What monitored house alarm ?
Discussion
We currently have a house alarm however its quite old and the bellbox on the front looks dated and I'm starting to think the local yoof might take a punt that it is no longer working. Our neighbours were burgled last week between 4.30pm and 10pm and i was in throughout that time period so clearly you can't rely on anyone hearing anything.
Have decided a monitored alarm is the way to go. We have cats (but no cat flap) so we would want them to have free run of the house when we are not in and during the night. We do not have any outbuildings of value so its just purely the house. its a 3 bed tunnel linked terraced.
We want to be able to have a night setting so that just doors and windows are armed but PIRs are ignored.
Obvious 3 for me are
ADT
Chubb
Secom
we want householder response, not police and i understand there is autodialer tech thats been out for years but i just don't trust it to be 100% fool proof in the event we need it.
I live in Romford, Essex.
Does anyone have any experience of any of the companies listed above, any insights, opinions or other company suggestions ?
Would appreciate any help at the mo.
Have decided a monitored alarm is the way to go. We have cats (but no cat flap) so we would want them to have free run of the house when we are not in and during the night. We do not have any outbuildings of value so its just purely the house. its a 3 bed tunnel linked terraced.
We want to be able to have a night setting so that just doors and windows are armed but PIRs are ignored.
Obvious 3 for me are
ADT
Chubb
Secom
we want householder response, not police and i understand there is autodialer tech thats been out for years but i just don't trust it to be 100% fool proof in the event we need it.
I live in Romford, Essex.
Does anyone have any experience of any of the companies listed above, any insights, opinions or other company suggestions ?
Would appreciate any help at the mo.
VEX said:
Add in DynoSecure to your list.
We have been with them for the last 13 years and had excellent service and support.
We are fully monitored with fire and police responce.
V.
Just had a look at them;We have been with them for the last 13 years and had excellent service and support.
We are fully monitored with fire and police responce.
V.
http://www.dyno.com/home-security/burglar-alarms
Any idea at all costs? I hate going through the whole organising a visit, not knowing the ball park price and then await the quote afterwards........
In my opinion you will get better service if you avoid the national companies.
Try contacting your local, independant ones.
http://www.nsi.org.uk/directory/#topform
Try contacting your local, independant ones.
http://www.nsi.org.uk/directory/#topform
Avoid the nationals at all costs they truly are robbing b
ds especially when things go wrong.
I run security company but not on the maned and response side of things, I would look for local NSI or SSIAB companies the nationals say £99 in and £25 a month but for what kit and for how long?
Visonic wireless kit is very good as is the Texaco ricochet kit though I would avoid the Castle / Pyronix Enforcer stuff.
wird I would personally stick with Castle / Pyronix or Texacom personally not a fan of Menvia or Honeywell. Wired system will be more reliable and my be a little nice on the labour cost but cheeper on the equipment as a upfront cost. The wireless is less labour but more expensive kit though how frequently you change the batteries may affect the whole life costs.
You say your not to keen on the reliability of auto dealers, I know where you coming from but the nationals will probably set the system up on a standard digi on your phone line with will only poll once every 24 hours and is dependant on a phone line, Digi Air's from CSL Dual com are a fantastic bit of kit and well priced too at around £99 per cow can then up the anti with dual path monitoring with the Dual Com grade shift range but the costs go up the more the device poll's (checks in and hand shakes)
Have you considered a key holding service? Yes the Police may attend if you pay for URN's but a private key holding company will attend come rain or shine and most of the time quicker that the police. Not aware of any firms directly in your neck of the woods but http://www.citykeyholding.com would be a good place to start. (not my company but someone I work with)
Hope that the above is of some help to you.
ds especially when things go wrong.I run security company but not on the maned and response side of things, I would look for local NSI or SSIAB companies the nationals say £99 in and £25 a month but for what kit and for how long?
Visonic wireless kit is very good as is the Texaco ricochet kit though I would avoid the Castle / Pyronix Enforcer stuff.
wird I would personally stick with Castle / Pyronix or Texacom personally not a fan of Menvia or Honeywell. Wired system will be more reliable and my be a little nice on the labour cost but cheeper on the equipment as a upfront cost. The wireless is less labour but more expensive kit though how frequently you change the batteries may affect the whole life costs.
You say your not to keen on the reliability of auto dealers, I know where you coming from but the nationals will probably set the system up on a standard digi on your phone line with will only poll once every 24 hours and is dependant on a phone line, Digi Air's from CSL Dual com are a fantastic bit of kit and well priced too at around £99 per cow can then up the anti with dual path monitoring with the Dual Com grade shift range but the costs go up the more the device poll's (checks in and hand shakes)
Have you considered a key holding service? Yes the Police may attend if you pay for URN's but a private key holding company will attend come rain or shine and most of the time quicker that the police. Not aware of any firms directly in your neck of the woods but http://www.citykeyholding.com would be a good place to start. (not my company but someone I work with)
Hope that the above is of some help to you.
ADT were a bunch of clowns when I used them for a business.
Autodialers are reliable.mine are programmed to Dial several numbers and play a message until someone resets it over the phone. Never had a problem with one,I would not bother with a monitored system unless it was an insurance requirement.
Autodialers are reliable.mine are programmed to Dial several numbers and play a message until someone resets it over the phone. Never had a problem with one,I would not bother with a monitored system unless it was an insurance requirement.
Edited by jas xjr on Tuesday 3rd March 20:53
Pixelpeep7r said:
... ADT are 'from' £99 install and £25 a month for monitoring which seems perfectly reasonable to me.
Read this before you consider ADTs £99 'deal'http://www.ciaalarms.co.uk/buyer-beware-alarm-syst...
We've been on a Banham system for the last ten years....been very reliable and the service side of things is excellent. They also have a 24 hour key monitoring company called CMS which we use. The latter was a necessity as we have to be connected to the police for insurance reasons (live in London).
Previously had an ADT system.....would not go near them ever again...........service was awful.
Previously had an ADT system.....would not go near them ever again...........service was awful.
We also went with a local company, and they are fantastic.
The things to consider are not just the initial install but also the service afterwards - for example, we had a faulty sensor that kept setting the alarm off. I called the owner of the company, he walked me through the steps required to remove the sensor from the panel and then got someone out a few days later to replace it.
Similarly, we've just redecorated a room and needed to take a sensor down - quick phone call and it was all done within minutes. I can imagine in both cases with a national, there would have been lengthy waits on hold.
The things to consider are not just the initial install but also the service afterwards - for example, we had a faulty sensor that kept setting the alarm off. I called the owner of the company, he walked me through the steps required to remove the sensor from the panel and then got someone out a few days later to replace it.
Similarly, we've just redecorated a room and needed to take a sensor down - quick phone call and it was all done within minutes. I can imagine in both cases with a national, there would have been lengthy waits on hold.
just about to do this. Going with a local firm. Prob going for an Agility 3 system with camera pir's. The system can send me/whoever I choose pics in the event of a trigger. I can then decide what to do and can also reset the alarm all via an app on my phone. Saves me bothering with remote monitoring / key holders etc.
YThis from an ex insurance surveyor of 20 years experience specifying alarms and dealing with the various companies.
Some of the Nationals in my view take the pee on pricing - I guess they have to pay for all those layers of management and head office somehow. The service you get from a local SSAIB company is usually very good and competitive - they have a local reputation to keep up and none of the aforementioned expenses.
I'd suggest the £99 and £25 a month is a lot of 'bollo' when you look into it. What is important is checking what their call out and resetting fees are if any as this can add considerably to your annual costs.
As for response, you don't HAVE to have Police response you can advise the alarm co to go through a list of responders key holders. Most alarms with remote signalling will be dual path but for your home you could probably get away with a digicomm which should make it cheaper. Yes you are vulnerable to line cutting but in all honesty I haven't heard of a case of that in years..
Some of the Nationals in my view take the pee on pricing - I guess they have to pay for all those layers of management and head office somehow. The service you get from a local SSAIB company is usually very good and competitive - they have a local reputation to keep up and none of the aforementioned expenses.
I'd suggest the £99 and £25 a month is a lot of 'bollo' when you look into it. What is important is checking what their call out and resetting fees are if any as this can add considerably to your annual costs.
As for response, you don't HAVE to have Police response you can advise the alarm co to go through a list of responders key holders. Most alarms with remote signalling will be dual path but for your home you could probably get away with a digicomm which should make it cheaper. Yes you are vulnerable to line cutting but in all honesty I haven't heard of a case of that in years..
Edited by elanfan on Thursday 5th March 11:28
any decent local security company will provide a monitored alarm, all that means is a dual com or emazon, calls a auto receiving center then one of their staff calls you, and the police.
go with a nice local company, get a honeywell galaxy ( best on the market) ask them for a monitored system, and bobs your uncle. you should not be looking at anything more than a grand fitted and thats being generous.
dont go with a national company, they are rip offs, chubb wont even attend if you havent got details on file. engineers are on commission and will change parts willy nilly.
( im in this industry)
go with a nice local company, get a honeywell galaxy ( best on the market) ask them for a monitored system, and bobs your uncle. you should not be looking at anything more than a grand fitted and thats being generous.
dont go with a national company, they are rip offs, chubb wont even attend if you havent got details on file. engineers are on commission and will change parts willy nilly.
( im in this industry)
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