Alarm monitoring company

[sgrizzle]

I think Guardian Security Systems is also local, and headquarted here in Tulsa at 2448 East 81st Street.

Guardian is based in OKC. Tulsa is a sales/service office.

[TURobY]

Guardian is based in OKC. Tulsa is a sales/service office.

Weird, since their webpage (http://www.csg-guardian.com/) says "Our home office is located in Tulsa, Oklahoma".

[sgrizzle]

Weird, since their webpage (http://www.csg-guardian.com/) says "Our home office is located in Tulsa, Oklahoma".

Better Business Bureau lists their office as OKC and their VP of sales has a 405 area code number. That's what I was going off of.

[allspunout]

I heard TNT sold out to a company located outside of Oklahoma and will be moving the monitoring away from Tulsa.  Sorry for lack of details.  Can anyone confirm?

[Gaspar]

There's a monitoring company in Minneapolis, MN that has taken a ton of the monitoring contracts.  They have massive complex with redundant server systems, multiple fiber connections and a 99.9% uptime rating.  They charge local companies between $4 - $6 a month wholesale to monitor each contract.  Most monitoring companies can't compete with that.

I know several around the state that use them.

[patric]

There's a monitoring company in Minneapolis, MN that has taken a ton of the monitoring contracts.  They have massive complex with redundant server systems, multiple fiber connections and a 99.9% uptime rating.  They charge local companies between $4 - $6 a month wholesale to monitor each contract.  Most monitoring companies can't compete with that.

They dont deal with individual accounts but rather with local alarm installers (that dont actually do thier own monitoring but act as middlemen and mark up $$).
They can pretty much monitor anything, DSC, Honeywell, etc. since the communicator protocols are universal.

[Townsend]

TNT still the company to go with in everyone's opinion?

Thanks for any advice.

[patric]

TNT still the company to go with in everyone's opinion?
Thanks for any advice.

That depends.  Do you want just monitoring, or someone to come out and work on your system?

If it's just monitoring, I would go with one of the dedicated monitoring companies with 800 numbers or IP.

[patric]

Probably not the best endorsement of a local alarm company:

http://www.newson6.com/story/15177403/tulsa-burglars-used-new-twist-in-home-break-in

Burglars killed power at the meter, but instead of the alarm sending a trouble signal to the monitoring company it apparently remained silent due to the battery being allowed to have run down. 
Low battery is one of those things alarm companies monitor, so either it was repeatedly ignored or there was an unreported equipment failure. 

[bobbie]

I heard TNT sold out to a company located outside of Oklahoma and will be moving the monitoring away from Tulsa.  Sorry for lack of details.  Can anyone confirm?

Yes, TNT is now located in Texas, I believe San Antonio. All monitoring is done in Texas. The guy that started it, Tim Carpenter, faked his own death in Arkansas... interesting story. He started TNT here in Okla, was a marketing genius so grew it quickly, then sold it 2 months ago (~8 million!). Oh...found a link to the story! It's interesting:   http://ozarksangel.blogspot.com/2005/07/self-abduction-of-tim-carpenter.html

I'm a fan of Guardian since their monitoring centers are both in Tulsa, well one in Owasso and one in Tulsa.

When I personally decided to get a security system, I just compared ADT, Guardian, and Holders. Met with all 3, didn't sign anything until after meeting with all 3, and chose Guardian based on up-front and per month pricing. Also I like the fact I can call the techs that installed my security system at any time, its not an 800 number, I get one of the two guys that installed it.... With ADT he was going to give me an 800 number...everyone knows how those operate. Also, based on the sheer size of ADT, their response times are slower than most of the smaller places... Every time I've accidentally set mine off I get a call within 30 seconds.

I personally went with All Tech (a rep of Guardian), if interested just do a search for All Tech security Tulsa. Their number pops up. 

When choosing an alarm company, when you interview the prospective sales/installer person..... here's a suggested list of questions:

If the service agreement is 3 years, what happens if we sell the house?
What initial costs are there, including equipment, installation, and police dept registration?
Does this installation include a glass break in every room of the house? Or is it motion detected? Also make the quote include the door to the garage, as well as front and back doors.
What is the average response time?
Does the security system include smoke detectors?
Once the contract is up, can the equipment be used as a stand-alone alarm.... Meaning the contract is complete, we are not paying the $35-41 a month, will an alarm still sound but the police will not be notified?
How long has the salesperson been with ADT/Holders/Guardian?
If I were to call in with questions, do I get an automated response or a live person? Where is this person? Oklahoma or nationwide? How long is the typical wait time if its an automated system. And... prove it.... have the sales person give you the number, call it...see first-hand.
Does the monthly price include cell phones? Meaning we don't have a land-line, a cell phone will be the point of contact if the alarm goes off.
Who has access to my pin number? How do I know it's secure?

[bobbie]

OOPS, it was Missouri

[sgrizzle]

I have TNT now and had been considering changing. I don't care for places like Guardian who charge no less per month, yet want a 3 year contract. That was part of the reason I went with TNT to start with.

I just called several companies and asked questions and A&H Security sounds like the best so far for what I want.
http://www.ahsecurity.com/residential_alarm_systems.html

[Townsend]

I have TNT now and had been considering changing. I don't care for places like Guardian who charge no less per month, yet want a 3 year contract. That was part of the reason I went with TNT to start with.

I just called several companies and asked questions and A&H Security sounds like the best so far for what I want.
http://www.ahsecurity.com/residential_alarm_systems.html

What's turned you off of TNT?

Can you give me a short summary of what you like about A&H?

Thanks for any info.

[AquaMan]

Grizz, I met the owners of A&H while working retail. They came in to buy furniture for their new offices here. They have a lifetime of experience and were ready to retire when the rest of the family persuaded them to pass the company along and remain as consultants so to speak. They were genuine people. I shared with them my experience with the TNT gang as a prospective employee. I simply would not work there.

They are worth interviewing. Nathan Hobbs is the president.

[sgrizzle]

What's turned you off of TNT?

Can you give me a short summary of what you like about A&H?

Thanks for any info.

TNT:
1. My credit card was stolen so my monthly fee did not come out as scheduled. They sent me a note but I didn't have my new card yet, so they disabled my alarm. Not the monitoring, the whole friggin thing down to the door chime. I was able to call and get it reactivated.... the "next business day."
2. Monitoring has moved out of state or likely will
3. When there is a problem with the alarm (showing a weird code or something) you might as well ask Teddy Ruxpin for help than the overnight monitoring people.
4. Technician came out to reprogram my system for ten digit dialing, and offered to replace the battery in my system for me (which you can pick up at the office for $20) However, he said if he did it, it would be $65.
5. Cellular monitoring only available if you sign up for a hardware service plan
6. Many false alarms on motion detector, even when I had no pets. Tech who installed it said he could "adjust it if it had problems" so I called to have it adjusted. They said it's not adjustable.
7. Keychain remote for alarm broke. A likely $20 item. They said I had to buy a two-pack for $100 and pay them $65 to set it up.
8. Their "alarm monitoring center" is two desks in a room with a mirror for a wall so it looks bigger.

(You can see the same woman twice)

A&H
1. Lower monthly cost for cell monitoring (by about $10)
2. Salesperson I talked to the phone had an idea what an alarm was and how it's setup.
3. Service plan not required (a further cost savings over TNT)
4. Nicer keypads (says "FRONT DOOR" instead of "01" when alarm goes off)
5. Sytem controllable and monitorable by text message (others have iPhone apps which are comparable, but SMS can be more reliable than data service)
6. Lower equipment cost. Everyone is quoting me $200 just to add the cellular feature, A&H will replace the whole guts and keypads for that