What questions should I ask an alarm company before having an alarm installed?
December 28, 2009 by
Filed under american alarm company
I am getting 4 estimates for an alarm installation and wondered what questions I should ask. Thanks for any suggestions.
This is for a home alarm
Read these two sites, 20 minutes spent on these two threads will save you a lot of money and frustration…
Personally, I would purchase the parts online from ebay, then get an installer locally, finally get monitoring from nextalarm. This is not the easiest solution, but it is the most cost effective. Spend time reading the two threads to get an idea of what you are getting into and how to ask good questions.
What does the basic installation include before they start tacking on extra charges (number of detector stations)? How much is each additional station?
Do they charge extra for wireless detectors (as opposed to hard wired)?
Do they have cell phone back up for the reporting unit and how much extra is that?
How long is the installation and installed equipment warranted for?
How much is the monthly monitoring fee?
Basically, just find out what they’re offering you and how much the little “extras” cost. Then compare what you get with each company. You’ll actually learn a lot after the first estimate.
We have alarm systems for many years though different moves and new builds. We have a system by the main entry door which is usually inside the garage door entrance and one in our bedroom. The system includes automatic responses to fire, police and forced entry and our newest system is hooked directly to the fire department so even if we aren’t here the fire department will respond. We did pay extra for that wiring and get a discount with our home insurance because of it. There isn’t much you have to ask beyond these options. Systems are pretty much the same. Your options are what your are willing to pay for and add on. Alarm systems are not all that complicated. Their services are pretty basic. Any of the companys will probably work as long as you ask the right questions. Do you need motion detectors, how may floors do you wish security windows and doors on, how many units do you need, and what services do you wish to add for extra security? it’s pretty simple. They all offer the same services and the extras are going to be the same no matter who you choose.
You need to know how long the monitoring contract is that you will be signing into because they range from no contract at all to three years usually. You cannot terminate these kinds of contracts without having to pay off the contract in full.
Here are some other common things i should make you aware of:
If a company that installs alarms gets paid hourly they will do a better quality installation than a company that pays their technicians a flat rate per installation. Having an installer that gets paid hourly is going to make for less service calls needed to fix stupid mistakes that a per job guy will just slap onto your wall to get to his next job.
If you are concerned about your phone line being cut, thus preventing alarm signals to be sent to the monitoring station, (this only happens 2 percent of the time during a break-in) ask your installer about a cellular backup that sends your alarm signals wirelessly using cell towers.
if you have any more alarm questions, i can answer them, email me.