Home Alarm Companies

When it comes to installing a home security system the choices are endless, from what system to go with to what alarm company to choose. One important thing to remember when choosing your system and your alarm company is that these decisions are going to be the basis of your home and family’s security for the next few years.

There are many things to take in to account when working with an alarm installation company from their reputation to the degree of technology that they offer in terms of home security systems. Always make sure that you work with a company that you trust and a level of technology that you are comfortable with. After all having the most top of the line security system installed in your home doesn’t mean much if you don’t know how to use it, does it?

When it comes to choosing the right home security company for your new alarm system it is important that you take a few extra steps in order to make sure that the company you are going to work with are going to be the most beneficial to you under a variety of circumstances.

Local police departments advise a few extra steps when it comes to choosing a company to work with to ensure that you are not being duped, these steps include:

Inquire as to whether the company has errors/omissions insurance, general liability and workman’s compensation. These items ensure that the company is protected so that claims do not fall one your shoulders as a homeowner. If you are doubtful of a company’s claims of coverage you should never be afraid to ask to see their certificates as proof of coverage.Request to see the company’s business license; this will give you peace of mind in knowing that they are licensed to do business in your area.Ask the company to refer you to a few of their clients in your local area so that you can determine the quality of their service from a third party.Ask how long the company has been in business, it is generally better to work with an older company that has at least 3 to 5 years of experience.Find out where the monitoring center for the company’s alarm systems is located, it is preferable to have the central monitoring station in your home state rather than in another state.Make sure that all work done on your alarm installation is done by company employees rather than subcontractors. Companies are able to do background checks on employees but do not always do them on subcontracted workers.Read your contract carefully and have someone you trust read over your security system contract with you before signing in agreement. Always inquire as to the warranty that is included on your system and what that warranty includes and make sure that this is incorporated in to your written contract.Find out if employees are both trained and certified by the National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association as well as whether they take part in the Installation Quality Certification Program.

There is a great amount of up front question asking that goes in to determining whether a home security company is the right home security company for you. On occasion an employee or representative of the company may try to make you feel uncomfortable for asking any of the questions above, but this is a sign for you to seek another representative who is willing to help answer your questions or move on to another local company. There is no shame in asking questions in regards to a company’s history or eligibility to do business, in fact a trusted alarm installation company will have no problem answering your questions and may even commend you on your ability to ask all of the right questions.

Now that you know the right questions to ask when searching for the right home alarm company to work with where should you begin your search for a trusted company to work with? The best first step in finding reputable company to work with in your area is to contact the National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association to ask them for a list of companies in your area that are members of the NBFAA. After obtaining a list of recommended companies to work with you can then begin narrowing down the list of companies by asking for personal recommendations from your home insurance agent, neighbors and friends in the area. You should not rely upon friends that live outside of the area to give you advice on which companies to work with since you will be working with a local representative who may or may not be as attentive as the branch that an out of state or out of town friend worked with. Compare the companies recommended by your insurance agent, neighbors and friends with the companies listed on the recommendations by the National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association and call a few of them to ask the questions listed above.

After doing your research you should be able to narrow down the list of potential companies down to three or four companies. Call each of the companies that you are interested in and arrange for a meeting with each company at your home. It is best to have one company visit your home per day if you are able to do so to avoid having to make a representative wait if another appointment runs long. Scheduling appointments with a little space between them also allows you time to digest information and discuss options with family members without confusing multiple companies. When meeting with representatives from companies many parents tend to keep their children out of the mix; however, when older children are present in the home it is often helpful to have the children present in order to determine whether or not they will be able to understand the new alarm system.

Meeting with any official can be a little intimidating and often times we forget the things that we want to ask so it is always best to write down the questions that you have for your representative before they arrive. The same questions should be asked of each of the companies that you interview. Common questions that you should ask include:

Do you use Underwriters Laboratory (UL) listed equipment and is the station responsible for monitoring your system certified by the Underwriters Laboratory?Is the monitoring station for my system available all hours, every day of the week? How about customer service assistance?What happens if the main monitoring center experiences technical difficulties, will my home system still receive a response if needed?Are precautions taken at the monitoring center to ensure that if there is a power outage or other failure, to ensure that a backup power supply is available?Can you please look around my home and give me a recommendation as to which alarm system you feel would work best for my family? Can you please explain your suggestion and give me a written quote?

There are many big name alarm companies that you will encounter in your search for a home security company that works best for you. Some of these popularly used companies include: CPI Security Systems, ADT Security Systems, Alarm Force, FrontPoint, and Life Shield, to name a few. Here's some descriptions of each to get you started on your search.

CPI Security Systems is a popular alarm company that works with residential, business and new construction contracts. CPI has been in business since 1976 and is the largest locally owned and operated security company in the Southeast with the most advanced central monitoring station in the entire country. CPI is known for designing, installing, monitoring and servicing their security units in house without relying upon subcontracted laborers.

There are a variety of security systems that CPI offers to clients throughout North Carolina from basic to standard to deluxe systems catered to suit your security system needs. Basic residential protection includes a custom display LCD keypad, two door contacts, a motion detector, an internal one way siren and a back up battery. Standard residential protection includes a custom display LCD keypad, two door contacts, a motion detector, a real time response speaker and microphone system and a backup battery. Deluxe residential protection includes a custom display LCD keypad, two door contacts, two door/window contacts, one motion detector, one fire communicator, a real time response speaker / microphone, an intouch cellular module, an 8-zone expander board, a backup battery and two extra security devices of your choosing.

ADT Security Systems is one of the largest security system companies in the United States and has been a United States owned company since 1874. Unlike CPI Security, ADT is located in 200 areas throughout North America. One of the most valuable things that ADT has going for it as a company is the fact that it has withstood the test of time and it not only provides security systems for residential homes but it also provides for small businesses, medium and large businesses and government agencies.

ADT offers a variety of residential services including: Safewatch QuickConnect, Safewatch Pro RF, Essentials Plus, Critical Conditions, Family Package and Customized Protection. The Safewatch QuickConnect program provides basic burglary monitoring services including a Safewatch QuickConnect control panel, two wireless door/window sensors, a PIR wireless motion detector, a wireless keychain remote, a power supply and 24 hour battery and an ADT window decal and yard sign.

The Safewatch Pro RF package is a basic burglary monitoring service including a Safewatch Pro 3000 wireless control panel, a Safewatch Pro 3000 standard touchpad, two wireless door/window sensors, a wireless PIR motion detector, a quick key remote, an indoor sounder, a power supply and 24 hour battery and an ADT window decal and yard sign. The Essentials Plus package includes basic burglary monitoring services including a Safewatch Pro 3000 hardwired control panel, a Safewatch Pro 3000 standard touchpad, two hardwired door/window sensors, a hardwired PIR motion detector, an indoor sounder, a power supply and 24 hour battery, and an ADT window decal and yard sign. The Critical Conditions package offers burglary monitoring, fire safety monitoring and critical condition monitoring and includes a Safewatch Pro 3000 hardwired control panel, a Safewatch Pro 3000 standard touchpad, a smoke detector, a flood/temperature/carbon monoxide detector, two hardwired door/window sensors, a hardwired PIR motion detector, an indoor sounder, a transformer and battery backup and an ADT window decal and yard sign.

The Family Package includes burglary monitoring, fire safety monitoring, cellular backup and critical condition coverage including a Safewatch Pro 3000 hardwired control panel, a Safewatch Pro 3000 standard touchpad, a Safewatch CellGuard primary unit, a flood/temperature/carbon monoxide detector, two hardwired door/window sensors, a hardwired PIR motion detector, an indoor sounder, an ADT window decal and yard sign and a transformer and battery backup. Customized Protection is the most elite service offered by ADT which includes a variety of security features customized specifically to your lifestyle and your home layout.

Alarm Force may not be as well known as ADT but they are currently working with over 250,000 households throughout North America for twenty four years. Alarm Force, unlike the other companies listed above specialize in private residential alarm installation. There are a variety of services available for households throughout the country depending upon the needs of the client including the Home Alarm System, the Alarm Plus System and AlarmCare.

The Home Alarm system includes live two-way communication, free installation, free activation and a free warranty. The Alarm Plus system includes some of the best technology on the market including line cut technology, a cellular backup system, use of wireless signals and other added protection. The AlarmCare system includes no annual contract, the ability for the elderly to live independently, live two-way voice communication, a personal pendant communication system and more! Each of these security services can be catered with specific security features depending upon your security needs.

FrontPoint is considered by many to be the leader in wireless, interactive, DIY alarm systems. Founded in 2005, with more than thirty years of industry experience, their founders set out to create a totally different kind of alarm company. One that utilized the latest technologies while relying on highly trained customer service reps to attract business.

Core to everything at FrontPoint is customer service. Similar to Rackspace in the website hosting industry, they are fanatical about service. They have become the fastest growing GE Security dealer, and are the only GE Security dealer offering 100% wireless service with all of their systems. They serve customers throughout North America.

We've written an in-depth review of FrontPoint in our article What is the Best Home Alarm System?

Life Shield is a newer home security company having been established in 2002 under the name InGrid Home Security. The intention of the company was and still is to provide complete residential security at an affordable cost. Life Shield specializes in offering residential security but the biggest difference in their company is that they sell home security kits that you install yourself without having the cost of a professional installer visiting your home. Systems are purchased and installed by you and monitoring is provided by Life Shield at two various levels, personal monitoring and alarm monitoring.

The personal monitoring system includes the ability to view, customize and control your system through the web, view and control your system through your cell phone, continuous system self-testing, unlimited email and text messages to keep in touch with your home, unlimited weather forecasting and severe weather alerts, unlimited home reminders through text messaging to your home, essential camera service to record video or photos of alarms and home connect, giving second home access. The alarm monitoring system provides everything that is available in the personal monitoring service including 24/7 police dispatch, 24/7 fire dispatch, 24/7 medical dispatch and a homeowners insurance discount!

When it comes to choosing between different home security companies the very thought of putting all of your trust in to a single company and a single installer (in some cases, you) can be anxiety inducing. In order to ease your anxiety it is important to follow all of the steps listed above in order to make sure that the company you choose is a reputable company within your community. One company that may have worked for your friend across the nation may not be as reputable in your area as a result of hiring practices! The most important steps in finding a company that puts your mind at ease is researching and interviewing prospective companies to ensure that the company is not only trustworthy on paper but that they are also trustworthy and knowledgeable in person. After establishing that the company that you want to work with is licensed, trustworthy and knowledgeable it is a much easier process to find an alarm system that will work best in your home since you can ask your representative for their recommendations. A trustworthy representative will always be able to offer you a variety of options to suit your budget as well as your security needs but it is up to you to explain to your representative what that budget and what those needs are.

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