Why might one run into trouble if the latter is true? Couldn't alarm companies simply charge for the parts, charge for the installation, and offer some kind of limited warranty for parts & workmanship like electricians, plumbers, HVAC, etc folks do? I can understand them wanting the extra income associated with monitoring, but is there really so much work out there that they tend to turn away the less lucrative non monitored installs? Or is there some other issue involved?
Yes they can.
I will do a local system if I have time, my monitored clients have my full attention though.
Some companies won't install local systems at all, you'd just have to find one that will.
And, keep in mind you may pay a higher price, not punitively, but because the installing company continues to make money on a monitored client whereas on in a local system you may not see that client again for years...if at all.
In my experience, alarmco's won't bother with a local system, or if they do install, it's at a VERY high price. Unfortunately, the market has been squewed towards the monthly portion as the major source of revenue (undoubtably by the proliferation of "free systems"). So without that, most alarmco's will only install a local system by adding a portion of the profits they would otherwise make in the monthly costs.
Often, small local contractors just starting out, will install local systems, both for the money and to increase exposure in the marketplace, since ultimately it will be referrals that will bring in customers over the longer term. So unfortunately, those wishing only a local system are left to fend for themselves. (I will service the 50 or so local systems I personally installed, but at a fair market price for service. Others I won't touch unless they want them monitored properly)
I too am "guilty" of this. I just don't want to waste my time and labour on systems which are IMO crippled in their ability to do a professional job from the "getgo". Alarm systems are about response, not noise. Without professional monitoring, you have no response worth speaking of. After 10 years in the business, I truly have come to believe this. However, it can also be said by the more sceptical, that I am biased and have become lured by the siren song of RMR ! To that, I also plead guilty !!
But the former reason is the more important one !
R.H.Campbell Home Security Metal Products Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Most people who are aware of VOIP think that it's cheap primarily because of some great digital technological breakthrough. They don't realize that virtually all voice traffic has been digital for a very long time. In the case of existing phone lines, the A/D was done at the switch at the local phone company. From there on through the network it was all handled digitally, running through exactly the same kind of fiber optic lines and other high speed digital lines as the internet, until it was converted back to analog at the far end. The big difference was that the phone system guarantees that every digital sample arrives at the other end at precise intervals that correspond to the 8khz sampling rate. With VOIP, the packets can be routed all over the place, with no guarantee that they will get there at the right time. That's a big difference in quality of service.
Most people who went to VOIP did not do it to avoid the $20 monthly local phone service fee. The did it because they had high toll call bills, with a lot of that likely being over seas calls. So what they were avoiding was the regulated tariff structure, both domestic and international, at the the expense of reliability. Along the way, many found out that there are in fact some serious problems, like the 911 issue and call quality. And also, since we're on the subject of call monitoring, do the major monitoring services work with VOIP? I know as of a couple years ago, they had a policy of not supporting it. The domestic long distance cost has dropped sharply over the last few years, with most providers now offering some form of bulk or unlimited calling packages at more reasonable rates, so the incentive to switch keeps dropping.
And today statements like:
"Those of us who actually use VoIP every day might tend to disagree with you. I've had the service for over a year. At first there were major quality and reliability issues so I only used it as an overflow for my POTS lines. "
hardly bring a ringing endorsement. If there were major quality and reliability issues that recently, I'll just stick with Verizon.
And then there is the question of reliability of the Internet service on which VoIP depends. When we lived in NY, our phone service (Nynex/BA/Verizon) was more reliable than our Internet service (CableVision/Optimum Online), and in the two years we've been in W. Michigan our phone service (SBC) has been more reliable than our Internet service (Charter). In both places interruption to Internet service has been rare (but once as long as 36 hrs in NY), but I wouldn't want to have to depend on my ISP for phone service.
Perce
On 09/11/05 06:15 am snipped-for-privacy@optonline.net tossed the following ingredients into the ever-growing pot of cybersoup:
There are several different grades of Internet service. They range from aDSL, cable modems, and satellite. They offer NO guarantee of up time, hence the low cost. sDSL, T-1, and other fractional T services offer guaranteed up time, typically 99.99 percent. Unless you're dependant on running your business out of your home, typically, you choose the cheapest service you can find. Where a business, typically, chooses the higher dependability of services. Of course nothing, including anything you own electronic, is guaranteed to work all the time. It's knowing when it doesn't that makes the Internet a better choice for routing alarm signals, and either radio back-up, or cellular back-up, that further ensures communication. People who choose to cancel land lines, and place a VoIP service as their only form of communication to the outside world, aren't very smart. There isn't a single business in the US that operates with that kind of mentality. VoIP is a product designed to cut communication costs, not replace them. The reliability just isn't there yet, residentially.
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