Alarm monitoring service like ucontrol that uses DSC native communication hardware?
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Posted by Heath Roberts on June 20, 2007, 10:10 am
Please log in for more thread options company that installed it, and for several years I was happy with their service, but for the past six months they're not responding to troubles and not returning phone calls. Ucontrol seems like it has a nice feature set, but I don't really like the fact that it uses add-on hardware. Does anyone offer a similar service compatible with DSC's IP interface (and dial for backup)? On a related note, does anyone have suggestions for obtaining the 'installer' code for the alarm? It's not the default from the manual, and I don't want to reset and re-program the alarm. Thanks, Heath | ||||||||||||||||
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Posted by Robert L Bass on June 20, 2007, 3:50 pm
Please log in for more thread options Absolutely. Try 911.alarm.com for a start. Several of my DIY customers use them and have spoken well of them. They are competititively priced, charging homeowners only a few dollars more per month than what the dealers pay. Many alarm companies mark up the monitoring (which is farmed out anyway) by as much as 2,000%. One large nation-wide monitoring service charges alarm dealers $2 per account per month. The service is resold for anywhere between $20 and $40 per month (nice margin). > On a related note, does anyone have suggestions for
> obtaining the 'installer' code for the alarm? It's not the > default from the manual, and I don't want to reset and > re-program the alarm. Jim Rojas (posts here all the time) is a decent guy who offers a service to default alarm panels. Unfortunately, you'd then need to reprogram the whole panel. On the plus side, DSC panels aren't hard to program. Another alternative is to replace the main board. They are not expensive. If you sign up for monitoring, some companies will program your panel as a courtesy. Don't overlook local alarm dealers either. Although there are some bad apples, most are honest and you may be able to get someone to help you just to win your business. Whatever you do, make certain they state *in writing* that they will give you all of the codes they program into the system. Otherwise, you may be right back where you started some day. I sell DSC though I'm not fond of it. A lot of people who already have DSC systems call asking for parts. I'd offer to provide a board but it sounds like you're not too thrilled at the prospect of programming it. -- Regards, Robert L Bass =============================>
Bass Home Electronics
941-925-8650 4883 Fallcrest Circle Sarasota · Florida · 34233 http://www.bassburglaralarms.com =============================>
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Posted by Robert L Bass on June 20, 2007, 3:51 pm
Please log in for more thread options > Absolutely. Try 911.alarm.com for a start.
Oops! Make that www.911alarm.com. Sorry. -- Regards, Robert L Bass =============================>
Bass Home Electronics
941-925-8650 4883 Fallcrest Circle Sarasota · Florida · 34233 http://www.bassburglaralarms.com =============================>
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Posted by Frank Olson on June 21, 2007, 2:01 am
Please log in for more thread options Robert L Bass wrote:
> Many alarm companies mark up the monitoring (which
> is farmed out anyway) by as much as 2,000%. One large > nation-wide monitoring service charges alarm dealers > $2 per account per month. The service is resold for > anywhere between $20 and $40 per month (nice margin). Uh-huh... quite similar to the way you "marked up" the first year monitoring from your old provider. Didn't they give that to you "free" with the purchase of a Napco panel? So, when you sell something for $151.00 US but haven't paid anything for it, what's the markup? >
> Jim Rojas (posts here all the time) is a decent guy who > offers a service to default alarm panels. Unfortunately, > you'd then need to reprogram the whole panel. On the > plus side, DSC panels aren't hard to program. Before you go off the deep end, maybe you should have a look at the 4020's programming manual. For a residential system, the 4020 could be considered "overkill", however some of it's more advanced features may be in use here (which would make reprogramming it a bit more of a challenge than you realize). >
> ... it sounds like you're > not too thrilled at the prospect of programming it. Probably for good reason... | ||||||||||||||||
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Posted by Frank Olson on June 23, 2007, 1:34 pm
Please log in for more thread options Robert L Bass wrote:
> Absolutely. Try 911.alarm.com for a start. Several of my
> DIY customers use them and have spoken well of them. > They are competititively priced, charging homeowners > only a few dollars more per month than what the dealers > pay. They also have no employees on record. http://www2.cslb.ca.gov/CSLB_LIBRARY/License+Detail.asp?LicNum=610373 | ||||||||||||||||
> really like the fact that it uses add-on hardware. Does
> anyone offer a similar service compatible with DSC's IP
> interface (and dial for backup)?