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

["E DAWSON" <edawson@xxxxxxxx>]

"Jack" <country1st@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:4F9C9435.3010100@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> 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.

You could ask your alarm company to reprogram your keyfob zone definition to
a burglary, but then again it would not be a 'panic' alarm. I certainly
would not want to give one of those to my wife. A panic alarm is meant as an
instant dispatch; for the likes of me, I am surprised that your present
company just figured out now that they needed to dispatch immediately.

Additionally, your present alarm company could alter the contact id coding
at the central station so that when that signal comes in at that particular
zone, it would override to specific instructions. Not hard to do if you know
what you are doing. As a guy, I do have a keyfob with a panic button, but it
stays in my ashtray in my vehicle. I use it only to turn my system on and
off. Also, there are aftermarket keyfobs that are much more sophisticated
that the ademco. We use Secure Wireless where you have to actually press 2
buttons at once to activate a panic alarm. They do work with ademco
Honeywell panels such as vista panels, not with a Lynx system. We also do
not use Lynx or any other similar system; we do not consider a
self-contained system to be a true security system. One good whack to the
system with a hammer during the entrance time and voila, no communication,
no siren, and no dispatch. And no, I am not trying to get you as a customer;
just trying to give you some information.