Alarm Systems: Not Just For The Wealthy Anymore!

by E-NewsCast Team
December 5th, 2009

Over the last 22 years that I have been involved in the securityalarm industry, I have seen quite an evolution. Changes have notonly taken place in what type of equipment is available, butalso in how the consumer buys and use’s the equipment.When I first started in the business, alarms where used mostlyfor commercial applications. Businesses had to have them towatch over their product while they were closed. Insurancecompanies made sure their clients had one installed.Residential alarm systems were owned mostly by well to doprofessionals who could afford such a luxury. As the yearsprogressed people in or near big cities were getting burglarizedand wanted to send future burglars to the neighbor’s house byinstalling a system in their home.In the nineties large alarm companies speculated that thepotential of the residential market was not being realized.Homeowners were not willing to layout thousands of dollars toprotect their color televisions and stereos because that wouldbe like buying them again anyway. Homeowners would rather gambleon the hope that they would not be victimized anytime soon.As crime increased almost daily and alarm companies madepurchasing a system affordable, the residential market grewconsiderably. Many more homeowners were realizing the peace ofmind they could have by protecting their things while they wereout. Many that didn’t purchase a system were getting burglarizedand would then of course pay for a high cost system withouthesitation, so that they could prevent the inevitable return.What happened next in my opinion is the biggest change theindustry has undergone. As more homes were being burglarized andchanges in lifestyles allowed people to come home at differenthours of the day, the terrifying prospect of walking in on aburglary in progress became all too possible. Burglars alsobecame so desperate and brazen that they started to invade homeswhile they were occupied. These types of burglars started tocommit crimes of a much worse nature against the homeowners thatconfronted them. In reaction, alarm consultants began to changetheir focus: alarm systems should be designed and utilized toprotect people first and property second.These days most anyone can afford an alarm system. Arm yourselfwith the knowledge of how to get the best deal and mostprotection for your money. There should be no reason that youallow yourself to become a statistic if you don’t want to beone. The hardest thing you may have to overcome is the feelingthat you live in a safe neighborhood. What does a safeneighborhood look like? Is it possible you may be confusing anice neighborhood with a safe one?Do you need a system? – Very few people that I have met in mymany years of security consulting knew before they wereburglarized that they needed a system. For those that did havethe unfortunate experience of being victimized, I would actuallyhave to talk them out of buying more than they needed. I tookgreat pride in my ability to calm down the customers enough tolearn how to properly protect their family and home from futureinvasion. This approach always made my clients very appreciativeof my services and would generally result in a long term- userof our monitoring service and in many referrals.For those that had not yet been burglarized, I found that theconsultations started with their feeling that security was justa luxury they were considering as a tool to protect theirthings. I then would show them exactly what was going on intheir neighborhoods in the way of burglaries and thealways-unexpected number of sexual predators. This would alwayssurprise the homeowners, unless they already knew that they hadmoved into an area that was not so safe.Most people believe that the lovely neighborhood they chose tolive in is safe. Think about it. If a burglar is going to breakinto a house, don’t they want to steal the most valuables theycan on each invasion? Doesn’t the perpetrator of more violentcrimes want to prey on an unsuspecting victim? Please don’t beso naive as to confuse your nice neighborhood with a safe one.Many people in your neighborhood fall into a false sense ofsecurity and don’t even lock the front door while they are homeduring the day. How easy is that for someone to enter through?After showing a potential client how a home security systemwould protect their family and themselves from several differenttypes of crimes as well as assisting them in emergencysituations, the necessity of having a system would becomeobvious to them.If you can afford to install a security system before somethinghappens to you or your loved ones, or before you have to findout what it’s like for some creep to rifle through your personalbelongings, do it now! You will get much more out of your systemif it prevents these crimes because you are likely to spendwhatever you have to after the fact.Does a free security system really exist? – “YES” there are suchthings as a free security system on the market these days andthey can even be of the highest quality if you know what to askfor. The largest security firms own their own monitoringstations and are looking for the monitoring revenues as theirmajor source of income. The Corporation will usually run thecommercial side of the security business and use “AuthorizedDealers” to take care of the residential side of the business.The authorized dealers are independently owned companies thatmust meet the standards of the main dealership. Many of theseauthorized dealers are big enough residential security companiesto do systems solely for the main corporation. The authorizeddealer will purchase the equipment they like to work with andinstall it for you to their quality standards. After the installis complete the authorized dealer will submit your paperwork anda request for funding to the main corporation. The maincorporation applies a sliding pay scale to your installationbased on your credit score and your happiness over the installwhen they call you for a quality assurance call. The bestinstall coupled with the good credit rated customers is fundedat the highest dollar amount because the monitoring corporationknows you’re likely to stay with them for many years. The dealermakes plenty of money for the install and the corporation goesto work on keeping you happy so that they can earn yourmonitoring business well past the agreement period. They arealso happy to have their warning sign in your yard, as this isthe best kind of advertising.Because everybody wins when this type of system is offered, theauthorized dealer is willing to give you most or all of theequipment you need at no cost to you. And I do mean give it toyou because you own the system, it is usually not a lease. Youwill have to sign up for a period of monitoring to get thesefree systems, but the monitoring is something that you need andwould be paying for even if you already had a system. So thesystem really is free.It is with this type of program that the opportunity to workwith the best performing dealer in a given authorized dealerprogram plays to your advantage. The dealers already get a deepdiscount on the systems they buy because of the volume ofbusiness the manufacturers get from the main corporation. Theones that place the most systems will get additional savings onthe higher quality systems and components. This means that ifyou search out the best performing authorized dealer in yourarea you will have saved hundreds or even thousands of dollars,if you obtain knowledge of how the security industry works.I have been going off on the benefits and exciting offerings ofthe large promotional dealer programs. In all fairness to theindependent mom and pop companies, I would like you to knowthere are some benefits to dealing with them if you have aquality company in your town.For some consumers it is much more important to support theircommunity businesses than saving a buck by dealing with thelarge corporations. Although I doubt a small Alarm Company willbe able to give you a free security system and stay in businessvery long. I do believe a smart company can make you a greatoffer by adjusting in different areas. Some of these benefitsare as follows:They can offer you a lower monitoring rate and still use theservices of the large UL listed monitoring companies.They will be more likely to respond rapidly to your future needsas they are relying on local reputation for future business.They will monitor your alarm on a month to month basis without along term monitoring agreement.They will be able to support you and your business, as they willbe more likely to spend the money they made in their owncommunity.All of the things you need to learn about quality of equipment,how the device’s work and agreement negotiations apply to thesmall mom and pop alarm companies as well as the large securityfirms. Take time to learn these things, by accessing consumeradvocate information sources. Your newly acquired knowledge willgo a long way with the local company and the largestdealerships, who if they want to earn your business, will offeryou the best quality they have on their shelves.

Popularity: 5% [?]