Alarm Monitoring

Alarm monitoring has been mentioned here before, but I want to speak about it again.  It really is an incredibly important aspect of home security and, unfortunately, many homeowners don't realize that.  So, here we go:

Once you've purchased, installed, and programmed your home security system, you're all done, right?  Well, not necessarily.  When your system is up and running, its doing something known as "self-monitoring."  Self-monitoring means that your system will sound locally in the event of an alarm, and you'll receive a phone call (if you set this up) alerting you to any events in your system.  And certainly, this is better than nothing....but not too much better.  Why?

1. Unless you are physically at the property, it may not help that you received a private call from your system.  Police frequently refuse to respond to calls from private homeowners who say that their house is being burglarized when the homeowner is not at the scene.

2. Your alarm will sound locally, hopefully alerting neighbors.  But what if it doesn't?  Some people don't live close enough to hear interior alarms, and if its the middle of the night, your neighbors may sleep through the alarm.  In that case, your neighbors are no longer of any assistance in this regard.

The best option is to have 24 hr. monitoring from a central station.  It costs as little as $9 per month and guarantees that a UL listed, central station is monitoring your system 24 hours a day.  Why is this important?  Its important for a number of reasons:

1. Your central station will monitor your system 24 hrs. a day.  In the event of an alarm, they will call your home to verify that everything is fine.  If they don't reach you, or if you do not correctly verify that the situation is normal, they will immediately contact police, who do respond to central station monitoring calls.

2. In the event of a fire or health emergency, the central station will immediately contact emergency personnel without first contacting you.

3. Many homeowner's insurance companies offer a discount for a monitored home security system.  Often this discount will more than cover the cost of central station monitoring.  (Remember, its only $9 per month).

Many people choose not to purchase central station monitoring.  After all, its an additional cost.  But that cost is only $9 per month!  You just spent a great deal of money investing in a home security system.  You've taken your time to install the system and program it.  Your system should be working to the fullest capabilities to protect you, your loved ones, and your home.  Without central station monitorig, thats just not possible.