Home Security Systems, Help Needed

[tucking fypo]

I'm looking for help on home security systems when we move into our new house in about 45 days. The more I read the reviews on them, the more unsure I am about the very best ones out there. Cost is somewhat of an issue but not as much as reliability and simplicity.

Any suggestions are welcome.

[Desnudo]

sharks with lasers

[CU Tiger]

What specifically are our questions?

We installed for 2 major providers as well as had our own local company before I sold my home tech business. I have probably been involved with somewhere around 10,000 home security system installs.

2 way voice is very nice, but depending on your are might not make a huge difference in response time, then again in some areas it triggers level 3 response.

After that, it comes down to cute, cool gadgets to be honest. Regardless of what equipment or monitoring you go with the system will only be as good as the design and installation.

[tucking fypo]

Frikkin' lasers, desnudo.

Specifics:
1. Would you recommend sensors for windows/broken glass or is that a standard feature for most security systems?

2. What company offers the the best interactive features?

3. What companies offer paying on a monthly basis instead of signing a contract?

4. I'm sure there are preset packages most companies offer. Which companies let you put together a package of services you want?

5. What are some cool gadgets to have?

[lordscarlet]

I would recommend not getting ADT. They are far and away more expensive than a lot of the alternatives out there (such as alarm.com)

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by tucking fypo

Frikkin' lasers, desnudo.

Specifics:
1. Would you recommend sensors for windows/broken glass or is that a standard feature for most security systems?

2. What company offers the the best interactive features?

3. What companies offer paying on a monthly basis instead of signing a contract?

4. I'm sure there are preset packages most companies offer. Which companies let you put together a package of services you want?

5. What are some cool gadgets to have?

1. This question comes down to design theory. This will become a balance of cost versus performance versus peace of mind/paranoia. I will answer this way, my personal house (and any future homes I build) has a sensor on every door and every window on the first 2 floors. (My 2nd floor, 3rd counting the basement, is over 60 foot off the ground in the back, Ill take my chances there). This serves 2 benefits for me, the less important one is it keeps teenage kids from getting out as much as it keeps bad guys from getting in. More importantly, if you detect someone before they are inside you really don't care what they do once they are inside.

I like glass break sensors, as MOST break ins are smash grab style. However having installed hundreds if not thousands of the things, I have yet to find one that I was both confident that it would catch every glass break and not cause false alarms. I erred on the side of less false alarms and used them as a back up to my window sensors. Most break inss Ive been in to repair alarms, they broke the glass then reached in and opened the window.

I hate motion sensors because they are the only piece of security equipment that causes you to alter the way you live in your house, they also cause 25x more false alarms then the next most common false alarm.

That said if budget is a primary concern I can cover a large amount of area at a very low cost using motion sensors. No other piece of equipment comes close to sq ft coverage per dollar as the motion sensor. The other problem is once it goes off someone is INSIDE your home.

2. Every company out there is going to have access to the same equipment, the larger companies are going to play it safer and stay away from bleeding edge products.

3. You have to understand the economics of the industry to understand this answer. I averaged a $720 creation cost on every account. No one wants to pay $500+ for a security system install (well very few do) as a result you end up with a contract that allows the installer to make his money back ($30 x 36 months =???) In other words if you have a quality system with quality equipment expect to either pay more up front or more per month or be tied to a longer contract.

BTW my contract had a clause that you either had to sell the nbalance of the monitoring during the closing of the home or pay off the balance with a lien rider, know what you are signing.

All that said, if you can buy the equipment and install it yourself, you can get monitoring cheap as hell. For example, I never operated my own monitoring station, I sub contracted that out. I paid literally .99/month per account for monitoring. Many of my older customers were paying $20/month, my newest ones when I sold out was $35-38/month...thats why I insisted on keeping 1,000 accounts through their final termination (including any renewals I could negotiate) as part of the sale. The RMR is fantastic.

One more note on this point, the cheap equipment you see online is either refurb, stolen or so cheap it will false frequently, get a few falses and expect the police to know your house well and respond very slowly, sucks but it happens.

4. Every company out there will let you break their package and build your own.

5. Cool gadgets
- I would insist on a monitored smoke detector, I can identify 13 houses my alarm system saved from burning down when the owner was away and a fire started...
- The new MyTouch systems that have smart phone apps are nice, and let you SEE if the alarm is armed even when you are not home.
- Stay away from integrated light and HVAC controls...they hurt reliability, and create problems.

hrmmm...

what area are you in (PM if you prefer) I may know someone in your area

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

I would recommend not getting ADT. They are far and away more expensive than a lot of the alternatives out there (such as alarm.com)

yeah ADT sucks.
No way would I ever do business with them.
I used to recommend Brinks among the national players, but ADT bought them out (changed the name to broadview then killed it off)..anytime #1 buys #2 it is not good for the consumer.