Re: monotronics

["E DAWSON" <edawson@xxxxxxxx>]

"Jim" <alarminex@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:99945564-31ec-45f0-8409-a469eda3eacc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Friday, March 1, 2013 5:32:55 PM UTC-5, Roanin wrote:
> Anyone have any information on this company who is a monitoring service
> for home security systems? Quality of service, Reputation Customer service
> Thanks, R

Don't know much about them except that they are big.

My choice would be to go with a less-national monitoring company. I find
that  local monitoring companies have a better "feel" for the geography and
rapport with the local police than the larger monitoring companies who are
located half way across the country. If there are power outages, storms or
local emergencies, etc.  Also, if there's a problem, it's a lot harder to
deal with a person who's insulated from you by a thousand miles. Obviously,
if you DO go local, you want to find a company who has a good track record.
Ask some of the locals who have alarm systems installed who they use and
you'll eventually find that there are some local monitoring companies that
will pop up more often. The lower the price the more likly you're going to
have a problem .... is my rule of thumb.  I don't know if you're an end user
or an alarm company looking for a monitoring company but ..... either way my
suggestion applies.

If you're an end user looking for monitoring direct from a central station,
you may find some difficulty finding a central station that will deal with
you directly. They usually don't want to cut into the business of their
alarm installing dealers. Others just don't know what kind of problems
they're going to get from a DIY installed alarm system. They'd rather it be
installed by an alarm company who will take responsibility if their are
technical problems.

There are some central stations that advertise on line that do deal direct
with end users. Prices are usually pretty low but personally I think you're
taking chances dealing with them. But ...... ya never know.

Hi,

Monitronics installed systems have their mainboards locked up to their
central station numbers. They can be reprogrammed on all sections except the
central station phone number. It is stored on the main chip. Unless you know
their main codes to enter that section, you would need a re-dialer to send
the alarms to another central station.

If you are a user looking for monitoring for an existing system, I would
avoid them...my opinion on what I have heard from customers that were with
them over the years. Also, don't get caught signing for more than 1 year for
your existing system.

I do not agree that lower the price on monitoring means lower service.
Shoot, look at the national companies, they charge higher fees and they do
not provide higher service. A local company that you can discern that the
technician or owner is conscientious with his work is the way to go. A good
company will thoroughly check every part of your existing system and also
check every last section of the programming. Don't settle for less.