One of my regular customers recently had her house broken into. She’s divorced and only has a teenage daughter at home. They were both home at the time, but didn’t hear anything which is just as well.
They broke the glass in the back door, reached in and unlocked it. I’ll be putting in a new back door without glass which should give her some additional piece of mind.
But she would like some sort of security system also. She doesn’t want the expense of a monthly service so I suggested a local system with door/window sensors that would activate an alarm. It seems unlikely that anyone would enter a house with an active alarm and there are plenty of neighbors to call the police if she didn’t happen to be home.
I could install it, but I don’t know where to get such a system. Has anyone heard of such a system or know where I could get one?
-Don
Replies
http://www.Homesecuritystore.com
Tom
Douglasville, GA
Have her sign up for ADT. Cancel after a month, but keep the little yard signs.
Get her a BIG dog. With BIG teeth!
I have read that the best deterrent is a small dog that likes to bark a lot when people come around. The best time for a thief to break in is when the people are home bcause sledom do people turn any alarms on and all their valuable things are home.
check ebay there are many vendors selling DIY systems... most are wireless
p
Hi DonCanDo,
In addition to the system, the stickers are a deterrent to at least casual intruders.
An independent installer who put in a commercial system for us gave us generic stickers, as he believed that branded stickers simply told an experienced thief what the system is, and therefore its protocol and how to work around it.
Of course, making it difficult for any wrongdoer to gain entry in the first place (like you're doing with the solid door) is better than any sticker. Possibly add some outdoor lighting? (And then of course there is the big dog with big teeth!)
:^)
sojourner
Monitored systems are a waste of money for the most part. ADT and the like sell them without a monitering contract. They don't give you a price break on the system though.
You can buy them off the shelf at different places. I'd have a pro do it. They are much better at fishing wires then someone who doesn't do it for a living. It's an art form. If you want to do it, buy wireless. And put an additional keypad in a location central to the bedrooms, with panic buttons in the bedrooms. Progarm it so they can be occupying the house and still have the perimiter rooms and doors and windows armed.
Signs are a good deterent I guess. It seems that everyone has them now though. A determined thief will look around through the windows and be able to tell if you have one or not.
One thing you can do to deter thiefs that are cruising for a soft target. Good yard lights. All my outside lights attached to my house are motion activated. They come on low automatical at dusk. Then when they sense motion they get brighter as if someone flipped on the light from the house. You can set them up for different combinations as well.
"I went to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast, and no one there was mad at me." DustinF 06'
http://www.hay98.com/
Are there any real stats on the effectiveness of ADT-like systems in reducing crime?We had a rash of polo-wearing-frat-boy ADT sales folks knocking on doors around here this summer pulling stats out of their asses like "Did you know that 1 in 4 people will be attacked by an intruder!?"AFAICT, they have a pretty slick racket. Stick signs in both of your neighbors yards, then hit you up to buy it, as now you're the lone sitting duck without those anti-thief yard signs."The best time for a thief to break in is when the people are home bcause sledom do people turn any alarms on and all their valuable things are home."Possibly true, but around here, most break-ins are during the day, as no one is home. In fact, my co-worker was robbed during daylight hours when they bashed her front door in.
ADT is an industry joke. We refer to them as Another Dumb Tech. They are way too big to worry about individual service. And they're big enough to not care if you drop them. They have the volume to support them. The majority of their installers are subs.
I'd have to say that a local company would provide better service. They probably can't afford to do it near as cheap as ADT or the other big ones. But you have a much better chance of getting them to take care of service issues.
The yard sign thing is simple scare tactics. They leave enough stickers around ask your neighbor for an extra.
I didn't say the thing about the break ins that you quoted. They can happen anytime I guess. People that burglarize homes for a living are in a world of their own. There is no telling what makes them tick.
"I went to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast, and no one there was mad at me." DustinF 06'
http://www.hay98.com/
I agree with the idea of using a local security company. The one I went with is about three blocks from my house, and it makes me feel a lot better that if there's a problem, the person responding to the alarm is in the neighborhood rather than in some call center halfway across the country. Their service has been very good, and the cost for monitoring is very comparable to ADT and the other big brands.
When installing a security system, one might as well have it connected to the house smoke detectors as well, along with the garage, shop or other outbuildings that have anything of value in them. Also, many insurance companies will provide a discount after a security system is installed.
" I'd have to say that a local company would provide better service. They probably can't afford to do it near as cheap as ADT"CHEAP and ADT don't go together.There "free" system is very expensive.http://www.statewide-security.net/free_alarm.asp"Receive a complete ADT System, an $850 value, FREE.Includes: Touchpad, Motion Detector, High Decibel Interior Siren, Telco Jack, Yard Sign and Window Decals, Panic Alert Feature, Battery Back-up power supply, 24 Hour Monitoring, 3 Door/Window Contacts, Theft Protection Guarantee and our Homeowner's Insurance Discount certificate.""* Special Offer Terms: $99 One-Time Customer Installation Charge. 36 month Monitoring Agreement required at $32.99 per month. Form of payment must be by credit card or electronic charge to your checking or savings account. Offer applies to homeowners only - OAC. Local permit fees may be required. Satisfactory credit history required. Certain restrictions may apply. Offer valid for new customers only. Other rate plans available. Cannot be combined with any other offer."Now you can get UL list station monitor for $9.99*. I figure that FREE system cost $927. And that is ONLY for 1 keypad and 3 window/door sensors.As minimum I suspect that most house require at least 2 keypads and 1/2 dozen sensors. How much do you think that will cost?And try canceling a contract.Me bitter about ADT. Why do you think that?Just because they would call several times a week trying to sell there service. And completely ignored the federal TCPA. And when I called to compliant they threated to SUE ME.Now this was with a local dealer. But when I contacted ADT corporate, while they did not threaten to sue me they also completely ignored the federal laws.* Smarthome.com offers the monitor service and also sells a number of alarm products.
Yep. They get you coming and going.
FWIW Your local guy probably doesn't monitor his own alarms. There is usualy a monitering service that they subscribe too. He charges you $19.99 a month for example and then pays them say $9.99 a month to sit by the phone and wait for your alarm to go off. That's where the money is. Selling the monitoring. That's a steady income of $10.00 a month or whatever the profit is on every house for doing absolutley nothing. Say you have 200 customers being monitered that's a slick 2 grand a month.
And if you have a siren mounted to the outside of your house where someone can't remove it or get to it, they are not gonna stay in there while it blares across the neighborhood. For 90 percent of the people monitoering is a waste.
"I went to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast, and no one there was mad at me." DustinF 06'
http://www.hay98.com/
"FWIW Your local guy probably doesn't monitor his own alarms."
Maybe, maybe not. It's a good thing to ask about. The company I use does monitor their own alarms, it was one of the main reasons I went with them.
I've had several breakins over the years (my neighborhood used to be kind of shady, but fortunately it's gotten a lot better.) In all cases, they happened when I wasn't home so monitoring has been a good thing for me.
Here's one example: One night I was out when a burglar broke in through a window and set off the alarm. My neighbor across the street heard the alarm siren, and by the time she looked out her front window to see what was going on a couple police cars had already showed up. They had a police dog with them, and they tossed him in through the broken window to check out the house.
By then the burglar had scrammed, but it still made me feel good to know the system worked. As it turned out, all the burglar had time to grab before he ran out was the remote control for the TV set, so other than that and having to fix the broken window I came out pretty well all things considered.
That's a good company there.
"I went to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast, and no one there was mad at me." DustinF 06'
http://www.hay98.com/
I could install it
Yeah, but can you design it? If you're only thinking contacts on the doors/windows, it's a piece of cake. Motion/sound/shock sensors take some background to avoid problems.
If you go with wireless, make sure it's a supervised system. Otherwise a component may fail and the panel will never know. Hard-wired is pretty foolproof. Far as I know, all panels come with a dialer built in. Monitoring at a later date always a possibility. More zones are better for servicing.
Was just discussing security with my neighbor who had 2 losses this week. They want a monitoring company as they'll be gone winters. The 20 minute response time they weren't thrilled at but wanted fire monitoring. In our area, no alarm co. will maintain non-monitored systems. I've been approached to work on them but declined (outside of my own clients for other services).
Sold my alarm co. when I left Denver. My appreciation of ADT is about the same as everybody else's. I've had to supervise their installers here for a mutual client.
I took a peek at TomW's link to Home Security Store. Ademco's been around forever and always worked. Prices are not bad for the panel. Any hard-wire panel will accept wireless components. Linear is a good brand for wireless.
If you dive in, give a yell if/when you need help. BTW, the alarm business is the most profitable one I've ever participated in if you're thinking about diversification. Good luck.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
If you are putting it in yourself, the posting with a link for homesecuritystore.com is a good place to try. They are the same place as norco alarms listed online. I've bought 2 systems from them a few years apart and some small parts inbetween. I bought GE/Caddx panels and several brands of contacts, glassbreak and motion sensors. I went all hardwire except for the keyfobs for entry/exit. Although the claims for wireless make it sound faultproof, I still feel that wired is better whenever possible, also there are no batteries to replace. It's not rocket science to install the system either way. The programming can be a little tricky for a newbie. There are many levels of menus and settings to go through and they are all just numbers that you have to reference in the manual. I didn't need their help, but they claim that they will assist you fully with the programming if needed, and I think it's free. They've been around for quite a while, not a fly by night operation. I just got a loud exterior siren, as there are always neighbors home. I've been considering the monitoring though them or the company that they recommmed, I think they are one of the least expensive available.
In one city where I lived several people and businesses were robbed by the same people "selling" them alarms. Under the guise of selling alarms they found out who had alarms and who did not. They also knew more about the inside of the building.
I built myself a noise activated switch and leave a small lamp in the front room plugged into it.
If somebody knocks on the door, the light goes on. If we get up in the middle of the night and make any noise at all, the light comes on. If somebody slams a car door nearby, the light goes on. We love it.
Clap on .... clap off. heh?
Thanks for all of the great responses. I'm not sure if I will install it even though this would be the perfect customer to do it for because she completely trusts me and is not overly demanding.
It would be my first and while I don't really care if I make any money on my first install (learning curve and all that) I really have enough of my usual work to keep me off the streets for a while.
At least I have enough information to point her in the right direction.
Don