Posted: 4/3/2005 6:40:53 PM EDT
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We are in the process of buying a new house and want a security system. I need some suggestions. I have looked at Fleenor, Brinks, and ADT. Any advise would be great. Thanks, BIT |
| I have ADT. Any minimal service is going to do ok. What is important is the flagrant display of the placards and stickers. A robber is going to move on to easier pickings then deal with an alarm system that may slow him down. Also if a professional wants something that you have they will eventually get it. I have a nice safe bolted to a cement floor to keep valuables. They WILL tear apart your bedroom. Most people will keep most of their valuables in there. |
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The big names come with a big price. You almost always get more for your money and much better service going with an independant alarm company. Ask friends and neighbors for referrals. Also, don't go for long term contracts, year to year is the best way to go, about 20 bucks a month is a good price for monitoring. Do not buy private label or propritary equipment, it is useless if you try to change alarm companies. Caddx NX (now owned by GE) series panels are what I use, top quality at an affordable price. Avoid motion detectors if possible, they are false alarm generators. |
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as a security tech that worked at ADT for three years avoid them if you can. I live WI and all the dispatchers are from Florida and they must pay minimum wage or something because all they hire are ppl that can barely speak english. The monitoring center is state of the art tho!!! From about 7 years ago  .Seriusly if you can get a local guy (think small shop) you can probably get a system and monitoring for a decent price. The only reason ADT can give youa system for little or no money is that for one they are reall high on monitoring costs and if you decide to lease a system they can come in when ever they want and take it out. This leaves big holes and such in your walls since you are going hardwired correct not wireless. Trust me save the cost on both instalation and future costs of batteries by going hard wired since you said you are building now. Talk to your electrician and see if he can pull wire to your doors and windows and for any motions you want, that way since he is already there maybe you can save some cost there as well. I have never worked for Brinks or Fleenor so cant say good or bad about either one other than I have been in this buisness for 9 years and have never heard of Fleenor (must be a TN thing). Good luck and have fun in your new house  edit cause I cant read you said buying not building That being the case depending on the house you might have to think about wireless. |
| Also dont forget the obvious. Good locks. Latches and rods for the windows. Motion detectors for the outside areas. So they come on once in awhile due to animals or whatever. You catch a thief scouting out your home and he will shit bricks when the lights all of a sudden come on. |
Here is an article I was reading the other day and thought it was pretty good if anyone is interested.
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All windows and doors need to be wired - upstairs and down. The sensors should be in the frames so that they don't show/can't be broken by accident. There should be a flare panel to give the status of each sensor. My system is programmed to call me, calling someone four states over isn't worth $240 a year. The system calls my cell phone and announces which zone is in alarm and then allows me to listen into the house. The fire alarm is hooked to the system too as is the lighting system. From my cell phone I can turn on the main light in the grand room. Remember the alarm is almost the last line of defense next to a firearm. A good neighborhood, a high fence, a proper dog, trimmed bushes, lighting on timers, good locks, not flashing weapons/alcohol/valuables, limiting people who visit your house ... |
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I would look into the system itself instead of the monitoring company. A good system like an HAI Omni PRO2 or just an Omni Pro will do wonders for your home. It can dial out to any number you want. So it can call yoru cell and tell you wich szone has tripped the alarm. It can be monitored over the internet as well with full control over the system. So you can view your cameras over the net any place in the world. Full control is also active over the phone. I can call the system and turn up the heat, turn on lights, check temps, arm/disarm, and other stuff as well. You can write scripts for it also. so if the living room motion trips after 9:00 while in the "at home" setting it will light a path to the bathroom at 50% brightness for 6 minutes. Basicly if I get up to go to the shitter the motion sees me and turns the lights on @ 50% brightness so I don't stub my toe. The ways I could tell you that this system rocks is unreal!! |
 Yep 2German Shepards myself. But tht doesnt help when they are not outside when I am not home . I m thinking survailance[sp?] cameras
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It 's mainly for the neighbors punk kid comin in my yard  when I'm not there! Besides that I aint worried about someone goin in the house cause I doubt they would be comin out 
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Dang, dude. Police response must suck in your neighborhood. Our alarm system had a false alarm due to a balloon/motion sensor while we were down the street at the neighbor's house. The monitoring company called us, so we went back home. The cops beat us there. |
You are fortunate to live in such an area. Twenty to forty minutes is about what my dept's response time is on a very low call volume day. A simple residential alarm is a low priority call about one step above a barking dog call. In progress type calls such as robberies, disturbances, kidnappings and crazies take precedence. Calls are stacked on our car computer screens by urgency level and quite often an officer has to scroll several pages worth to find things like alarms. This is the main reason I would never have a silent alarm. You want noise to hopefully scare the dude away. Of course if you have no neighbors this is useless. Get lots of stickers and a good dog. They're cheaper in the long run and one of these makes a good friend. Oh yeah....and please tell everyone you know to stop relying on us to save their asses. This country's male population is rapidly developing vaginas. 
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Security systems are like every other consumer product. Some are better than others, and the installation is what makes it or breaks it. I prefer perimeter systems with just enough area detection devices to provide needed overlap. The cell based communicators are a very good addition to any system, the prices of these has come way down in the last few years. I have started using a couple really interesting devices lately, one is a peizo-electric shock sensor. It is self powered, and works quite well. The other is a magnetic anomoly detector. This technology has many military uses, now it is being used in civilian security products. And, don't skip the fire detection devices. You are much more likely to experience a structure fire than a break in. A smoke detector and monitoring service saved one of my customer's houses from destruction, fire dept was on scene in under 3 minutes from the call. |
Damn good advice. READ the contract before signing. This is one of the single biggest complaints about home security systems. They sign you to a multi year contract with automatic renewals unless you notify them within a certain (usually short) time frame. In short, they are endless and you get ripped on price as well. |
+1. We've had Brinks for over 5 years, in our new house, it was installed before we even moved our stuff in. Fire and intrusion, EVERY window and door is alarmed. That covers the place while we are away. "Panic" buttons let you summon cops, ambulance and fire with the touch of a specific button. Monitoring lets them call appropriate agency if they can't get the correct code word on the phone. While we're home, if it ever goes off, I'll certainly be awake, alert, and able to secure the family until the cops arrive. |
My condo (just purchased) was pre-wired with an ADT system. I asked around and got similar results ... from both residential and commercial customers. ADT's customer service was not rated well by anyone I spoke with, and that's saying something. |
Actually that is not true at all. Homes without security systems are about 3 times more likely to be broken into than homes with security systems. Burlgars are generally not deterred by dogs. I have seen dogs running around in homes where I took burglary reports, and I know of cases of the dogs just being sprayed with oven cleaner or pepper spray. Also a good system should have fire monitoring too. You are MUCH more likely to suffer a loss from a fire than a Burglary. If your dog is in the house when a fire starts, you will likely lose your beloved pet. Also they can't call 911. http://www.alarm.org/consumer-info.html |