Home Security – It’s not in the stone age anymore
By john on Jun 12, 2008 in Home Automation, Home Security, featured
In my last post I questioned whether or not I should get a professionally installed home security system or whether I should buy my own equipment and do a homebrew security system monitored by a central station. I came to find some unfavorable reviews of that particular central station online (such as difficulty in reaching them via phone, delays in dispatching police or fire, etc).
Still, I was unimpressed with what companies like ADT, Brinks and others had to offer. ADT had mixed reviews online – some people had no problems, others had a lot of problems. Brinks got good reviews for customer service and reliability, but the technology just wasn’t all that exciting.
I wanted more. After seeing the capabilities of the home brew system, it was difficult for me to settle for a proprietary system with equipment I don’t own, that can’t do nearly as much as the home brew system (with equipment I *do* own).
A friend of mine, Jason, recommended that I check out Alarm.com – which is dubbed by some as being the first of the Alarm 2.0 companies. It’s essentially a technology enabled alarm system, using a cellular link to the central station rather than a regular phone line. The cool thing about it being cellular is that phone lines can be cut, usually without much difficulty, by someone trying to break into your house. Doing so prevents an alarm signal from reaching the central station – IF your alarm system works over your phone line. There are other companies that offer monitoring over a high speed internet connection, but since my high speed internet connection is DSL – that is no better for me. Cellular means there are no wires to cut, so no ability for an easy bypass.
The other cool things about their technology is that it’s web enabled. I can log on to the system from any internet connected computer and arm the system, disarm the system, configure the system, see logs of what activity has gone on with it, etc. It essentially lets me control my security system from anywhere I am – and that’s damn cool. Say I forgot to arm my alarm when I left for work in the morning. I remember halfway to work. For kicks, say I’m leaving for a business trip FROM work and won’t be home for a few days. In that kind of situation with a traditional system I’d either have to a.) drive back home to arm it, or b.) have someone I trust go over and arm it. Both are inconveniences. With this system I could continue on to work, log in when I get to work and arm the system. That’s convenience.
Their systems are also X10 capable, for those who are into home automation. I’m not currently planning on using this functionality as I have only a few X10 devices in my home, most of my home automation network uses Insteon.
Alarm.com, however, doesn’t deal direct with customers anymore (I guess they used to, but now only work with dealers who sell their services). They DO however answer questions and will kindly point you in the direction of a dealer that meets your needs. They even will provide you with alternative dealers if you want to shop around for the best value.
They referred me to FrontPoint Security Solutions, a small company from what I gather, out of Virginia.
I’ll admit, I was initially pretty skeptical about them. Of course, in my line of work you tend to get that way about any new entity you come across. Alarm.com gave them my contact information (with my permission) and the next day I received a phone call from a company representative who wanted to talk with me in detail about what they offer, what their services cost, and to get a better understanding of my own specific needs. This impressed me, as none of the other companies I dealt with seemed all that interested in my own specific needs.
It was a busy day, so I didn’t get a chance to call him back right away, so I followed up via email that I had received his message and wanted to work out a time (since my schedule is fairly busy these days) to talk about their systems. I wanted to schedule a time so I wouldn’t get into an endless cycle of phone tag.
We got a time set up, and had the call last night on my drive home from work (a time when I’d have a half hour or so free to talk). I was pleasantly surprised – he was more than willing to answer the battery of questions I threw at him (included topics were: certifications of the central station, who owns the equipment, would they give me the installer codes (yes), equipment failure rates, contract terms, technical capabilities, pricing, licensing (licensed in all the states that require it), etc. ) – in fact at the start of the conversation when I mentioned that I had some questions he replied that he welcomed them, and was glad that I did have questions and was asking them.
The answers to the questions were direct and felt very open and honest. I was impressed. After learning a bit more about my personal needs (and also future plans), he told me about some equipment that isn’t available via their website that is also available. He then suggested that after I get the system set up and see how great it works, if I’m interested in any of the additional equipment (for things I had thought about doing anyways, separate from the security system) to contact them and we could get something worked out.
The conversation literally lasted the entire trip home, and was mostly a question and answer session of me bouncing questions off him. Towards the end he asked what my time frame was for pulling the trigger on a system. I was pretty well set by this point as I have been doing homework on these systems for a while now and his answers to my questions gave me a pretty good idea of what I was getting into. I told him that and he suggested that we find a time where we could both sit in front of a computer and on their website go through the equipment they offer and piece together a system that fits the needs of my home. He said he’d be working late that night (last night) and so we set up a call for 930 last night.
Sure enough, 930 came around and the phone rang – it took only about 20-25 minutes to go through the equipment and decide what items were right for my home – I was pleasantly surprised to find that he didn’t try to sell me equipment I didn’t need and wouldn’t have a use for. Instead he got me a good solid system that would be able to cover all of the variables in my home, and be right for me.
So far my customer experience has been exceptional, and I’m really looking forward to getting the system and putting it through it’s paces. Once I have the system installed and up and running, and have taken the time to use it a little bit, I’ll post a review.
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Hi John,
You no doubt probably saw some of my posts regarding Frontpoint and Alarm.com. Hopefully they helped inform your decision to at least make initial contact with Alarm.com and/or Frontpoint.
I also bought my first place about a half year ago, and that is also what prompted my interest in getting a home security system (not saying they aren’t useful for apartment dwellers, just less of an issue in most cases in my mind).
I like you was very disappointed by what the big boys offered and/or (uusally AND) what they charged. So our analysis was pretty much the same there.
Anyway, I’ve been a very very happy customer, both from a technology stand point and especially a customer service standpoint (with Frontpoint especially). I could hardly be happier!
The systems offered by Frontpoint and many other Alarm.com dealers are sometimes derided by security industry wonks because they are so called “all-in-one” systems which often are problematic. But the way Alarm.com technology works (especially the way Frontpoint has implemented it with their central station), the normal weakness of these systems is neutered. That is, it doesn’t matter if the system siren is a beacon to find and smash the panel (as long as you use remote keypads and locate the panel well away from doors/windows, etc). This is because someone only has about 5 seconds to find and destroy the panel before it’s too late. As soon as a door or window is opened, the system goes into the programmed entry delay mode AND immediately transmits the fact. So if Alarm.com servers don’t receive a follow-up successful disarm signal, they initiate an alarm to the central station. This handling is VERY unique (among non-internet enabled reporting, and internet doesn’t matter anyway because it most cases it can be cut) and very important. This coupled with the fact it is cellular makes it a very solid solution, much more so than about 95% installs done by the big boys.
If you or anyone else ever wants to talk to me about it, you can call me at 925.265.1376.
Great post, thanks!
Alan | Jun 13, 2008 | Reply