Alarm monitoring company

[TUalum0982]

I am in the process of closing on my house at the end of this month.  I have the home already pre-wired for an alarm system, I am wondering if anyone has any experience with TNT Security Services.  Its a local company off of 51st and I44.  They are by far the cheapest I have come across quoting $26.99 a month for monitoring service through our cell phones rather then the traditional land line?

have any recommendations? companies I should stay away from?

Thanks!

[sgrizzle]

TNT is completely awesome. I use them and everyone I know with a monitored alarm uses them and loves them. They are local owned, local monitored, and bend over backwards to stay affordable. They install alarm systems for basically cost and they don't do that "free alarm with 8 year contract" thing.

[breitee]

We use TNT as well. Can't say enough good things about them. They are great! ADT sucks.

[sgrizzle]

Another story to share with TNT. I had a false alarm while I was out of town when a hallway door that wasn't closed all the way swung open when the A/C kicked on. TNT called me, discussed my options and even called a friend of mine on the phone and walked him through looking for the cause and resetting my alarm system.

I've had a handful of other false alarms due to forgetting to disarm it. My phone was usually ringing by the time I got the alarm reset.

[TeeDub]

Stay away from Guardian.   Great company as long as you are a client.  

Ever want to leave or discontinue service?   Not gonna happen without a penalty.   Long story short...  Wife signed up before we were married.    somewhere in the fine print it says that they can automatically renew your contract for another year if you don't give them 30 days notice in writing before the auto-renewal date.

Now I make sure she reads all the fine print.   (And disputed the charges with my bank after they kept taking the monthly payments out even after we canceled.)

[patric]

Alarm Relay is $8.95/month if you need another option.

http://monitoring.homesecuritystore.com/

[TUalum0982]

I will be sure to check into the ones mentioned above.  Thanks for the replies guys/gals.  I did like the fact that wireles monitoring through my cell phone was only 26.99 a month with TNT vs 47.99(on avg) through any other company.

[sgrizzle]

quote:Originally posted by inteller

quote:Originally posted by TUalum0982

I will be sure to check into the ones mentioned above.  Thanks for the replies guys/gals.  I did like the fact that wireles monitoring through my cell phone was only 26.99 a month with TNT vs 47.99(on avg) through any other company.

uh, what do you do when you take your cell phone with you?

It's not through his cell phone, what he meant to say is that it is through cell towers. They have a cellphone module for alarms.

[HazMatCFO]

quote:Originally posted by inteller

Security Alarms Co of Muscogee.  They are like $10 a month if you pay in advance.

Good service, based on a few false alarms that i've created they have a faster response time than places like ADT.  They've called my land line and two cells faster than ADT could get around to just the landline.

I had a terrible experience with Security Alarms at my business and stopped using immediately. I found out the hard way you get what you pay for and lucky for me it didn't turn out to be a bigger problem.  

I now use Advanced Alarms and very happy about all aspects of their service. AA costs more, but in my opinion, their service is better in all aspects than Security Alarms.

[joebaloney]

We just had our alarm fixed by Guardian. While the tech was here I asked how hard it was to program the alarm so that it just rings our cell phone when the alarm is tripped. He said it was easy...at least for the hardware we have (a DSC PC1832 system). When the alarm is tripped, it can call our cell phone and give us one, two, or three (etc.) beeps to indicate which zone had been violated.

After our contract runs out, we might cancel the paid monitoring and just have our system call our cell phone when the alarm is tripped. I'd rather call 911 myself than have the alarm company contact the police anyway. The response time is too slow to make it worthwhile. Once, a contractor accidentally tripped the panic button on our system when we weren't home. When the police came, the contractor just told the officer what happened and the officer never questioned his story.

If you do use Guardian, you might be able to negotiate a lower rate. We had been their customer for a couple of years and we told them we were going to cancel and switch to Security Systems who advertises $10/month in the yellow pages. Guardian lowered our montly rate to $9.99 after that. It is true, however, that the contract renews automatically, so the *only* time you can cancel is on your contract anniversary -- and you have to do it in writing a month in advance.

[patric]

quote:Originally posted by joebaloney

After our contract runs out, we might cancel the paid monitoring and just have our system call our cell phone when the alarm is tripped.

Unscrupulous monitoring companies may use a feature on your alarm panel known as "installer lockout" which will prevent you or a competing  company from changing the old company's programming.

Sometimes the easiest route is to order a new panel, but the DSC Power 1832 control you have is one of the newest, state-of-the-art systems and you shouldnt have to tolerate a monitoring company holding it hostage.

If your old alarm company locked you out of your own property, and wont restore it at no charge please report them to the BBB.

[EricP]

Another satisfied TNT user here, they have been nice and responsive and the price is great. The install was so cheap and the house already had several sensors that I was able to install a couple extra window sensors for free.

[TUalum0982]

quote:Originally posted by EricP

Another satisfied TNT user here, they have been nice and responsive and the price is great. The install was so cheap and the house already had several sensors that I was able to install a couple extra window sensors for free.

They want 600 dollars for the system and 26.99 for the wireless monitoring.  I already paid 200 for the house to be prewired for the alarm.  600 seems somewhat high to me, but none the less I will go with them.

Thanks for the reply!

[sgrizzle]

quote:Originally posted by TUalum0982

quote:Originally posted by EricP

Another satisfied TNT user here, they have been nice and responsive and the price is great. The install was so cheap and the house already had several sensors that I was able to install a couple extra window sensors for free.

They want 600 dollars for the system and 26.99 for the wireless monitoring.  I already paid 200 for the house to be prewired for the alarm.  600 seems somewhat high to me, but none the less I will go with them.

Thanks for the reply!

Depends what all you're getting. I paid almost that and I have pretty much the minimal system.

[TUalum0982]

quote:Originally posted by sgrizzle

quote:Originally posted by TUalum0982

quote:Originally posted by EricP

Another satisfied TNT user here, they have been nice and responsive and the price is great. The install was so cheap and the house already had several sensors that I was able to install a couple extra window sensors for free.

They want 600 dollars for the system and 26.99 for the wireless monitoring.  I already paid 200 for the house to be prewired for the alarm.  600 seems somewhat high to me, but none the less I will go with them.

Thanks for the reply!

Depends what all you're getting. I paid almost that and I have pretty much the minimal system.

well like I mentioned earlier, it has the capability of using a wireless signal instead of a land line, 1 motion senser, all the doors/windows (22) total with sensors, 2 keypads and 2 keychain remotes to arm/disarm the alarm and open the garage door as well.  I drive a different car every 3-5 days from work I would most definitely lose a remote that attaches to the visor.  

Thanks for the help