Alarm system recommendations, please...

3546 Views 33 Replies 21 Participants Last post by m46607, Oct 22, 2009

Hodawg

Discussion Starter · Sep 15, 2009

We had to disable my mother in law's security system 2 years ago. She has Alzheimer's, and she is progressively getting worse. She had totally forgotten about the alarm system a few years ago, and starting punching the code box thinking that it was the telephone. She set off the audible alarm and all types of hell and panic broke loose. Come to find out, she had cancelled the alarm service a year before, but the interior portion was still activated to where it would go off but not notify the alarm company.

Now that Mrs. Hodawg and I have had to move in with her, I want to go back to a decent home alarm system. My questions to those who have had them are:

1. Who is the best alarm company in your opinion concerning response time in notifying the Police and the home owner?

2. What do you think would be a good set-up in my situation? Granny doesn't normally get up and wander about at night, right now, but as her disease progresses she may start that behavior soon. The doors are secured in such a fashion that she shouldn't be able to open the door and wander off on her own, but I'm concerned that motion detectors could cause a lot of false alarms.

It's just me, the Mrs., and Granny in the house, along with 2 worthless Mini Dachshunds and an equally worthless and ancient Shnouzer. All of our kids are grown and live on their own, plus they all know better than to walk in the house unannounced.

I need a system that Grandma will not be able to tamper with, easy enough for the tech challenged Mrs. Hodawg to properly operate, and will provide good residential security.

I'm fairly familiar with commercial alarm set-ups, but not so much on residential. Our situation is vastly different than trying to protect a drug store from thugs at 0230.

I'd appreciate all of the input I can get on the companies and set-ups y'all would recommend.

Beers y'all,
Ken

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1 - 20 of 34 Posts

Tic26

· #2 · Sep 15, 2009

I like Brinks...with motion detection, glass break detectors , and the reg window and door stuff

Buckley

· #3 · Sep 15, 2009

We have Brinks @ home. Does it's job I suppose, but I rely more on my dogs.

We have SHS in the office. It took them three months to work out the bugs, but it seems to work. The computers are all here when I come in on Monday morning. :laughing

CCWFLA

· #4 · Sep 15, 2009

We had Brinks when I was in St. Pete. I don't know if it was the best, but we had it for five years with no major problem, including a free replacement when we sold one house and bought another. My parents are house-sitting down there right now, and they've adjusted well to it, having never had an alarm before.
I don't know if it applies to your situation, but as people (especially women) age, they often become shorter and sometimes kyphotic. I mention this because it may be possible to set the motion detectors (depending on the type) high enough that she doesn't trip them, but a man of average height would. Not ideal, but it might be a compromise. Just a thought.
Sorry that I don't have anything to compare the Brinks system to but I hope that helps.

Sig229Elite.357

· #5 · Sep 15, 2009

FYI, ADT is by far and away the top security company in the world. They do 92% of the government monitoring, they even monitor Brinks trucks :rolf, yeup they monitor Brinks. They have 7 North American Monitoring stations, Brinks has 1. If you have a loss during a break in, ADT pays 500.00 towards your deductable ADT = :dancingbanana Brinks = :thumbsdwn

Buckley

· #6 · Sep 15, 2009

Sig229Elite.357 said:
FYI, ADT is by far and away the top security company in the world. They do 92% of the government monitoring, they even monitor Brinks trucks :rolf, yeup they monitor Brinks. They have 7 North American Monitoring stations, Brinks has 1. If you have a loss during a break in, ADT pays 500.00 towards your deductable ADT = :dancingbanana Brinks = :thumbsdwn

Who cares about some deductable? If you have a Brinks system, the BG always runs away once the alarm goes off. I've seen the commercials. :dancingbanana

OLDJEEP813

· #7 · Sep 15, 2009

If your handy do it yourself. I had a company that was gonna install a wireless system in my house for free if my credit was good enough and I signed a 3 year contract. After I did some quick research on the internet I found the exact same products on line for about $350.00 and I even found the company they were going to use for monitoring. I could sign up directly with the monitoring company for less than $10.00 a month with only a one year contract and buy the system on line and install it myself. Just a though, as far as I know the residential alarm companies pass there monitoring off to a company that just does monitoring. If I was going to install an alarm system that's the way I'd do it, after the initial install you only hear from the local alarm company if you don't send them money.

Sig229Elite.357

· #8 · Sep 15, 2009

Buckley said:
Who cares about some deductable? If you have a Brinks system, the BG always runs away once the alarm goes off. I've seen the commercials. :dancingbanana

LOL, you're right! Oh by the way the actual time that it takes Brinks to call the homeowner is closer to a full commercial break 1:30 - 2:00 minutes while ADT is rated #1 under 90 seconds :deadhorse

cv7713

· #9 · Sep 16, 2009

Ken,
A local company is Security Equipment Company (now Devcon). We have them at work and a good friend has them at home. They have always been available when we've needed them. I can give you the guys # that we deal with. Let me know.

-Chris

Hodawg

Discussion Starter · #10 · Sep 16, 2009

Yeah, please PM me the contact info, Chris.

Beers y'all,
Ken

Buckley

· #11 · Sep 16, 2009

Sig229Elite.357 said:
LOL, you're right! Oh by the way the actual time that it takes Brinks to call the homeowner is closer to a full commercial break 1:30 - 2:00 minutes while ADT is rated #1 under 90 seconds :deadhorse

I can make a call in less than 20 seconds!

SigNu34

· #12 · Sep 16, 2009 (Edited)

Call a monitoring station called COPS Monitoring, ask them who in the area uses their monitoring service. Their average call back time used to be less than 15 seconds when I was in the business. Our company used COPS and several friends that opened their own companies went with COPS for their monitoring because of response. We used to get monthly reports from COPS on their average response time. I can tell you from personal use most of the time I didn't get the alarm shut off before the phone was ringing. Annoying when nothing is wrong, but if there was a problem and I needed help I knew someone was taking care of it.

I have ADT and by policy they won't call until the alarm has gone off for a full 30 seconds unless they receive a smoke alarm signal. They'll tell you this is to avoid dispatching an officer to a false alarm. Needless to say when my contact is up I won't have ADT.

Regardless of who you go with ask average response time for calling the house, about canceling your contract if you are unhappy, how the contract renews and what the terms are. Most renew for the full period of the original contract and there is a 50% buyout on some. So if you sign a 5 year contract, at the end of 5 years it renews for another 5 years. This is how they make their money. We didn't make money on an account until about 2 1/2 years into the service, with wireless they might start after a 1 1/2 years. They will not call you to tell you that your contract is coming up for renewal. Again it's how we made money and at the same time we had a legal contract to continue monitoring your account until you told us to stop.

If you can find someone that does a wired system, go with that not the wireless ones. Over time batteries go dead, as they drain the distance a motion detector works decreases, same with panic buttons.

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RadTek

· #13 · Sep 18, 2009

Honestly, even though I've been a loyal Brinks customer for several years now, in 3 different homes, I'm pretty sure I'm giving them the boot the end of this current contract. Not that I really have any complaints. It's just that I've got a few GOOD neighbors...neighbors who are only seconds away from checking the house should I be away. Some of the aftermarket home systems, many wireless, allows you to program a contact of YOUR chosing, instead of the predetermined call center. Allowing you to select someone you trust more, who's closer, and who likely has much more of a vested interest in your family's' and your home's safety than some call center.

Heck, even if I am at home, should the alarm go off, and I do have a "situation" at hand if a neighbor gets the call instead of a call center, I can get backup MUCH faster...

istols

I suppose if you don't have neighbors/family you REALLY trust close by, then ,certianly Brinks is still an outfit I highly recommend. In 3 different homes, meaning 3 different installations, I've NEVER had a problem with them.

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Japle

· #14 · Sep 24, 2009

Oldjeep813, Do you have a link to that equipment?

Thanks.

brownie

· #15 · Sep 24, 2009 (Edited)

Sig229Elite.357 said:
LOL, you're right! Oh by the way the actual time that it takes Brinks to call the homeowner is closer to a full commercial break 1:30 - 2:00 minutes while ADT is rated #1 under 90 seconds :deadhorse

The one time I forgot to turn the alarm off, not counting the 45 seconds to activate the alarm on the garage door opening, they called the home phone at about 45-50 seconds. I didn't hear the land line call as I was outside the garage at the truck [ and there's no loud alarm bell installed to scare an intruder away at the house per my request ]. My cell phone rang and caller ID showed it was Brinks within another 45 seconds from the time the caller ID on the land line showed they called after I checked the timeline. Total time after the 45 seconds we're given to shut it off once the garage opens to make the 2 calls [ to the house and then my cell ] was about 90 seconds.

I purposely negated installing the alarm bell in the house to scare people off though the panel unit will tone and they'll know anyway. I don't have neighbors close enough to hear a damned bell nor are any of them home during the day to begin with.

I gave them the customer code as I ran in and shut off the alarm for them. They verified it was turned off and all was well in the world.

When I researched installing a system, ADT had more customer complaints about response time than Brinks. BTW-It's no longer Brinks, it's their new division called Broadview Security.

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patrickhenry1776

· #16 · Sep 25, 2009

Catahoulas

I'm with Buckley. I rely on my dogs. I have said it before, a catahoula can hear and smell a turtle fart 10 miles away. For fire I have just loaded the place with detectors.

Good dog will also keep an eye on granny.

jchrisf

· #17 · Sep 25, 2009

My parents use ADT and were out of the country for a few months. Had me coming over once a week to put chemicals in the pool and a neighbor lady getting their mail at the community boxes. She would come once a week and put the mail in their office. One day she was coming out the front door as I was coming in the garage... I didn't see her. When I opened the garage door to the house I thought it was strange that the alarm was not buzzing to warn me to disable it. Thought maybe she forgot to set it. She called my name and I went back outside and closed the door. Talked with her for about 5 minutes. Then went back in... went straight to the outside pool door, opened it and the alarm went off. I turned it off real quick and waited for the call a couple of minutes but it never came. Thought because I turned the alarm off so quick it didn't register. Walked back out to the garage and there was a cop walking up the driveway. Talked to him a couple of minutes, said he got the call and made sure everything was ok. He left and when I walked back inside, then ADT called and said they got alerted that the alarm was activated. The Cop was way faster at responding than ADT

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reckless01

· #18 · Sep 27, 2009

OLDJEEP813 said:
If your handy do it yourself. I had a company that was gonna install a wireless system in my house for free if my credit was good enough and I signed a 3 year contract. After I did some quick research on the internet I found the exact same products on line for about $350.00 and I even found the company they were going to use for monitoring. I could sign up directly with the monitoring company for less than $10.00 a month with only a one year contract and buy the system on line and install it myself. Just a though, as far as I know the residential alarm companies pass there monitoring off to a company that just does monitoring. If I was going to install an alarm system that's the way I'd do it, after the initial install you only hear from the local alarm company if you don't send them money.

If you don't mind can you PM or post the info? I'd be interested to know this!

jchrisf

· #19 · Sep 28, 2009

This is some great info, especially for do-it-yourself type folks. Does anyone have any recommendations on do-it-yourself security camera systems?

Lunatic

· #20 · Oct 7, 2009

I wouldn't be too concerned about one alarm company brand over the next. I suspect the response times for the central stations are going to be similar, so go with what gives you the best deal.

That being said....

You can skip the motions if your concern is grandma walking around. Definitely get contacts on all openings, and some glass break sensors as appropriate.

You might also ask if its possible to set up a motion zone to chime instead of alarm when armed, that way if grandma walks around you'll know about it.

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