ADT Contract ending

[bellman]

I agree. I paid that to //.National Installer.// for a NEW Galaxy 60 to be installed as a replacement for an old Telecom Security panel. A 3 year old Galaxy 8 would be worth around £30 on eBay - so like you I fail to see where this price is in any way to your advantage.

the price isn't just for the panel, it's for the complete system banghead

As for monitoring, think about ditching anything that involves bells only or a central control. I've decided to opt for the Mevier SD2 voice dialler which can also send you or any other nominated mobile an SMS text giving full details of the alert and the affected zones, giving YOU the opportunity to interprate the data and decide to call out the police or return home. Because we're now more contactible, the need for central monitoring is only of use if you've got nobody who can do if for you!

yes the sd2 can send you SMS messages but it can't tell you what zone has tripped, nor can it have any possible way of telling if you've actually recieved the SMS or not.

Also, you CAN'T call the police as they won't attend to unconfirmed systems that are not maintained by an approved installer. and if you decide to attend yourself, what happens if they break in when your on holiday or at work / in the pub?

Just my thoughts.

Regards

Bellman

[Adi]

You cant phone the coppers coz a speech dialler has contacted you.

[Guest CHRISATBSS]

and the police would not go out to your property because you have told them your alarm has activated unless you are at the property and can see them in the property this is why you have a monitored alarm by a central station (ARC) which intern have a urn with the police for your property

With text messages you know how unreliable that is. Example christmas time or new year when evey one is sending messages and then someone breaks into your property message cant get through because the network has crashed due to the amount of messages but thats ok because the money you saved on monitoring you can replace the stuff the intuders pinched

chris

[whistle]

Why fit a SD2 to a galaxy 60 for sending sms text when the coms mod that came with the //.National Installer.// galaxy 60 will do it anyway??

[bellman]

Why fit a SD2 to a galaxy 60 for sending sms text when the coms mod that came with the //.National Installer.// galaxy 60 will do it anyway??

We both know that Whistle, but some people don't so they go and buy unnecessary equipment

On a lighter note at least then they could get zonal information as well as date time B)

Regards

Bellman

[Guest]

The plummeting price of hardware means that peoples expectations of overall cost are driven down in proportion, leaving little time to do a job both properly and profitably.

Depends what area you're in. The above is true for smaller companies and home PC's but a network admin doing more than plonking PC's on a desk from time to time can earn 'reasonable' money. Rates have dropped for proper IT staff over the last few years though.

[Zak]

For small networks (sub 10 PC's and a server) decent IT companies charge around £300 + VAT per month for maintenance (whether you need support or not, with maybe a visit per month to dust the machines).

To have an IT guy (someone qualified to work on servers and all associated peripherals) come in to work on said network (without any maintenance agreement in place) costs easily £4-500 per day.

[Guest hofmeister]

For small networks (sub 10 PC's and a server) decent IT companies charge around £300 + VAT per month for maintenance (whether you need support or not, with maybe a visit per month to dust the machines).

To have an IT guy (someone qualified to work on servers and all associated peripherals) come in to work on said network (without any maintenance agreement in place) costs easily £4-500 per day.

i'm glad my comments on "bells only" have stiumlated some debate.....

to summarise:-

computer equipment has gone done in price significantly in the past 3 years - used to be around £2000 for a PC now less than £500 including a flat screen monitor (from Dell).

the Galaxy8 is a tiny PCB which, frankly, can only cost £10 to make. the rest of the system is hardly complex either - PIR's cost £20-£40 etc etc.

saying that an alarm system is more complex than a computer system is nonsense...

so how can a galaxy8 really cost £650?

is there really much difference between a Galaxy and Scantronix/Texecom systems?

the alarm companies aim to make all their money on the "service" and cover their costs, as much as they can, on the installs.

i'd love WAtchdog or someone independant to do a review of how long it takes monitoring companies to respond to an alarm going off - i agree with the chap from Scotland - do it yourself and save £26/mth. paying that doesn't guarantee that you won't be burgled at all.

i know that the installers want to protect their businesses but joe public has access to so much information nowadays (like this forum) that we can now make informed choices rather than believing the sales patter from the likes of //.National Installer.//.

[morph]

i'm glad my comments on "bells only" have stiumlated some debate.....

to summarise:-

computer equipment has gone done in price significantly in the past 3 years - used to be around £2000 for a PC now less than £500 including a flat screen monitor (from Dell).

the Galaxy8 is a tiny PCB which, frankly, can only cost £10 to make. the rest of the system is hardly complex either - PIR's cost £20-£40 etc etc.

saying that an alarm system is more complex than a computer system is nonsense...

so how can a galaxy8 really cost £650?

is there really much difference between a Galaxy and Scantronix/Texecom systems?

the alarm companies aim to make all their money on the "service" and cover their costs, as much as they can, on the installs.

i'd love WAtchdog or someone independant to do a review of how long it takes monitoring companies to respond to an alarm going off - i agree with the chap from Scotland - do it yourself and save £26/mth. paying that doesn't guarantee that you won't be burgled at all.

i know that the installers want to protect their businesses but joe public has access to so much information nowadays (like this forum) that we can now make informed choices rather than believing the sales patter from the likes of //.National Installer.//.

my day job is to build computers so it cannot be that complicated to connect an alarm can it? - apologies to the pro installers out there........

You are not just paying for the equipment, you have installation, overheads, support, knowledge etc.

Yes you can do it yourself and get your neighbour to attend when it goes off..............out of intetest I assume you have factored in Public liabillity insurance etc for when you neighbour gets his head kicked in and is off work for weeks etc.

There is more to security systems that simply buying a box and sticking it on the wall.

Yes you may rather do your own thing than believe the sales patter of //.National Installer.//, rest assured that what they tell will be correct and as the largest installer of security systems in the UK, you can bet that they see a lot more of crime than you do and as a point of fact their patter can't be that bad as you bought from them in the first place.

[norman]

Comparing the cost of a PC to the cost of a control panel is a non starter, the selling price is a complex calculation taking, amongst other things into account the cost of development, the amount of sales expected and the competition around etc etc.