All Security Companies Not Created Equal

You've seen the ads... the husband and wife are asleep at home when an intruder attempts to break in, triggering the alarm system as he flees into the night -- then the phone rings... "This is John with XYZ Company..." And so it goes. But not all monitored security companies are created equal. The major players like ADT, Brinks Home Security, ProtectAmerica, etc. all pretty much offer the same type of equipment and basic alarming services, but the real difference is in the level of customer service and support you receive.

Having been a former ADT customer, I can speak firsthand about my experience with them. Monitoring services provided by ADT seemed to be hit and miss. The first few times I accidentally triggered my system, the phone rang almost immediately afterward asking me to identify myself and provide my secret code so they would know it was really me rather than contacting authorities. One time I had an equipment failure, which resulted in an amusing false alarm. The keypad had stopped working in the master bedroom, so I called ADT to have it repaired. Not only did I get a bill for the repair, but the technician failed to call the monitoring center before removing the defective keypad. He simply removed the old one, replaced it and left.

As soon as the repair tech left, we had errands to run and also left the premises. We returned a couple hours later and my neighbor informed me that the police had stopped by due to a panic alarm being triggered. My neighbor fortunately let the police know that he has seen an alarm company truck there just shortly before they arrived and the officer noted it as a non-incident. Upon calling ADT, they had no record of an alarm at my residence being reported to police, and fortunately the police department said there would be no charge for a false alarm either. In addition, ADT failed to contact me at my secondary number. They just tried to contact the home, but did not bother to call my cell phone which was also on file.

Apparently the technician failed to alert the monitoring center of his repair, and the defective keypad sent a silent panic alarm to ADT, who dispatched police but failed to log it. Had they been made aware of the repair, they would have ignored the panic alarm. In other separate incidents, I deliberately triggered the alarm waiting the mandatory one minute or so before disarming the system. ADT never called to challenge or confirm whether it was a legitimate alarm or not. It was around that time that I switched my monitoring to the less-expensive and more reliable services of NextAlarm. I've not had a single complaint about their service and I've been very happy with their service and prices.

So before you sign a long term contract with one of the big boys, consider getting a shorter term contract so that you can switch your monitoring over and have better piece of mind at a more affordable price.