Wednesday 27 December 2006

Why wouldn't I use a traditional monitored alarm company?

This was also posted in the FAQ section of the forums, but I thought it might be of broader interest.


Why wouldn't I use a traditional monitored alarm company?

Value.


We give you more functionality at a lower cost, which means AlertMe is a much better solution.

Traditional monitored alarm companies have the following issues:

1. Their technology is old. There hasn't been a major design improvement since the 1980s. They require drilling holes and wiring cables and waiting for professional installers, simply because they haven't designed a wireless system that is easy to use. And they haven't asked you what you really want from a modern home security system.

2. Their "full service" is no more, and quite often much less, than what you can easily do for yourself. They don't know your home environment or situation nearly as well as you do. All they can tell you is that the alarm has gone off and ask you what you want to do. We've automated that much, cutting out all the extra costs and unnecessary staff. We also give you more information about the issue, so you can avoid false alarms to the police and the fines and potentially even black-listing of your home. We give you the control to decide how you want to respond.

3. They charge unfair rates. Why should you pay 25-50 pounds each month when most of the time there isn't a problem? Why should you pay 1500 pounds for thirty year old technology? They have to pay all their extra staff, but they certainly aren't doing much new product development. We charge much, much less, and we will be rolling out a whole range of new accessories for your home, going far beyond basic security.