Re: Need to cut through the BS on Alarm monitoring costs

["doug" <vssdoug@xxxxxxxxx>]

"blueman" <NOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:m2y5sm18v7.fsf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>I am looking for honest, unbiased, unemotional answers to this
> question. (I know it's Usenet, but one can always hope...)
>
> I currently have a fire & burglary monitoring policy with the local
> dominant alarm company. I own the equipment and I am responsible for
> service charges to fix the equipment.
>
> They charge me $36/month for straight Internet monitoring.
>
> National online monitoring companies offer seemingly the same service
> for $8.95/month. Or 1/4 the cost.
>
> My high-priced local company claims:
> - They are big (20,000 customers) - but the national competitor claims
>  40,000 customers
>
> - Their service center is "local" -- but it's really halfway across the
>  state so does that really mean anything in the day of the Internet
>
> - They are a "security company" vs. competitors being "monitoring"
>  companies. Though not sure what that means or why I care
>
> - They have a 5-star UL-listed center - but the national competitor
>  claims to be UL-listed and it's not clear what 5-stars means and who
>  even grants such certification. Sounds like marketing hype.
>
> - They have 30-second average response time -- but competitor claims the
>  same
>
> - They say they have a better BBB track record than big national
>  competitors - but the competitor claims an A+ BBB rating which can't
>  be too bad
>
> The bottom line is that I can't see one compelling reason to pay 4 times
> the competitor rate for what seems to be a commodity service.
>
> - I live in a very safe, low crime neighborhood.
>
> - I primarily pay for the monitoring to get the insurance break.
>
> - I don't stay up nights worrying about fires or burglaries and in any
>  case I still have the in-house alarm to warn me of a fire and scare
>  off amateur burgalers.
>
> - I am technically adept and have no problem servicing and programming
>  my system
>
> Seems like worst case perhaps the response time will be a few seconds
> longer in some rare cases or maybe there is a small chance they will
> make a mistake -- but the point is that there are so many other failure
> points in a security system and we are talking about rare events (fire,
> burglary) anyway.
>
> So, why pay 4 times as much????


The bottom line is that alarm monitoring service is pretty much a commodity
nowadays. The reality is there is little difference in the monitoring
service if you pay $10 or $30 per month, the issues may come if you need
maintenance or repair service.

We no longer provide service to fire or burglar alarm systems that we don't
monitor and most service companies won't provide repair service to any
system they don't monitor, or if they do then they charge a premium price
for the service and don't attach any priority to it.

So, if you can handle the repair/service in-house, or are prepared to pay a
premium for repair service and save a couple of hundred per year on
monitoring, then take the lower cost monitoring, but be prepared to pay
substantially more for repair service if and when it is required.

We charge $35 a month for fire alarm monitoring and make no excuses for not
being the lowest price, do you get better monitoring service with us than a
$10 per month company, probably not. What you get is a prompt, reliable
response when you need service or repair, something you are unlikely to get
with the lower priced monitoring service

Doug