Alarm System Monitoring

Special Offer Ends Soon

For domestic or commercial properties (up to 16 zones)

Alarm (and optional CCTV) Monitoring. This is a potentially confusing topic.

Why confusing I hear you ask? Because from my experience I have found that no two security firms charge in the same way, making comparison between our fees and another’s near impossible.

Some companies charge annually in advance – some monthly. Some include service and for others this is extra. Some companies charge for call outs, some include a number of call outs and others include the calls in the fee. Then you have the issue of parts – included or excluded? For that matter, what is included AND excluded? 

These are very important questions as I am sure you will agree. But you have not yet considered what type of monitoring you need! 

Let us start with what types of monitoring exist. There are lots of ways to notify you and others of an alarm activation.  

You might have, or are considering, a “Bells Only” system that sounds some form of siren if the alarm activates. But will anyone do anything? Unfortunately, these days the answer is probably NO. But “Bells Only” systems do still give you excellent deterrent value. 

You can have a “Speech Dialler” or “SMS Messenger” fitted to the alarm. These call or text selected numbers following activation of the system. The advantage is that they have no subscription. The dis-advantage is that they are very unreliable. Over time we have fitted several hundred of these and to my knowledge only a couple are still in service. They have been removed or changed to monitoring following problems. 

Next we enter the monitoring options.

You start with “Digital Communicator” monitoring. This behaves in a very similar way to a computer’s modem. If the alarm activates, the system simply picks up the telephone, calls the central station and notifies them of the event. This is a fast and accurate method of transmission BUT if the phone line fails or is cut, the system will not communicate. 

To protect against the above you might consider a “Dualcom”. As the name suggests, this has two transmitters. The one uses your telephone line and the other uses a GSM (mobile phone) transmitter. If the one communication path fails then the other takes over.

A step up from “Dualcom” is “Redcare GSM”. Redcare is a name that has considerable Police and Insurance recognition. Redcare is in fact the most secure transmission method in the world so has rightly earned such recognition. Redcare uses a specially prepared British Telecom line to continuously monitor the line from both the alarms end and the central station. If the line is cut both are immediately notified. On top of this is a GSM (mobile phone) transmitter that takes over transmission. If you are a commercial property or even domestic with high value items, you might find that Redcare is already a requirement of your insurance policy. Check Now! 

Other types of monitoring are available that use high powered radio or microwave transmission systems. Some ranges also offer IP (Internet Protocol) transmitters that utilise existing Broadband/ISDN internet connections to send activation signals. 

The above are simply methods of getting your alarm’s signals from the property to the central station. The central station will then notify you, your nominated keyholders, Police, Fire Brigade, etc of the event in question. Who they notify and under what circumstances does depend on various conditions – please contact us for more information on this topic.

We use EMCS Ltd for our central station requirements. Use the link on our links page to view their site. To summarise EMCS quickly – they provide a superb service, are very efficient and courteous. I have used the services of a number of other central stations that could learn a thing or two here!

I am sure that you will agree that this is a fairly complex topic to cover. For pricing examples I am simply going to detail our rates for “Digital Communicator” monitoring. Please phone or drop us an email for details on"IP, Dualcom” or “Redcare” Monitoring.

What is included in the package?

• Digital Communicator Monitoring

• 24-Hour Telephone Response all year from EMCS Ltd to your alarms activations

• Notification to Police or Fire Services*

• All central station fees

• 24-Hour Telephone Assistance*

• Engineer Call-Outs*

• All Labour Charges*

• Parts Cover*

• Remote Diagnostics of System (should a fault occur)*

• 2x Routine Services of Your Alarm Every Year*

SPECIAL OFFER - All orders received at this time will receive monitoring and maintenance at only £15 per month on any contract length (minimum 12-months - maximum 6-years) PLUS you will receive the first 3-months of Monitoring and Maintenance completely FREE of charge!

* Price includes VAT for domestic customers but excludes VAT for business customers. Police/Fire notification subject to conditions/ACPO approval and may incur an application fee. Call-outs are included in normal working hours. Outside working hours we would normally remotely connect to your system and isolate any problem – no charge is made for this service. A call would then be booked for within working hours. A fee would be chargeable if you required an engineer to physically call the premises after hours. Parts cover excludes accidental or malicious damage and any consumable components. Remote diagnostics requires a system with such features built in. Price is for systems with no more that 16 active detection devices fitted. £50 discount is only applicable for clients signing up for the installation of an alarm and monitoring at the same time before the cut off date shown - excludes Grade 3 alarm package deals.