Alarm takeover information for home owners
Here are some informational points when you are going to switch alarm companies or signup with one.
Summary:
Give your new alarm company information so they can quote you properly
Know what you want so the alarm company can bid the right options
The brand of your system matters. Example, GE Interlogix has gone out of business and panels such as the NX8 and others cannot be repaired because parts are not available. Another factor is if you have a proprietary system that only certain companies can service or if you have a lock code on the panel. When you cancel with one company make sure they take the lockcode out and program a factory code or give you the installer code or you could have issues later on trying to sign up with a new monitoring company.
Consider an upgrade such as adding water sensors, temp sensors if the home drops below 41 degrees, CO detectors and smoke and heat detectors. Adding these items can often give you a discount with your insurance and often these devices are required by insurance companies.
Smoke Alarms are the ones that are 110V with a 9 volt battery backup and these detectors for the most part are not monitored by the alarm system so we would add SMOKE DETECTORS which are low voltage and monitored by the alarm system. Most alarm companies cannot work on your Smoke Alarms because that requires a high voltage electrical license. Smoke Alarms and Smoke Detectors should be changed every 10 years and it is prudent t clean them every 6 months as per factory recommendations which often is using canned air but check the data sheet on your smokes.
When signing up for monitoring a professional company will test all of your points and if they do not this is a red flag. For Peak Alarm to bring a system on we need to test all of the point to be assured that they are working. This is especially true when we have not installed the equipment. If we do not install the equipment or wire we normally do not warranty it..
Some older systems need to be upgraded when you want to arm and disarm them remotely so we can change out the motherboard and keypads in most cases to make this happen. When you have a wireless system we need to plan on special modules to make that happen.
When you need your alarm system to tie to your AV system such as CONTROL 4 or another system you will need to have your alarm company work closely with the AV company to make that happen.
Consider complete protection which covers all the perimeter doors and windows that can be opened as well as glass break sensors where needed, trap motion detectors in high traffic areas, water sensors, temp sensors, smoke detectors, CO detectors, Gas Detectors and more.
Know that we can tie in your garage door so you can remotely open or close it, we can tie to your lighting so you can remotely turn lights on or off and lock or unlock doors, control your thermostats and more.
We now have wireless systems that are encrypted and have a long battery life.
When getting quotes to switch monitoring find out how long the company has been doing business, if they have local monitoring dispatch centers, if they have backup servers in other states, provide them with a zone list because that affects the cost of the signup, provide them with the brand and model number and year of your current system and pictures of the motherboard and keypads and let them know how many keypads. Let them know what you want so they provide the quote based on that rather than guessing. Peak does 3 year agreements and we can do 24 months and 12 months as well although we cannot subsidize much when it is 12 or 24 so the signup cost is a bit higher.
Please call Larry Love at 435 710 7906 with questions or concerns or for pricing. Larry can come to your home or business to get you a price to signup or upgrade or to add a new system. Larry’s email is Larry@peakalarm.com Larry has been with Peak Alarm for 8 years and in the industry for over 20 years and holds current security and Fire Alarm certifications.