Alarm install & monitoring costs

Monitoring services are provided so a contextualized decision can be made in the event an alarm is activated and the owner/key holder cannot or doesn’t want to be contacted (ie perhaps you’re at a party, or during the night). Control room staff can take action (where they are authorized) should they receive an activation, such as calling a patrol or police to investigate a problem such as “multiple activations” from the premises.

Contracts that lock you to one alarm company are now rare, in days gone by the only way you could get a reasonable price for alarm monitoring was to sign a 12 or 24 month contract. We only require payment of 3 months in advance with no penalty for cancelling the service.

Monitoring fees and charges vary and it’s usually a case of you get what you pay for, and as a general rule the industry standard is $90 - $100 per quarter for standard monitoring and $220 a quarter for polled monitoring. Polled monitoring is where the alarm sends a signal every minute or so and should the control room cease to receive a signal the control room will be alerted there is a problem.

Other costs and charges

Your alarm system should remain trouble free and need only require the backup battery to be replaced every 24-36 months, however being connected to the power-grid it is subject to power surges and spikes that van damage any other electrical appliance. Many minor programming adjustments to your alarm system can be carried out remotely provides you have a compatible alarm panel and have authorized such. This option cuts down on the need to get a technician out for code changes etc.

OH & S video monitoring

I recently programmed our alarm system to record via digital camera the first person arriving in the morning. The entry area continues to be recorded until the 2nd staff member member arrives. This is done in the interest of OH&S, should there be a problem or accident, it provides an accurate portrayal of what's transpired.

Finally good security doesn't rely on electronic protection alone or for that matter just physical security but a combination of both. It is of little use to lament about the old days and instead look to the available technologies that can make our lives more user-friendly and secure.