Re: Some cautions for "Newbies"

["Everywhere Man" <alarminstall@xxxxxxx>]

Nomen Nescio wrote:
> Everywhere Man said:
>
> >It's my opinion that cell backup here, given the high percentage of
> >times you can't find a signal, is worthless. Now with the changes
> >coming in 2008 regarding the towers it has become even less appealing
> >to offer.
> >What's it like in your area?
>
> Those sonsofbitches can't even make my phone work as well as it should, so
> I'm not real confident in the ability of the cellphone companies to provide
> reliable alarm service.  I share your problems with getting adequate signal
> strength consistently. <

We have dead zones galore out here. I feel 99.9% of the time I'd be
hosing the client by selling them backup.

>
> Private radio networks are a better way to go, but sometimes those radios
> are a pain in the ass, too. <

Brinks recently approved the use of radio backup but I'd like to see it
in the field for a year before I sell one. I'm not someone who installs
the newest gizmo offered just for the sake of a buck. I want to know
that bastard works before I put my name on any contract with that
included.

>
> I'd be more concerned about NYC, though.  It's long been known for skilled
> attacks on alarm systems (though no offense, that may not be a major worry
> for the average Brinks customer). <

No offense whatsoever. The average Brinks client isn't exactly someone
you will see portrayed in Ocean's Thirteen so there isn't much concern
about someone trying to circumvent the system. My belief is that if Joe
Crook thinks you have an alarm he will break into the neighbor's house,
but fire & medical emergencies happen anywhere they want, system or no
system, so I push residential fire protection more than anything.
I also stay clear of commercial fire because I don't know my ass from a
hole in the ground when it comes to those systems. Sure I can read the
manuals, and I even know the codes, but it's too much of a risk to
attempt it. I only have to be wrong once to cost someone dearly so I
stick to resi fire, and refer commercial prospects to the guys that do
it day in and day out. I'll never put ego ahead of my client's safety,
nor do I take chances when it comes to protecting them. By same token I
wouldn't want a commercial fire guy install my burglar alarm system.

>  I will always remember how back in the
> mid-1970s, burglars whacked the main cables leading into Holmes' NYC
> central station.  Ten thousand direct wire systems went off all at once,
> guess which one was actually being robbed. <

The ever so lovely and popular Holmes. Every so often I run across
older guys who worked for them in Long Island. Not one of them seemed
like shoemakers. All very intelligent guys who think wireless is best
left for TV remotes.They all say Holmes was a pretty classy outfit
until ADT purchased them.