Re: another newbie, what to do with this Brinks alarm system?

[J. <jsloud2001<removeme>@netscape.net>]

A burglar alarm does not guarantee a family's safety.  That's a
terrible perception that depends on the public's misinformed ideas
about how residential burglar alarm systems work and the effectiveness
of police agencies that usually despise the alarm companies who waste
police resources with a 90% false alarm rate.  Your not protecting
your family with a $30 a month burglar alarm system.  All you're doing
is giving yourself a false sense of security.  Almost all residential
alarm signals are false alarms.  The vast majority of alarm company
generated police dispatches are for false alarms.  Alarm calls receive
the lowest police dispatch priority.  Some jurisdictions have stopped
responding to alarm signals at all.  Others charge a permitting fee
and a steep false alarm penalty.   You can debate the reasons for this
and who's fault it is, but the fact remains, this industry depends on
a misguided public perception of mysterious, circling 1's and 0's that
protect families with magical powers and instantaneous response from
concerned law enforcement.  This is what is shown on television
commercials and what the alarm salesmen tell the unsuspecting public.

The good news is that there is pressure on the industry to fix this.
There are emerging technologies such as video analytics that could
replace traditional security systems with much more reliable
technology.  The false alarm penalties and third party alarm response
laws will force the trunkslammers and zero down marketers to rethink
their strategies.  My guess is that we'll see the most radical shift
that we've ever experiences in this industry within the next 5 to 10
years.  With IT companies like IBM and Cisco wanted part of the
security integration market, it's just a matter of time before someone
comes alaong and does it better that what we have right now.  It's
already started in the high end goverment/ industrial markets.

J.

On 3 Nov 2006 15:06:36 -0800, "Everywhere Man" <alarminstall@xxxxxxx>
wrote:
.
>All of the Brinks negatives aside look at what this guy is saying. He
>lives in a nice neighborhood, so the house wasn't cheap, he's having a
>hard time justifying $27 a month for family safety, and he's making the
>world aware of this on his $1000.00 computer which accesses the
>internet for probably $25 a month.
>Talk about having fucked up priorities.
>
>
>Crash Gordon wrote:
>> Basically you throw out the alarm panel and the keypads and buy something
>> else you can install your self. Everything else should be reusable although
>> you might have to look for buried resistors if they put them at the end of
>> the line and remove them.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> <todd@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:843b90jvbk.fsf@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>> |
>> | Hello,
>> |
>> | I'm new here as well, and have looked for a FAQ for the group and came
>> | up empty, and I hope my question isn't too basic!
>> |
>> | I've recently moved into a home that has a Brinks alarm system
>> | installed, looks to have been installed in 2004.  We opted not to
>> | continue the rather pricey monthly monitoring service given the
>> | neighborhood, and the proportion of time we spend at home.  (The prior
>> | owners I'm told were working out of the country and had it installed
>> | due to their absence).
>> |
>> | Anyway, we have all this hardware, wired door and window sensors,
>> | other sensors labeled as "PIR" devices (passive infrared if my
>> | research is to believed?) inside the control box that I assume are the
>> | motion detectors I see up on the walls of various locations in the
>> | house.  I'm thinking there's got to be a way to put all these goodies
>> | to use with a do it yourself sort of setup that maybe could leverage
>> | an internet or phone connection to call my cell phone in case of
>> | trouble.
>> |
>> | The main box of the alarm has a circuit board that's about 8x4" with
>> | no real identifying marks on it.  I would have to assume I'd have to
>> | get a new controller board for the DIY system and then just re-use all
>> | the existing sensors?
>> |
>> | Anyone with experience doing the same?
>> |
>> | Thanks for any insight or advice, or a pointer to some good jumpstart
>> | resources for reading/research.
>> |
>> | Best Regards,
>> | Todd