windows, I'm thinking they did the doors too.
As others have said, you can report alarm signals over broadband or a cellular data channel, so no need for a dedicated phone line. Check out Uplink, but you will need to find a good mom & pop shop, to get you connected.
Don't forget to ask for an alarm monitoring certificate or letter, from your company, and give ot to your homeowner's insurance agent. Good for an annual 15% discount.
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Capt Will, 2002 G/W 282 Sailfish, F225's
USCG Master, 50 Ton; Towing endorsement
Indian River, De
My house is on a concrete slab so no crawl space. I also inspected the back slider and I can't find a sensor anywhere unless it's really, really hard to spot. I wasn't sure if local companies were a viable option. Do they run their own monitoring center?
My house is on a concrete slab so no crawl space. I also inspected the back slider and I can't find a sensor anywhere unless it's really, really hard to spot. I wasn't sure if local companies were a viable option. Do they run their own monitoring center?
Most small companies cannot own and operate their own central station, but some of the sub-contract monitoring facilities, like C.O.P.S., and as good or better than any of them.
For my first 25 years in the business, we did run our own U.L. central 24/7, and we did monitoring for many other alarm companies in the tri-state area. I sold it all in the '90'sn and moved. 5 or 6 years later, ended up starting another, very small, custom installtion company, and subbed out the monitoring to COPs. After 10 more years of doing that, I sold again, and retired from the business once and for all. More than you wanted to know, but yes, go with a small co with a caring owner.
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Capt Will, 2002 G/W 282 Sailfish, F225's
USCG Master, 50 Ton; Towing endorsement
Indian River, De
The problem with a small operator is you never know if their monitoring center is actually staffed with a human being.....the 3rd shift guy may walk out for a smoke or dose off when your alarm goes off.
CaptWill - You're the expert, but do you trust a VOIP line for a security system ? What if the ISP is down ? What if the router loses power ? Short of the line being cut, POTS always works
And wouldn't cellular likely be as much or more than a $12 phone line ?
The problem with a small operator is you never know if their monitoring center is actually staffed with a human being.....the 3rd shift guy may walk out for a smoke or dose off when your alarm goes off.
Not true up around here. Must be staffed to interpret the signal and call the proper people in the proper order. I'm watching 7 places with a combo or all of the items listed. Gen set (start/fail to start) temp both hot and cold, fire, CO, smoke, and intrusion. They are also UL listed with back up power plants and are are secure against improper entry. Both companies answer the phone 24/7/365 and are locally owned and operated. One owner lives in town. They also travel to Cape Cod for service as many of their customers have second homes.
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Some cigars will never reappear again... Hopefully
I would find a private alarm guy in your area. Just call around and see what they offer. I know I pay $200 for a year of monitoring, which is roughly $16.67 a month. I know in my area ADT is around $35 a month, depending on your service plan. ADT uses mostly wireless sensors, and this means false alarms due to dead batteries. If your doors aren't wired, it's easy enough to have them wired. Do you have a basement/crawl or a slab foundation? For the phone line, I don't think you can have it hooked up without one. I would check out a VOIP phone line, such as Telebland. That phone service cost me $15.84 a month.
That is the best suggestion I can make.
Not accurate. Thirty years ago low or dead batteries were a cause for nuisance alarms, but the industry's technologies have come a LONG WAY. Typical system today gives you a minimum of thirty days advance warning of a "dying" battery. Even with a dead battery, the typical transmitter will not cause an "alarm", but more likely a "check" indication on your keypad.
Mis-information is a huge problem in our industry. Not trying to run you down, Ramifications. No hard feelings I hope.
Don't be so sure that you don't have the doors wired. 1/4 or 3/8" flush-mount mag contacts are extremely difficult to see, and if the guy went to the trouble of installing contacts on the windows, I'm thinking they did the doors too.
As others have said, you can report alarm signals over broadband or a cellular data channel, so no need for a dedicated phone line. Check out Uplink, but you will need to find a good mom & pop shop, to get you connected.
Don't forget to ask for an alarm monitoring certificate or letter, from your company, and give ot to your homeowner's insurance agent. Good for an annual 15% discount.
Some insurance companies, but not all, offer discounts on homeowner's insurance for installed alarm systems. Most that offer it will allow some discount for burglary alarms with sirens, a little more if the system is monitored, and maybe even a little more if there is fire detection on the system. Check with your agent on this. Not trying to be a smart mouth CaptWill, but mis-information causes much heart ache for the alarm industry.
Not true up around here. Must be staffed to interpret the signal and call the proper people in the proper order. I'm watching 7 places with a combo or all of the items listed. Gen set (start/fail to start) temp both hot and cold, fire, CO, smoke, and intrusion. They are also UL listed with back up power plants and are are secure against improper entry. Both companies answer the phone 24/7/365 and are locally owned and operated. One owner lives in town. They also travel to Cape Cod for service as many of their customers have second homes.
I didn't say every small operator was understaffed.
We started out with a small operator that subsequently sold out to a national firm. I haven't noticed a single change in the level of service I receive. Every time I accidentally set off the alarm the phone rings within 30 seconds.
CaptWill - You're the expert, but do you trust a VOIP line for a security system ? What if the ISP is down ? What if the router loses power ? Short of the line being cut, POTS always works
And wouldn't cellular likely be as much or more than a $12 phone line ?
I only pointed out that it can be done VOIP; I would never recommend it over a dedicated land-line or digital cellular data channel. But, there are plent of people that apparantly using the lines of Vonage, as more manufacturers are offering the interface for alarm panels.
In any case, OP said he didn't want to install a landline, so there are only a few other ways to do it.
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Capt Will, 2002 G/W 282 Sailfish, F225's
USCG Master, 50 Ton; Towing endorsement
Indian River, De
Some insurance companies, but not all, offer discounts on homeowner's insurance for installed alarm systems. Most that offer it will allow some discount for burglary alarms with sirens, a little more if the system is monitored, and maybe even a little more if there is fire detection on the system. Check with your agent on this. Not trying to be a smart mouth CaptWill, but mis-information causes much heart ache for the alarm industry.
I am certainly not trying to mislead anybody. But I can say, with the exception of businesses who may be required to have security just to get any insurance, in the more than 35 years of installing and monitoring security systems in Pa, N.J., Delaware and Md, I have never had a customer's insurance company turn down the standard 15% discount, for a c/s monitored alarm system. But I am sure there must be exceptions. Somewhere.
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Capt Will, 2002 G/W 282 Sailfish, F225's
USCG Master, 50 Ton; Towing endorsement
Indian River, De
Find yourself a good ol mom and pop outfit that has been in the area for a while.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Elusive
Agree with staying away from the big National firms and finding a small local firm. They outsource the monitoring but will provide installation & service.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptWill
... go with a small co with a caring owner.
Absolutely disagree with the suggestion to avoid the large, national companies and instead using a small, "mom and pop" outfit.
It shows an incredible amount of ignorance, even from someone with 35 years in the industry!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tireless
The problem with a small operator is you never know if their monitoring center is actually staffed with a human being.....the 3rd shift guy may walk out for a smoke or dose off when your alarm goes off.
EXACTLY!!! -- That and other possible problems.
It is NOT about what you don't want -- it is about what you DO want, and what you want is alarm tied to a certified monitoring facility. I believe all of your nationally recognized alarm monitoring companies are certified, are required to be by their larger accounts. That means there are procedures in place for CONSTANT human monitoring, and constant human monitoring of the humans monitoring the monitors. There must be backs for power failure at the monitoring station, and alternatives method of communication for phone circuit congestion. There are procedures on what to do when an alarm state is received, protocol on how to proceed through multiple avenues or contacts -- who to contact and in what order, and backups to any and all contacts in the event contact is not possible for any reason. The monitoring hardware must meet certification standards for function and reliability. Any complaints or problems MUST be documented by the monitoring station and they are periodically reviewed by the certifying agency. If necessary, the certification is pulled and customers notified until the monitoring station can be re-certified.
Your "mom and pop" monitoring stations do not necessarily have that, or provide that. Maybe they do, maybe they don't -- you can't know, you're gambling. An alarm, any alarm, isn't worth crap if it is not being monitored and the only way you can know that it is being monitored is if the monitoring station is certified.
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No one is suggesting (unless I missed something) a Mom & Pop monitoring service
We are suggesting a Mom & Pop installation and service firm
Most Mom & Pops outsource their monitoring to large monitoring centers and they make a commission on the referral. It is a valid question to ask of a firm how they handle their monitoring
Conversely, Brinks, ADT, etc may have their own monitoring service, but their installation & service is terrible
So because I have 2 monitoring companies that are small and not the likes of Brinks or ADT watching over 19M worth of property I'm at risk? Someone sure as heck calls: a) the residence first b) me second c) next contact on the list or fire, police, heating contractor as specified third.
You're frickin crazy.
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Some cigars will never reappear again... Hopefully
Home Security System?
I also have a motion detector in the living room. I'm not sure if this was a half ass install since none of the doors are wired. 
