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Alarm monitoring/Killing Landline Question

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Deal Addict
Feb 19, 2008
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Alarm monitoring/Killing Landline Question

So I'm just about to switch alarm monitoring companies, and the new company is offering wireless GSM monitoring for an additional $10/month. I currently just use monitoring over Bell lines - and my phone bill alone is over $50/month. One of the reasons i've historically hung on to my Bell account was just for this purpose.

- To buy the GSM/wireless dialer unit, it costs $200 outright
- I do not have an OOMA / VOIP unit yet, would have to purchase (~$125 + monthly costs)
- My bell line is buried underground anyway, so the wireless security aspect is somewhat negligible

So my question is, has anyone done this to avoid paying the larger phone bill ? Is it really worth it, given the hardware upgrade costs ($200 + $135) plus different monthly fees ($10 + $5?) considering any additional hassles I may encounter (power outages, hardware failures, etc).

Any comments appreciated, thanks.
16 replies
Deal Guru
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Mar 13, 2004
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It does seem like a hassle & buying all that equipment does not help. Also you have to remember that if the power goes out a GSM unit will usually only last a few hours until the cell phone towers no longer work (generators only last so long) However your home phone bell line will work.

You may want to try calling bell and getting them to lower the price. Say you are going to cancel and move to VOIP because its to expensive. they should be able to lower your price.
Deal Addict
Feb 19, 2008
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That is generally my thought; the more crap I have the more crap I have to deal with...
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Mar 20, 2009
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Keep in mind that the purpose of having alarm monitoring is to get an insurance discount, so it doesn't really matter if it's connected properly or not. With most of the alarm monitoring companies their staff are located in a distant monitoring centre, perhaps even in another city, and they have no actual security staff or very few in your city. They usually won't call the police or other emergency services without asking you to verify the alarm in person. The response time to a break-in is so long that any burglar would have long since ransacked the house and departed. I'm sure every burglar knows that and doesn't worry about monitored alarms except as an indication that there might be valuables worth stealing in the house.
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May 26, 2011
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sickcars wrote: Also you have to remember that if the power goes out a GSM unit will usually only last a few hours until the cell phone towers no longer work (generators only last so long) However your home phone bell line will work.
Alarm systems have a battery too. In a prolonged power outage, your alarm will not work, landline or no.
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JamesA1 wrote: Keep in mind that the purpose of having alarm monitoring is to get an insurance discount, so it doesn't really matter if it's connected properly or not. With most of the alarm monitoring companies their staff are located in a distant monitoring centre, perhaps even in another city, and they have no actual security staff or very few in your city. They usually won't call the police or other emergency services without asking you to verify the alarm in person. The response time to a break-in is so long that any burglar would have long since ransacked the house and departed. I'm sure every burglar knows that and doesn't worry about monitored alarms except as an indication that there might be valuables worth stealing in the house.
Well i don't know about targeting specific houses known to have monitoring - makes little sense really. How would they even know which are or not? I'd imagine any armed house would display a sticker of some kind. Also, monitoring a house for fire alarms is a very good idea.
Deal Expert
Oct 6, 2005
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razrsharp wrote: How would they even know which are or not? I'd imagine any armed house would display a sticker of some kind. Also, monitoring a house for fire alarms is a very good idea.
Almost every house in my neighbourhood has an alarm system and no one has a sticker, so you are right the thieves do not know.
Deal Guru
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Mar 13, 2004
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This is true,

From my experience the cell phone towers went out about 1-2 days before my home alarm battery went. This was last year during the ice storm. But obviously every system is different.
PianoGuy wrote: Alarm systems have a battery too. In a prolonged power outage, your alarm will not work, landline or no.
Deal Addict
May 26, 2011
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That's an impressive battery you have there! :-0
Deal Guru
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Mar 13, 2004
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lol well mind you the cell phone towers around here lasted maybe 2hrs. So really my home alarm battery was still up and running for around 2 days until it totally went dead. I have since replaced the battery.
PianoGuy wrote: That's an impressive battery you have there! :-0
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Nov 18, 2007
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Does your new alarm company support TCP/IP connections? Can a network card be added to your system?

I dumped Bell and use a dedicated VOIP adapter that dials out to The Monitoring Center (<$160/year). (I have a separate VOIP PBX for home phones.)

If and when I ever upgrade the alarm system, I would go TCP/IP. I refuse to spend $20, $30, $40 per month for an alarm/monitoring system.
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Feb 19, 2008
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fastlayne wrote: Does your new alarm company support TCP/IP connections? Can a network card be added to your system?

I dumped Bell and use a dedicated VOIP adapter that dials out to The Monitoring Center (<$160/year). (I have a separate VOIP PBX for home phones.)

If and when I ever upgrade the alarm system, I would go TCP/IP. I refuse to spend $20, $30, $40 per month for an alarm/monitoring system.
Well the company I'm going with is TMC but we only discussed the wireless/gsm option, perhaps as I don't have VoIP yet. How much did the VoIP adapter cost? And does your $160 include all monitoring fees or just the VoIP? This sounds like a viable cheaper option

Thanks
Deal Expert
Oct 6, 2005
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fastlayne wrote: I dumped Bell and use a dedicated VOIP adapter that dials out to The Monitoring Center (<$160/year). (I have a separate VOIP PBX for home phones.)

If and when I ever upgrade the alarm system, I would go TCP/IP. I refuse to spend $20, $30, $40 per month for an alarm/monitoring system.
TMC sells you an adapter which you can use to send the alarm signal over the Internet. However, there is a surcharge for the service ($5.00 per month + $75.00 for the module). Just remember that Internet can be as easily cut as your phone line. GSM backup is $10.00 + $199 for the modem. Prices here:

http://www.themonitoringcenter.com/calculateRate.cfm

I think I'm going to opt for GSM backup, seems like a more reliable solution.
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Oct 24, 2012
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coolspot wrote: TMC sells you an adapter which you can use to send the alarm signal over the Internet. However, there is a surcharge for the service ($5.00 per month + $75.00 for the module). Just remember that Internet can be as easily cut as your phone line. GSM backup is $10.00 + $199 for the modem. Prices here:

http://www.themonitoringcenter.com/calculateRate.cfm

I think I'm going to opt for GSM backup, seems like a more reliable solution.
I wish there was a cheap IP monitoring service in Quebec.
My alarm company costs only 9$ a month through my house insurance, but I need to have a phone line (22$/month).
The company offered the GSM option, at a cost of 500$ because they'd swap the whole panel.
I mostly want to keep the service because of the added security: Fire & CO detector.
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alkizmo wrote: I wish there was a cheap IP monitoring service in Quebec.
Can you not switch to The Monitoring Center? I always thought they were national?
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Nov 18, 2007
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razrsharp wrote: Well the company I'm going with is TMC but we only discussed the wireless/gsm option, perhaps as I don't have VoIP yet. How much did the VoIP adapter cost? And does your $160 include all monitoring fees or just the VoIP? This sounds like a viable cheaper option

Thanks
An Obi100 VOIP ATA can be priced as low as US$40.

TMC is $155 per year - paid yearly. (This is the only ongoing fee.)

I use a dedicated VOIP configuration for my alarm system. Freephoneline had a one time charge of $50. FPL has no other costs. Zero. None.

Of course, TMC (or any alarm monitoring company) will not recommend VOIP for your system connection, but my "experiment" after dumping Bell has been reasonably successful. I have had half a dozen VOIP hiccups (over 2 years) that I had to deal with. My alarm keypad will register a fault (and beep until corrected) when its scheduled test connection to TMC fails.
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Oct 24, 2012
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coolspot wrote: Can you not switch to The Monitoring Center? I always thought they were national?
Click on "Service areas" on the top bar of their website. Only Ontario and BC is covered for Canada
fastlayne wrote: Of course, TMC (or any alarm monitoring company) will not recommend VOIP for your system connection, but my "experiment" after dumping Bell has been reasonably successful. I have had half a dozen VOIP hiccups (over 2 years) that I had to deal with. My alarm keypad will register a fault (and beep until corrected) when its scheduled test connection to TMC fails.
Hmmm that is interesting, though I don't dare actually do it. I'd rather find a solid IP or GSM solution that doesn't incur a huge install fee or stupidly high monthly fee.

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