With so many different alarm monitoring companies to choose from, how does a home owner know which will best protect his home and family? Which has the best response times in the event of an actual emergency? What kind of contractual agreements must a home owner enter into in order to obtain the service, and at what cost?
This article sifts through the marketing hype to deliver home owners the answers they need to make an informed decision about which alarm monitoring company will best protect their homes and families. Home owners will find information on some of the biggest names in the alarm monitoring business: ADT / Broadview Security, Monitronics, and APX Security.
Response Times of Alarm Monitoring Companies Reviewed
The average time it takes an alarm monitoring company to respond to an emergency signal is probably one of the most important factors home owners must consider when choosing an alarm monitoring company.
- ADT / Broadview Security: No firm statistics could be found on either website, but indications are that response times are better than 30 seconds.
- Monitronics: According to the Monitronics Security Blog, Monitronics response times averaged 22.1 seconds in 2009. Of the alarm monitoring companies reviewed in this article, Monitronics was the only company to provide firm statistics regarding their response times.
- APX Security: No statistics could be found on their website regarding response times.
From these statistics, no conclusive decision could be made regarding which alarm monitoring company had the fastest response times. However, one could speculate that Monitronics might lead the industry in response times given that they were the most open in sharing their statistical information.
Contractual Agreements of Alarm Monitoring Companies
Home owners should carefully review the contracts when selecting an alarm monitoring company to provide services for their monitored alarm system. Some contracts have "gotchas" that home owners should be aware of when contracting with an alarm monitoring company:
- Lengthy Terms: Quality monitored alarm systems are not cheap. To make the systems more affordable for home owners, many alarm monitoring companies offer deep discounts on the systems but require home owners to contract with them for a length of three to six years. Long contracts are not in themselves a problem, but home owners should be aware of term length when they agree to installation.Home owners should beware of installers promising a system with no contract unless they are paying the price of the alarm system installation in full. Homeowners should also watch out for installers promising short contractual obligations on expensive systems. If the deal sounds "too good to be true", it probably is.
- Poor Coverage: Many basic alarm system installations come with only a few sensors. Home owners should know before agreeing to installation exactly which sensors will be installed and where. Some home owners have been surprised to find after installation that their agreement covered only a handful of door and window sensors, leaving vulnerable many other easily accessible points of entry to would-be theives.
- Poor Service Plans: Monitored alarm systems are like any other piece of electronic equipment in the home. Sensors on frequently used doors and windows can be knocked out of place, triggering false alarms. Monitored alarm systems are susceptible to power surges, just like computers and television sets.When something goes wrong with the monitored alarm system, home owners need to know what to expect. Before agreeing to installation, home owners should find out if their system is covered under a warranty and what repairs are covered under any warranty offered. If no warranty is offered, or only a short term warranty on a long term contract, home owners should ask about fees for service calls and replacement equipment.
There is much more for home owners to take in consideration other than the base monthly cost of contracting with an alarm monitoring company. What initially sounds like a "best price" might actually cost a home owner much more in the long run when taking into consideration added sensors for sufficient coverage, termination fees if the home owner has to move and service costs if the equipment malfunctions.
Learning More About Monitored Alarm Systems
Interested in learning more about how monitored alarm systems work? The article Monitored Alarm Systems: Keeping Families Safer provides home owners with information on how monitored alarm systems communicate with alarm monitoring companies and what types of sensors and features are available with most popular monitored alarm systems.
Amber Hunter - Amber Hunter is a graduate of SMU Richardson's Networking Technologies Program. She is A+ Certified, Net+ Certified, and MCSA Certified. ...
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