I am looking for a way to set up an autodialer on my home security system without having "land line" phone service. Two possibilities come to mind:
1) a device that connects the autodialer to my cell phone so that the autodialer can call out through the cell phone network. Down side: requires an additional (compatible) cell phone and an additional line on my cell phone account ($$). I've looked briefly at the Dock N Talk and a couple of similar devices. All those options seem to be too expensive for my taste (several hundred dollars for cell phone + dock device + a year of additional line + autodialer).
2) Some sort of interface to Skype enabling the call to go out through my cable internet service.
There may be a third possibility. My alarm system can close (or open) a relay when announcing an alarm. There may be a way to use this rather than an autodialer to communicate through a computer (triggering a SMS message via the internet for example). Of course a magic box and some software would be necessary...
Has someone found a product to do something like this? Any suggestions?
Some night you could run a line over to your neighbors house, (who's not as cheap as you and has a telephone) and tap into his line. If you bury the wire, he'd never even know you did it.
Ghawd, ya only spend $200 bucks on an alarm system to protect your home and your family, the most valuable things in your life, and ya can't squeeze out a couple of bucks a month to have it monitorted correctly? Jeeeeeeze, get a friken phone line and have it monitored by a 24hour central station. What's it worth to you to have your house burn down or your family terroized because your alarm system left a message on your voice mail an hour ago.
I don't get it. I really don't get it! Am I missing something ...... or what?
More likely he's just someone who has not been convinced of the value of professional monitoring. There will always be a percentage of alarm users who for one reason or another don't want their systems monitored. For example, we installed a system in a "social club" in th South End of Hartford some years ago. The club was a hang-out for a certain group of people from Sicily. They told us that if the alarm went off we should just call them -- no police. "We go take care of it." :^)
All kidding aside, many DIYers choose that route simply because they don't want to make a multi-year comittment to a monitoring contract. Since monitoring is the primary revenue stream for many alarm companies, those clients are not often serviced by traditional alarm dealers.
Depending on which "pros" we're talking about, they might be right. Most are prompt, responsible and accurate, but we both know that some central stations do a poor job. Your job is to convince this gentleman that your company will do a good job at a fair and reasonable price and that the service itself is worth paying for. That is the essence of salesmanship -- convincing the client that what you offer is worth your price and that it is something he should choose to purchase. If he goes away unconvinced, it's not because he's a bad person. It's just that whoever he spoke with was unable to convince him to make that decision. That's no ill reflection on you. No one bats a thousand all the time.
This is analogous to the "lady in a bar" situation. If a guy approaches a girl in a bar and she turns him away, it's usually because she found him unattractive or uninteresting or because she already had someone else. The smart guy fine tunes his skills and tries again (though not necessarily with the same young lady). The dimwit calls her a "lesbo" and tries the same ineffective approach on the next girl.
My suggestion to the salesman would be to listen carefully to the prospective client's objections, consider appropriate responses (fine tune your presentation) and try again (though not necessarily with the same prospective client). My suggestion to the guy in the bar would be to ask Tom. He's probably better at that than me anyway. :^)
Me, too. As long as most professional installers are not interested in doing "local" alarms (and why should they be?), there will always be lots of clients for DIY. The reality is that there are plenty of customers out there for everyone in the trade (except the MM, of course).
They may say that their excuse is poverty but you're right. That's hardly ever the real issue. We get DIYers from all economic strata. I recently sold $12,000 worth CCTV equipment to a DIY homeowner. He bought six Extreme CCTV "Reg" series cameras, a high end DVR plus some inexpensive indoor cameras. He told me that this was part of a $40,000 electronics upgrade to his home. I'd love to see the place when it's finished. He didn't choose DIY only to save money. He just wanted it done his way and the local dealers failed to convince him that they would give him what he wanted at a price he thought was reasonable. In this business the majority of these big projects still go to professional installers. That is at least partly because most of the time some professional salesman does an effective job of convincing the client. When they fail to do so or when the installer doesn't give them what they want/need/expect a DIYer is born.
The fact that only a small percentage of customers choose DIY speaks well of the trade at large. Fortunately for folks like me, it only takes that small percentage to generate enough revenue to make a good DIY store successful.
Well, well, well Mike!! Isn't this interesting !! Here you are selling your wares plain and simple, when just a few days ago, you were chastising me for making reference to unlocking of boards implying I was selling something.
I don't care what you sell here frankly, but...boy.....talk about the pot calling the kettle black........:))))
I was down on 6th Street in Austin leaving my favorite gay bar (alone again - sob) and he took that horrible picture of me! And on a really bad hair day! And now posting it? The man has no feelings!
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