Re: Looking for New Monitoring Company -- Problem with Next Alarm

[Jack <country1st@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 4/28/2012 6:12 AM, tourman wrote:
> On Apr 27, 6:50 pm, Jack <country...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> I have been a satisfied Nextalarm customer for several years, but just
>> recently they have told me that false alarms for panic alerts have to be
>> dispatched immediately to the police. This has caused me to have to pay
>> over the past two months a total of 328.00 to my local city because of
>> false alarms.
>>
>> The most frequent false alarm I have is when the keyfob is accidentally
>> actuated and this creates a panic alert. Up to 6 months ago, they would
>> call my house first to confirm it was a false alarm and that would be
>> the end of it. No police would be dispatched. However, during the past 6
>> months I have had 3 false alarms and the city only gives you two false
>> alarms and anything over two will generate a 100.00 charge.
>>
>> Just this Monday on my way out the door with my two suitcases, I
>> accidentally hit my keyfob panic button and got a call within 30 seconds
>> from Nextalarm. My wife confirmed that it was a false alarm and that
>> there was no need to dispatch the police. Well 5 minutes later the
>> police are rolling up to my address and I had to explain that it was a
>> false alarm. Two days later I get a letter from the city for another
>> 100.00.
>>
>> I obviously can't continue with this existing setup. My contact sheet
>> specifically states to call my house number, my wife's cell and then my
>> cell phone number BEFORE any police are dispatched and this setup has
>> worked successfully for the past several years. However, Nextalarm says
>> their policy has been changed to mandate contacting the police for any
>> panic alarms, regardless to whether it was a false alarm.
>>
>> The guy I've been working with wants to convert my panic alarm signals
>> to a burglar type and this may get around the mandate of contacting the
>> police. Can someone recommend a monitoring company for the Ademco Lynx-R
>> panel that will allow my panic alarms to be triaged (by calling my
>> contact list) BEFORE the police department is called? I have a phone
>> line directly connected to the panel.
>
> RHC: Sir, it seems to me rather than abandoning your existing dealer,
> why don't you work with him further to solve the problem. There is
> something basically wrong with a panic pendant design wise that can be
> so easily triggered. I don't know the particular Ademco panic device
> in question, but some other makes I am familiar with are shielded from
> accidental activation, and most devices take a 3 second push of the
> button in order to activate - pretty hard to do accidentally.
>
> As I know it, most monitoring companies take pretty much the same
> approach to manual panic alarms; these can be life threatening
> situations and and are normally handled as such. Why do you wish to
> totally abandon this company when the problem is in the panic alarm,
> not the response, and perhaps not the alarm company either.
>
> Don't " throw the baby out with the bathwater" so to speak; fix the
> problem !!

I have a standard 5804 Ademco keyfob. I have four in the house. I
recognize that the panic alarm did not trip itself. I have no one to
blame but myself. There in lies the problem. There can be false alerts
to a panic alarm and as a consequence the customer should have an option
to NOT dispatch the police.

If the alarm companies want me to sign a waiver indemnifying them of any
liability, then I am willing to sign such a document. I should have the
option to give my password when the dispatch center calls. If I don't
give the right password then the police should be dispatched. This is
not rocket science.