Comments on: 10 Reasons why most Home Alarms are Useless… (and what you should do about it)

By: mjagger

mjagger — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 20:44:42 +0000

Sorry… we only offer guaranteed response to homes West of Oak Street in Vancouver and commercial properties West of Cambie and Downtown. (for now)

By: Ped O'bere

Ped O'bere — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 03:22:46 +0000

Wow, you guys are really really good… I have houses in Richmond, Coquitlam, Burnaby, Langley and Mission, can you hook me up with really fast really accurate response? thanks!!!

By: mjagger

mjagger — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 23:07:59 +0000

@Nathan : While it’s obvious that you work for Alarmforce (given the link you included in your comment)… it’s also obvious that you either didn’t actually read the post I wrote or just don’t get it.

Without question, I feel that Alarmforce is the very worst example of how bad the alarm industry can get. Two-way voice does nothing to improve security… it’s simply an alternative way to phone the premises to attempt to verify an alarm. A speaker phone vs. a regular handset phone. Equally ineffective.

Alarmforce could stand on its own as the 11th reason why most home alarms are useless. The saddest part of the Alarmforce story is that they prey on people who really can’t afford to be duped… but do it anyways. The only reason to have a monitored alarm is to generate an immediate response. Two-way voice does nothing to speed up response or improve security.

By: nathan

nathan — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 06:25:46 +0000

That’s why when i settled for a home security system i chose an two way wireless alarm system

By: Sam Pfeifle

Sam Pfeifle — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:26:15 +0000

Bovey,
I just don’t see self-monitored video systems replacing central stations. If I’m in the middle of a meeting in California, and my iPhone tells me there’s someone in my house in Maine and shows me video of it, what am I going to do about it? I’d much rather have a monitoring firm looking at the video, determining a course of action, and dealing with the situation. Maybe I’d like to be consulted, and I’m sure I’d like to have the video pushed to me, but without a third-party to deal with the situation, I don’t think it’s particularly useful.

By: Bovey King

Bovey King — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 21:07:10 +0000

It is so true. About 3 million households in US have security device installed but not monitored by any professional service, just like mine.

12%-15% of households with professional monitoring service will switch to self monitoring service in next 3-5 years in US.

Another tendency is DIY monitoring with IP video Surveillance system with remote storage and monitoring on demand.

If IP Video surveillance can be prevailing like today’s audible security service, it actually can save people’s life, lot of tragedies can be avoided.

By: Seth

Seth — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:19:35 +0000

Great post! People rarely, if ever, talk about the uselessness of an alarm system and what you can do to make it useful! Are the all in one systems ever a good option? And if so, for who? What about the alarm.com monitoring? From what I have found, people blindly trust that the alarm company has a 24 hour eye on their house and if something happens the cops will be there with guns pulled in 27 seconds. Salesmen sell the fact that two-way voice will get the cops there fast, but it is all up to them and how they respond, no one can guarantee that fact. I think it is really a disservice that a lot of companies sell the police response and the police themselves get no kickback from the sales. Most companies that aren’t located permanently in the community don’t even fund the local taxes, so, really it is kind of a shame.

Great post though! Keep it up!