Central alarm system (monitored)
Discussion
It depends on what you mean by monitored
When we had an ADT system if the alarm was triggered they would call somebody on the Contacts list asking them to go and see what had triggered the alarm. It was also registered with Lancashire Police but I'm not sure what the purpose of that was. It was £40 a month
Our current system calls my phone directly (it actually notifies everybody who has the app on their phone and is connected to the house "alarm account"). i can then log on to the cameras and see what's going on It's pretty good tbh, Ive managed to arm/disarm the alarm when Ive been on holiday as well as speak to delivery people remotely. There's no ongoing cost.
When we had an ADT system if the alarm was triggered they would call somebody on the Contacts list asking them to go and see what had triggered the alarm. It was also registered with Lancashire Police but I'm not sure what the purpose of that was. It was £40 a month
Our current system calls my phone directly (it actually notifies everybody who has the app on their phone and is connected to the house "alarm account"). i can then log on to the cameras and see what's going on It's pretty good tbh, Ive managed to arm/disarm the alarm when Ive been on holiday as well as speak to delivery people remotely. There's no ongoing cost.
Countdown said:
It depends on what you mean by monitored
When we had an ADT system if the alarm was triggered they would call somebody on the Contacts list asking them to go and see what had triggered the alarm. It was also registered with Lancashire Police but I'm not sure what the purpose of that was. It was £40 a month
Our current system calls my phone directly (it actually notifies everybody who has the app on their phone and is connected to the house "alarm account"). i can then log on to the cameras and see what's going on It's pretty good tbh, Ive managed to arm/disarm the alarm when Ive been on holiday as well as speak to delivery people remotely. There's no ongoing cost.
the insurer just stipulate a 'central alarm system'... google tells us that means monitored, so we assume a pro company with a fee...When we had an ADT system if the alarm was triggered they would call somebody on the Contacts list asking them to go and see what had triggered the alarm. It was also registered with Lancashire Police but I'm not sure what the purpose of that was. It was £40 a month
Our current system calls my phone directly (it actually notifies everybody who has the app on their phone and is connected to the house "alarm account"). i can then log on to the cameras and see what's going on It's pretty good tbh, Ive managed to arm/disarm the alarm when Ive been on holiday as well as speak to delivery people remotely. There's no ongoing cost.
I install Eaton scantronix alarms, mostly commercial but have done some residentials.
They are not overly expensive but very reliable, flexible and expandable. I would recommend staying away from wireless and see if your insurance require grade 2 or grade 3 - makes a difference to the components you use.
You can have an app on your phone to see what’s going on and get alerts, set / reset etc through that, no ongoing charge. You can also get a dialler if your Internet fails it will fallback to gsm and dial or text a pre planned series of numbers when alarming, either your own or an alarm receiving centre.
All of the above is included, no monthlies.
If your insurance stipulate it needs to be monitored then generally you need to dial an ARC, typically £30 - £50 a month depending on your agreed action plan should they get an alert. They won’t call the police until they confirm it’s a genuine alarm, so a waste of time in my opinion as any thieves will be long gone by the time the cops arrive.
I am based in Portsmouth, happy to give you some ballpark figures if needed.
If you go with the big firms like ADT, make sure you own the alarm, sometimes they will do you a good price on the installation but have hefty monthlies and if you cancel, the alarm stops working because it’s not technically yours.
They are not overly expensive but very reliable, flexible and expandable. I would recommend staying away from wireless and see if your insurance require grade 2 or grade 3 - makes a difference to the components you use.
You can have an app on your phone to see what’s going on and get alerts, set / reset etc through that, no ongoing charge. You can also get a dialler if your Internet fails it will fallback to gsm and dial or text a pre planned series of numbers when alarming, either your own or an alarm receiving centre.
All of the above is included, no monthlies.
If your insurance stipulate it needs to be monitored then generally you need to dial an ARC, typically £30 - £50 a month depending on your agreed action plan should they get an alert. They won’t call the police until they confirm it’s a genuine alarm, so a waste of time in my opinion as any thieves will be long gone by the time the cops arrive.
I am based in Portsmouth, happy to give you some ballpark figures if needed.
If you go with the big firms like ADT, make sure you own the alarm, sometimes they will do you a good price on the installation but have hefty monthlies and if you cancel, the alarm stops working because it’s not technically yours.
Just to add, you don’t necessarily need a ‘pro’ company like ADT to provide a monitored alarm. Most installers can install an alarm and then set you up with an alarm receiving centre which will ‘monitor’ it for you.
For this you would be in contract with the ARC. There are quite a few in the UK who can offer the service.
For this you would be in contract with the ARC. There are quite a few in the UK who can offer the service.
PurpleFox said:
Just to add, you don’t necessarily need a ‘pro’ company like ADT to provide a monitored alarm. Most installers can install an alarm and then set you up with an alarm receiving centre which will ‘monitor’ it for you.
For this you would be in contract with the ARC. There are quite a few in the UK who can offer the service.
thanks for the responses, we've got a local small firm coming out to quote next week, if that doesnt work out I will be in contact. For this you would be in contract with the ARC. There are quite a few in the UK who can offer the service.
Out of interest, why are you against wireless... Ajax seem to have a great rep?
Re: ADT - we had them monitoring our alarm for £40 a month and decided to cancel and spend the money on some CCTV cameras. Alarm still works, (no monitoring obviously) and when we called ADT to cancel, they offered us the same monitoring service for £20!! I hate that sort of thing, so said no, but if you're with ADT, haggle hard at renewal
Audis5b9 said:
thanks for the responses, we've got a local small firm coming out to quote next week, if that doesnt work out I will be in contact.
Out of interest, why are you against wireless... Ajax seem to have a great rep?
Less faults, no loss of communication, no batteries to replace. Wireless is ok if you have to for home use and don’t want to see cables but imho , wired is better. Also, if you needed a grade 3 system (higher security) you couldn’t use wireless. Out of interest, why are you against wireless... Ajax seem to have a great rep?
Saying that, I have a ring alarm at home
and it’s been fine, I just don’t class it as a professional system. PurpleFox said:
Less faults, no loss of communication, no batteries to replace. Wireless is ok if you have to for home use and don’t want to see cables but imho , wired is better. Also, if you needed a grade 3 system (higher security) you couldn’t use wireless.
Saying that, I have a ring alarm at home and it’s been fine, I just don’t class it as a professional system.
Fair, the insurance co didnt stipulate any grade of kit, so cheapest/ simplest will go in as dont want to be running new wires ideally... Saying that, I have a ring alarm at home
and it’s been fine, I just don’t class it as a professional system. There is no need to use ADT or any other big name company, tjeu install a alarm and connect it to a ARC, in ADT case it’s owned and run by ADT but any local company can set you up with a ARC, custodian or southern monitoring being the most popular
Wireless is fine for home, texicom or Ajax or Honeywell galaxy are all fine.
On the whole they’re pretty pointless though, the police won’t respond to an intruder alarm, so they just call you, and if you’re not nearby your house is long since robbed.
There is a police response option but they basically never ever go out to house alarms.
Wireless is fine for home, texicom or Ajax or Honeywell galaxy are all fine.
On the whole they’re pretty pointless though, the police won’t respond to an intruder alarm, so they just call you, and if you’re not nearby your house is long since robbed.
There is a police response option but they basically never ever go out to house alarms.
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