avoiding being "locked out"

[powercat@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Greetings I know a commercial alarm system installer who moonlights on
residential set-ups.  Basically I do the unpleasant part (running the
wiring) and he does the programming and is paid appropriately for that
task.  What he does not do is sell alarm monitoring to avoid a conflict
with his "real" employer.

This all sounds very fair to me.  He does say "pick an alarm monitoring
company that won't "lock out" your panel and prevent you from switching
later".

In short how do you know if a company is engaged in that practice
(obviously I can ask).  This sounds very shady to me especially if I
own the equipment.

Thanks for any comments.