Alarm monitoring company

[patric]

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?

They use what are known as "installer lockouts" which prevent anyone but them from reprogramming the alarm you own.   It is an anti-competitive practice that holds your panel hostage and prevents you from switching monitoring companies.

If you are ever in dispute, they silently dial into your panel and can re-program it at will, or shut it off completely.
Your consent to this is buried in the contract.  Look for it and ask that it be removed.

There are also some workarounds, like a Re-Director:
https://nextalarm.com/help/Wiki.jsp?page=NextAlarmGeneral


The installer code is a special four digit code used to enter an alarm system's programming mode. This is necessary in order to change the monitoring service the system will call when there is an alarm. The installer code is different from every other code. It is not the master code, or a user code, or any other code. The installer code is a completely separate code.

If you do not have the installer code for your alarm system, please contact the company that installed it, or the company that last monitored it. If you own your alarm system, you are entitled to have this code, and they should provide it. They may state that giving you the code is a security risk, because all their customers have the same installer code. In this case, ask them to set your alarm system to have a unique installer code. In most cases, they can do this over the phone, and do not need to come to your home.

Also, asking an alarm salesman to guarantee the response times of police is a bit silly, but as a rule of thumb a TPD response to an alarm with a permit is approximately one hour. 

[patric]

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

Dont they still have that remodeled house on 21st & Pittsburgh across from the Golden Driller?  During the fair they parked one of their trucks in their yard and shone spotlights on it like it was a billboard.

[Townsend]

Dont they still have that remodeled house on 21st & Pittsburgh across from the Golden Driller?  During the fair they parked one of their trucks in their yard and shone spotlights on it like it was a billboard.

They told me their monitoring was near 51st st.

[sgrizzle]

They told me their monitoring was near 51st st.

I've been there, next-to-top floor of the spirit bank building at 51st & Harvard.

[Townsend]

I've been there, next-to-top floor of the spirit bank building at 51st & Harvard.

They appear to be blowing me off so it looks like I'll be looking around too.

[patric]

Many Tulsans Pay Police Alarm Fee, But Non-Payers Get Same Service

Over the past 3½ years, Tulsa residents and businesses have paid more than $1 million in fees to a voluntary city program to ensure that police will be the first to respond to an intruder alarm on their property.
But because of a technical issue with the city's 911 dispatch system, those who paid into the program have been receiving the same level of service as those who didn't pay, an Oklahoma Watch investigation has found.

http://oklahomawatch.org/2017/03/08/many-tulsa-pay-police-alarm-fee-but-non-payers-get-same-service/

[Ibanez]

Have to say I'm not impressed with Protection 1 since they took over for TnT. Service is the same, but I've had billing issues that were a pain in the trump to straighten out.

[sgrizzle]

I moved and got a new system using Guardian. My time with TNT/ASG/Protection 1 was getting worse every year. They kept billing me for things I didn't ask for and even billed me after I moved out, but "don't worry, we will credit that to your new house's service"

Pass.

[Ibanez]

I moved and got a new system using Guardian. My time with TNT/ASG/Protection 1 was getting worse every year. They kept billing me for things I didn't ask for and even billed me after I moved out, but "don't worry, we will credit that to your new house's service"

Pass.

Sounds about right.

[AngieB]

Many Tulsans Pay Police Alarm Fee, But Non-Payers Get Same Service

Over the past 3½ years, Tulsa residents and businesses have paid more than $1 million in fees to a voluntary city program to ensure that police will be the first to respond to an intruder alarm on their property.
But because of a technical issue with the city's 911 dispatch system, those who paid into the program have been receiving the same level of service as those who didn't pay, an Oklahoma Watch investigation has found.

http://oklahomawatch.org/2017/03/08/many-tulsa-pay-police-alarm-fee-but-non-payers-get-same-service/

I was of the understanding that fee (or license) was to also keep you for being charged if police responded to more than 3 (I think) false alarms at the property
.

[patric]

I was of the understanding that fee (or license) was to also keep you for being charged if police responded to more than 3 (I think) false alarms at the property.

Its changed a few times.  In 1995 the alarm fees were struck down but the city continued to collect them:
http://www.tulsaworld.com/archives/alarm-fee-struck-down/article_23d067c3-39a9-5b55-a88d-84b5e36fb1ce.html

While in 2004 the money from the fees was being viewed as a slush fund for other projects:
"I don't think this money would make a difference in the level of response that people receive. I do think that the (highway) lights are a public safety issue as well."
http://www.tulsaworld.com/archives/security-fees-may-go-for-lights/article_2e41a656-a3b1-5681-8f9e-16e6fb6a7564.html


To add to the confusion:

When Mr. Dirickson got the call at work from his security company he rushed home.
"He said your alarm has gone off, should we send the police out there? By all means," says Dirickson.

"They called back and said 'well the police can't come out because you don't have a permit on file," says Dirickson.
To cut down on false alarms officers will only be dispatched to your home if you've registered your security system.

Officers will respond to your home regardless if you have a First Response Certificate if you hit the 'panic' button, a neighbor hears your alarm and calls police or if you there is a crime in progress.

Police say if you have three false alarms in one year your permit is suspended and your alarm company must inspect it to make sure it is working properly. If you have three more false alarms the city will revoke your permit and you'll have to pay the $30 registration fee. Police say this fee has been in place for years.
http://www.fox23.com/news/breaking-news/a-permit-needed-for-tpd-to-respond-to-alarms/254392049


...and yes the article is contradictory.  In practice, alarms *by themselves* are put on the lowest response tier unless a neighbor also calls in, yet just last week in my neighborhood, a police response to an empty house resulted in the capture of a burglar, and it was a silent motion detector alarm.

If you are fortunate enough to have an alarm that can be upgraded to IP monitoring (over the internet) there are lots more options for monitoring companies.