Alarm Companies

A good friend of mine is considering getting an alarm system hooked up in his house, I have no experience with this and would like to hear from others who do. Is there a company out there that shines above the rest? Is the monthly fee worth it. Does anyone show up in a reasonable amount of time when the alarm goes off? Is there such a thing out there as just an alarm system that could be hooked up that would make a hell of a lot of noise to simply scare off an intruder without sending a call to an alarm company, in other words an alarm system without the monthly fee?

We use SimpliSafe here at the studio. We’ve had two false alarms. The first time an auger that was leaning against a wall in the studio fell over after hours and tripped one of the motion sensors. I got a notification on my cell that an alarm had been triggered. Simplisafe called me on my cell within seconds to verify the alarm was legit. I wasn’t at the location so I assumed it was. Cops were on location within minutes. The auger is currently serving hard time at a separate storage facility.

The second time our maintenance man opened our front door before business hours and forgot the PIN to disarm the system. Same deal. I got a notification on my cell that an alarm had been triggered. Simplisafe called me on my cell within seconds to verify the alarm was legit. I wasn’t at the location so I assumed it was. Cops were on location within minutes. The maintenance man had some ‘splaining to do!

I found the system we use from SimpliSafe to be very inexpensive and easy to install and the security provided has been top notch. We have glass break, motion and door open sensors on every door / near all points of entry and the entire system, with extra sirens, cost around $700. Installation took 30 minutes. Each of my employees has their own unique PIN to arm / disarm the system and I receive a text any time the system is armed / disarmed that includes the PIN used to do so which allows me to keep track of who is coming or going when I’m not at the studio.

We have ADT at home for the last eight years. It costs us somewhere in the forty dollars a month range, but I think it’s worth it. If the alarms trips, it’s about twenty seconds before a live person is asking for a password from the alarm panel. Then phone calls go out to the homeowner and the police. Police get there pretty quickly. The thieves may be able to get a few things, but at least they won’t be able to take their time.

We have the Iris home automation system from Lowes. Security is one function, so there is an “alarm system” component to it. You don’t need to pay a monthly subscription, but doing so gets you advanced features.

You can add almost every conceivable security feature to the Iris system. We have motion detectors, door-opening detectors, and a whole-house glass breakage detector.

There isn’t a monitoring service like ADP where a real person takes actions based on an alarm. In Iris you can specify a list of people who get calls/texts when an alarm goes off and then they must respond.

For the cost, I think it’s great. I also like the automation features like the ability to open a door lock to let a repair guy in to look at the dishwasher or I can give a delivery person a one-time-use code to open the garage door to put a package inside. When we are away, the system turns on/off lights, and I can monitor to make sure the cat sitter comes ever day to check on the cat.

Grouse

Grouse

Thanks for all the replies guys, some good info here. Here is one more suggestion that my friend revived from a co-worker.

I bought a video security system the top one at Best Buy and have been very happy with it. It sits inside my house looking out the front window toward my front yard/door. You’ll need a wireless network and smart phone or computer to see the video. Multiple cameras can be set up around your house. They even make models that can be used outdoors if your wireless signal is strong enough.

The web app is free and there’s no monthly service charge.

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