home security system...which one?

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[rladner]

I worked in the industry for several years and I don't own a system. That should tell you something. You're just as secure putting the signs and stickers on your house. If you are determined to get one, go with a local company that is monitored locally. Many companies farm out the monitoring. Your system may be monitored in a completely different state. If their system goes down for an hour or even a whole day you'll never know it but you'll sure be charged for it and good luck if that was the day you NEEDED them. They'll deny it all...

Same here. Don't have one, but worked for a company for 7 years. Though, I don't agree with the out of state monitoring issue. To me, it doesn't really matter if they are local or out of state. It is still basically the same. They get an alarm in there monitoring center. The computer tells them what kind of alarm and possibly what zone is triggered. They then go through the procedures of calling the owners, then eventually the police. Whether it is a local company or out of state, it is still the same process. A local company is not going to send someone over to your house to check on it. The limiting factor in all home monitoring is the fact that your alarm company has no idea what is really happening at your residence. They don't have access to your cameras (nor do you want them to) and are only going by what their system tells them. You need to make sure you have one you can pull your cameras up from a smart phone or computer so when they call you you can let them know what is happening. Many municipalities now a days won't send the police "code red" (or whatever its called) unless an alarm is "verified". The only way to verify it is for someone to actually see that a burglary is in progress. Most home monitoring companies cannot verify the alarms. That is up to the home owner.

To me, the benefit of a local company is the customer service