I recently replaced a woman's alarm in her home she was paying $43.95 a month and a 3rd party monitoring who wanted to raise it to $46.95 a month to monitor over a plain old telephone line 2 doors and a motion. no cell phone or automation or included maintenance service.
Thats just plain crazy to pay that much .
I put a new and much better Honeywell Lynx Plus system for $450.00 and she now pays $15.00 a month
Yes monitoring of alarm systems has gotten out of hand and I often get criticized by other dealers as I have kept my monitoring rates at half or less what every one else charges. I am not in it as a revenue stream I make a couple bucks for handling administrative stuff . no contract its month to month
When I started $10 -15 a month was average then some one got a big idea sign a 3-5 year contract at $30.00 a month and we give you a free worthless alarm system worth $250.00 and you are now providing them a continuous RMR or Recurring Monthly Revenue stream which earns dealers thousands of dollars a month.
That was the beginning of the end of professional alarm monitoring and installation services for residential customers. Just like cell phones Free is not free you are paying for it often thousands over what the service cost the dealer.
Take monitoring some dealers are sending there accounts to All American in Florida.
Yes thats right the post card they recently sent out they are charging dealers only $2.50 cents a month
so out of $30.00 monitoring $ 28.50 is going right in the dealers pocket for what exactly? and All American is not alone there are others like Mason Monitoring offer cheap 3rd party monitoring as well .
Now for $30.00 are you getting included cellular or internet back up communication or interactive cameras and automation or discounted or free repairs ? Yes then it is worth it otherwise your just another cash cow for the alarm dealer.and see what those uniforms and flashy trucks are paid with.
Tired of paying all these excessive fees check around for a small alarm dealer in your area. who offers competitive monitoring and much better service than many big company's. Also consider Simply Safe a DIY product which offers a $15.00 a month no contract plan .
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