Dropping Your Alarm Monitoring
Would you purchase a guard dog that doesn’t bark?
That’s a silly question, I know, but it does illustrate what a home security system is without being monitored. As an alarm dealer, I’ve noticed a growing trend of home owners opting out of this important 24/7 service. For an alarm company that’s a disturbing trend, yet it’s understandable.
Reasons to Drop Monitoring
There are valid reasons why people have discontinued their alarm monitoring service. First and foremost is the economy. Family budgets are what they are and decisions have to be made on cutting back on expenses. Alarm monitoring service is often one of the items on the chopping block.
False alarm fines are another cause, especially for those trying to get by on a tight budget. Consider what cutting $75, 125 or more out of your weekly grocery budget would do, and it easily understood why people decide to drop monitoring altogether after being assessed a fine like that.
And then there is the contract that many alarm companies trap their customers. When the warm glow of a great deal has worn off and the monthly payment grinds on, and on, and on, many are ready to jump ship when the term of the contract is up.
As an alarm dealer, I am very aware of the situation – don’t like it – but understand it. You see, monitored alarm customers are the ‘holy grail’ to an alarm company. It is the reoccurring income that keeps the company ship afloat.
Do-It-Yourself
With that in mind, it might surprise you when I say, “There is a way, for you to monitor your existing home security system yourself and give your guard dog back its bark.” To learn more, go to: www.diy-monitoring.com.
Geoff Hoffman
8:09 am on Sunday, August 26, 2012
Tricky little sales pitch Mr. Kimball. Kudos! Make it sound like you're giving secrets to "do it yourself" but you're just trying to sell a circuit board the customer would install then they'd pay you a monthly service fee.
Adam Peters
10:40 pm on Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Check out PhantomLink if you want a truly free alarm monitoring solution. Not as many bells and whistles as this guy's product, but its an open-source project, so all the circuit schematics and source code are there for you to use. And you get web access and notifications for free.
Geoff Hoffman
3:24 pm on Thursday, August 30, 2012
Mr. Peters, how does your company benefit from the PhantomLink. Other than you are the owner of PhantomLink and it's parent PhantomDataServices? Is it off of advertising you send to your registered users? Or are you simply hoping to drive business to your web design company? Or your NoNovice keyword analysis company?
Your website's TOS state "You understand and agree that the Service may include communications from Phantom Data Services. These communications are considered part of the Service, and You will not be able to opt out of receiving them without cancelling your use of the Service and access to the Website."
Adam Peters
8:58 pm on Thursday, August 30, 2012
Geoff, I appreciate your skepticism. PhantomLink serves as a pet project to help me develop new ideas for web integration technologies. But as anyone can see, the project is truly free. Complete circuit schematics and source code are all there for anyone to use. As for the terms of service you cite, good catch. That clause is leftover legal boilerplate from another TOS I used, and it has been removed.
Mildred Roberts
12:41 am on Friday, August 31, 2012
If you drop central station monitoring, you are legally obligated to remove the yard signs. Good luck with that.