Free Alarm Monitoring

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I spoke to the alarm rep from the Vancouver Police Department about this. I'm given to understand (from reading this page) that the customer will receive a text message on his cell phone that gives him the details of the alarm (intrusion, fire, water, etc.) and then he's required to contact the appropriate emergency services from there. My experience with Telus and Rogers text messaging is that there is often a lag between when the message is sent and when it's received that could be up to thirty minutes or more depending on your location (I'm often working in parkades and the basements of buildings where the sprinkler rooms and electrical vaults are located). The VPD rep told me that a call from a monitoring station has a much higher priority in the response queue than a homeowner who's calling in an alarm that could be 30 to 150 minutes old. In addition, an annual permit _is_ required for every alarm system in the City of Vancouver. It's not expensive (on the order of $15.00 or so per year). Before someone decides to employ the services of an agency such as "NextAlarm", "911Monitoring" or any alarm monitoring service, you should check with the AHJ. "Free monitoring" usually means "no monitoring" unless, of course, you decide to also employ an independent guard service (where you have to pay a monthly standby charge as well as a "per visit" fee).

Before Bass gets his nickers in a knot, this isn't a slam against DIY. The fastest police response to a professionally monitored alarm is gained when a concerned neighbours calls who's in a position to actually verify the fact that the premise is being burglarized and the perps are still on site. That individual is also in the best position to not only identify the culprits, but can probably provide the authorities with a description and license number of the vehicle they happen to be driving. This is also why it's a good idea to ensure you have an outdoor mounted siren on a monitored alarm system and that you get together with your neighbours to form a "Block Watch" community.

My two cents.

So let me get this right, NextAlarm raises their rates for current customers, and gives away free monitoring to everyone else? It's free to the one who signs up but it's paid for by the current customers who rates went up to pay for this.

I've used NextAlarm, I've dealt with them in Nevada and let me tell you this: I Know Central Stations Central Station owners were friends of mine, and, You NextAlarm are NO Central Station.

They also lied about the permits. Maybe you don't need it, but there are places you may need them. To tell people absolutely that NO PERMIT is required is a bold Face LIE by NextAlarm.

Just a thought, could they plan on making money by selling your email address to interested parties?

OPM I can understand, but it is actually their money and they are investing it into something with no return. Am I missing something?

Good catch Jen...tel. Alarm users permits, by most ordinances, are not tied to monitoring. They are required, again in most ordinances, to the physical presense and not whether it is monitored or not.

Conspiratist! :o]

>

Just checked in my town...an alarm permit is required if it has an audible warning device that can be heard outside the premises...monitoring has no bearing!!

Just a follow up to my original post.

I attempted to sign up for a free account a couple of days ago and got a reply from them stating that I have to purchase a ABN adapter from them, which I believe is a generic Linksys PAP2T-NA ATA programmed to their very own Asterisk server. May be that is where they will make their money by selling the ATA at a higher mark up to those interested in free monitoring.

Yep..same here permit required in most cities, monitored & local alarm systems.

| > OPM I can understand, but it is actually their money and they are investing | > it into something with no return. Am I missing something? | >

| >> They also lied about the permits. Maybe you don't need it, but there | >> are places you may need them. To tell people absolutely that NO PERMIT | >> is required is a bold Face LIE by NextAlarm. | >

| > Good catch Jen...tel. Alarm users permits, by most ordinances, are not tied | > to monitoring. They are required, again in most ordinances, to the physical | > presense and not whether it is monitored or not. | >

| >> Just a thought, could they plan on making money by selling your email | >> address to interested parties? | >

| > Conspiratist! :o] | | Just checked in my town...an alarm permit is required if it has an audible warning device that | can be heard outside the premises...monitoring has no bearing!! | |

This varies somewhat from place to place. In CT where I worked for 24 years most towns required a permit for wired installations. We mainly did wired systems so we pulled permits. A few towns did not require a permit though. The interesting thing was the reaction from electrical inspectors while submitting the permit application. They were often surprised that I bothered because most alarm companies didn't pull permits on a residential installation unless it was new construction.

It's the same with homeowners doing DIY jobs. If it's not new construction most never pull a permit. Where there's an alarm licensing rule in effect, usually you must pull a permit and these laws are starting to proliferate due to the deluge of false alarms. Note: The vast majority of false alarms come from professionally installed systems because the vast majority of systems are professionally installed. To the best of my knowledge no one keeps track of how many systems are professionally installed versus DIY.

Some towns require an alarm permit (different from an electrical installation permit) only if the alarm is monitored. Others require that all audible or silent alarms have a permit. Note 2: I'm using the term, "permit" interchangeably with "license" though the two are distinct. Technically, you get a permit to do the installation and/or a license to use the alarm.

In virtually every place in the country (except St Louis County, Mo), you do not need a trade license to install a burglar alarm system in your own home or business. The same is true of commercial fire alarms with certain exceptions. If it's a place of public assembly, some communities require a licensed tech do the fire alarm. Likewise, a professional engineer or a licensed fire alarm technician may be required to perform routine inspections of a commercial fire alarm in many locations. But for the typical residential installation, including combined burglary / fire alarm systems, no license is required to DIY the installation. Where an alarm *use* license is required, this also does not require a license -- only some paperwork and usually a small, annual fee.

Interesting. 1979 to 1999 is only 20 years. Where'd you pick up the other four? In a quick search of "Google" I found this:

Here's a "snippet" from the above referenced link:

"ALL properly licensed?? Hmm, where's the sales tax? Don't squirrel on this Bass, we're talking your own state and your own town. The 'city clerk' of West Hartford didn't have any alarm companies listed at

80 Brentwood Road, but then this could have been an oversite. So you and your many techs are licensed at different locations?

But she did say that her understanding was that ALL advertising MUST included contractor's license numbers. So how does this work?

You display a Connecticut address and advertise on the Web, I still don't see the contractor license number- is it the ICQ that is disabled? I didn't call the state, unlike you, but your local building office had no 'current' records of any alarm permits either? What's this-

Don't have the time at the present to check this other out, but where is the permit number and tax number for your CS? You advertise that also.

-and- you have stated you keep 'some' stock! Now if you keep stock then how can you claim to be only a virtual business?

I've encluded just some of your much earlier B.S. about your 'employees.' "

I don't know who this "Jake" character is, but it appears to me that he'd done some "checking around". Care to explain, Bass?

construction most

I agree that false alarms are an issue. I hardly think they represent a "deluge" though.

That's like saying the "vast majority of vehicles in accidents are professionally manufactured". This hardly qualifies "home built" or "kit cars" as "safer".

Why do you suppose that is? Is it because the DIY alarm market is such a small segment of the industry that it's really not garnered a good deal of attention? Or perhaps it's because the majority of DIY systems aren't "professionally monitored"?

installation and/or a

No, technically you get a permit to do the installation and another permit to use the alarm. You need a LICENSE in most states and provinces to INSTALL an alarm (professionally).

systems, no license is

In Vancouver, you can get a permit for a "DIY" system. In order to have it registered as a monitored alarm, however, you have to list the installing/servicing agency and the name of the licensed technician who inspected it.

I was refering to a user permit, not a permit like a building installation permit...those are not required anywhere here, except commercial fire

| Bass Home Electronics | 941-866-1100 | 4883 Fallcrest Circle | Sarasota · Florida · 34233 |

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I was referring to both. In CT where I installed for many years most towns required a permit to install anything wired. Some towns also required an alarm user permit.

installation

And your ability to pull a permit only came into effect in 1989 (according to some of the "research" that I've read about you). So, from 1979 (when you first "opened" your business) until 1989, you were installing alarm systems WITHOUT a permit, yet you have the temerity to post your bullshit in a thread about exactly that... Your "stories" about "hitting the ground running" in 1979 are really quite funny. You "start" a monitoring station and installation business with no training, no customer base, and no clue. You really are a first class bullshit artist!

monitoring.

If you're in the trade, talk to your employer about having your system monitored. Most will do that free of charge. If that's not an option, drop me an email.

They don't say they are either. They make use of some rather interesting wording in their "FAQ":

"Our central stations are UL-Listed, ..." "...security systems monitored by NextAlarm.com utilize the customer's pre-existing telephone line or broadband Internet connection as the primary communication link to one of our central stations." "NextAlarm.com uses fully UL-listed central stations, ..."

It's pretty clear to me that all they are is simply a monitoring reseller. They don't operate their own CS at all.

Their "Terms of Service Agreement" looks pretty "hokey" as well. Everything is on the shoulders of the DIYer.

Providing this kind of false information is completely unprofessional. It's also contrary to the BBB Online Reliability Program. This is just a thought, but has anyone bothered to contact NextAlarm to advise them of their error?

You'd have to review their privacy policy to be sure.

I have free monitoring from our CS alright, my originally post was just for the DIY people coming here looking for info.

A number of people here know who I am and where I am located and I have nothing to do with Nextalarm.

I'd suggest you stay out of "suggestions" like this. From the things I've read, there isn't a reputable CS that would actually compromise their station's UL (or ULC) listing and allow an end-user to program their own panel to transmit alarms.

1. You stated they would be a good service for DIY'er on the 16th

1. For some reason you tried to sign up with them on the 17th

2. You claim you have nothing to do with them on the 20th

4.

Tom has valid questions and why would you have considered them great for anybody when you have nothing to do with them?