Getting quotations

Choosing an alarm service provider is an important process. Consider the following;

• You will be interacting with your alarm system every day, as will family members, employees and friends who come and go from your home or business.
• The system has to be operational 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and therefore has to be reliable. If you have a problem with your system at 3:00 a.m. on a Sunday you need to know that support is available to you.
• You are purchasing a service more than a product. Keep in mind that you will be paying the company you select for maintenance and monitoring services well into the future.

The best way to find an alarm company is through a recommendation by someone whose opinion you trust. If you do receive a recommendation ask if they can provide the name of the employee they dealt with. When you call the company ask for the employee and let them know who recommended them. When dealing with large companies the quality of service provided can vary tremendously from employee to employee and from client to client. By asking for the same employee and mentioning the recommendation you will let the company know that you expect to receive the same level of service as your acquaintance.

If you do not have an acquaintance who can provide a recommendation then you will have to do some research on your own. The yellow pages listings under “Security Systems” is an obvious place to start. Try to pay attention to what each ad says more than the size or position of the ad. Companies that only list a 1-800 number probably do not have a local office. If web site addresses are available you will be able to find out much more about the company online than you ever will from an ad or a brief phone conversation.

Before you begin calling alarm companies we recommend the following steps;

1. Read as much as you can of this web site. This obviously sounds self-serving but we have made an effort to provide as much general information on alarm systems as possible. Read as much as you can at similar web sites. You will often gain more confidence in your knowledge when you refer to diverse sources. Above all use common sense. If a statement seems untrue (no matter how often it’s repeated) or if important information appears to be missing, treat the source with suspicion.
2. Learn about alarm systems and develop a basic design for your home or business. Think about what level of protection you require. Decide what services you need, what financing options are important to you and what type of company you want to deal with. These steps are essential to avoid being sold something by a company that has a specific product or service that they want to push. Click on “Learn About Alarm Systems” on our main page for more on this subject.
3. Select 2 or 3 companies that you think may be a good match for you. Explain your requirements to them and see how they react. There is nothing wrong with beginning the purchasing process by having a fairly detailed discussion of your needs and the company’s policies over the phone. This will give you a good idea as to whether the company may be the right match for you, and reduce the possibility of ending up with a high pressure sales person with their bottom planted firmly on your living room sofa trying to sell you a product you don’t want.
4. If you are happy with the contact made over the phone make an appointment with the company to come to your home or business. It is essential that before you agree to purchase a system the company provides you with a detailed system description and a firm price quotation. The company should put everything in writing including what equipment they will supply, services you will receive, exact costs and any terms and conditions of the transaction.
5. Review the information that you have received from each of the companies. Read all of the fine print in any contract you may be required to sign. If something is not clear ask for written clarification and ask that it be added to the contract. If after reviewing the information you change your mind about the system design, or require costs for other options, you should contact the companies and let them know what you require. Don’t agree to something you’re not sure about.
6. It is unlikely that the systems being recommended by each company will be the same. The costs and services provided by each company may also be different. You should carefully compare these details before making a decision. We have provided a comparison sheet (“Comparing quotations from different companies”) that may help you with this process.

WHAT IS AN ALARM DEALER?
Some people use the term alarm dealer to describe any company in the alarm business. But the type of alarm dealer that we are referring to here are companies which have their own legal name, and may be locally operated, but they actually locate new clients with the express purpose of re-selling them to a larger company.

In Victoria ADT and Voxcom each have a main office as well as separate offices run by authorized “dealers”. The relationship between the “parent” company and a “dealer” is usually as follows;

• a) The alarm dealer works exclusively with the parent company, all of the dealer’s clients will eventually pass to the parent company.
• b) The dealer solicits new clients by advertising under their own name but also displaying the parent company’s name. The dealer has the client sign a contract for services with the parent company.
• c) The dealer installs the system and connects it to the parent company’s monitoring station. The dealer is then paid a flat fee by the parent company for the client. In some cases a small recurring residual fee may be paid to the dealer as long as the client continues to subscribe to the parent company’s service.
• d) For a set time (about 3 to 6 months) the dealer must provide repair service to the client, after this period the dealer is no longer responsible for the client. From then on the parent company provides any further repair service required by the client.

In most cases the parent companies do not control the product selection or installation methods used by their dealers. Many dealers use sub-contract labour (installers who get paid a flat fee for each device they install, rather than being paid by the hour). In addition to this the dealer knows that they will not have to provide long term service for the client. These factors increase your chances of receiving sub-standard products which are poorly installed.

If you decide to use ADT, Voxcom, or another national or multi-national company it may be preferable to deal directly with the main office rather than through a dealer. In the end it is the parent company that you are signing a contract with, and whose services you will be receiving.

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Pandora Dental Group

I first had Quality Alarms monitor the alarm system in my house because of their low rate and I wasn’t asked to lock into a contract. Since that time, I have had them install an alarm system in my rental property and also switched the monitoring of our dental office. I do not hesitate to recommend them to anyone looking for an alarm system or looking to save money on alarm monitoring.

Stan L.