HKC VS Siemens App Discussion Stickey Temp

KoolKid

How do you define value?
Siemens via IP with GSM back-up sim costs under €20 per year polling notifications within a minute if you want. No annual charges no charges for apps.Smash & Grab alerts. Plus access to panel from any web browser should your phone be out of data coverage.
GSD with the same set up with GSM back-up sim costs under €20 per year polling notifications within 5 minutes if you want.Smash & grab alerts. No annual charges no charges for apps.
HKC with the same set up . €60 per year polling notifications 8 hours. €7.99 for every app you download. or €7 per month for notifications of poll fail after 90 minutes.

ckinane

Hi All,

With the HKC App and connected via my broadband.
Do I also need an register installer to set me up to the HKC securecomm cloud or can I do that myself with HKC.

Thanks
Cathal.

KoolKid

If you have engineer access I think you can set it up yourself.

ckinane

Thanks Koolkid,

I will see if I can as I do have Engineer access to my Alarm

altor

ckinane wrote: »

Hi All,

With the HKC App and connected via my broadband.
Do I also need an register installer to set me up to the HKC securecomm cloud or can I do that myself with HKC.

Thanks
Cathal.

If you have engineer access you can set it up yourself.

ckinane

Thanks Altor,

altor

ckinane wrote: »

Thanks Altor,

No problem ckinane

loublue82

Hi all,

I have a HKC home security system that operated with a prepay SIM and worked very well for us until the SIM was cancelled by the mobile provider because it wasn't topped up within 6 months (my bad). Instead of replacing the SIM, we were encouraged to move to the HKC app and managed SIM.
Only drawback is the service agreement, which will cost 140 per year!
Can anyone tell me why this is so expensive? Surely the running costs of keeping a SIM card topped up and providing the server for the communications don't warrant this kind of fee.
I am keen to go back to the old prepay method as this would cost us about 50 or less per year keeping the SIM topped up. Is having a mobile app to control the arm/disarm functions remotely REALLY that useful?? Interested to hear from users of this app about their experience with it and what it is costing them.

Evolution1

Who are you paying €140 ? ? ?

I have the app. It's very handy. You get voice alerts of any events you wish to know about.

If someone returns home and unsets the system you'll get a push notification and voice Alert to your phone saying " system unset ". There's videos on YouTube

KoolKid

€140 for an app & notifications?:eek::eek:
You are being way over charged! Which HKC system do you have. If its the older Securewatch I'd recommend upgrading your panel to another manufacturer . Most now offer free apps with remote access and free alerts.
At €140 a year you would soon have a new system paid for.

loublue82

KoolKid wrote: »

€140 for an app & notifications?:eek::eek:
You are being way over charged! Which HKC system do you have. If its the older Securewatch I'd recommend upgrading your panel to another manufacturer . Most now offer free apps with remote access and free alerts.
At €140 a year you would soon have a new system paid for.

Hi Koolkid.
The panel states, "complies with EN 50131 Grade 2 class II" and it's less than 2 years old. I don't feel that we need an upgrade at this point, but I am not convinced that the app + maintenance fee is the way to go - especially at the rate the security company who installed it are charging.

loublue82

Evolution1 wrote: »

Who are you paying €140 ? ? ?

I have the app. It's very handy. You get voice alerts of any events you wish to know about.

If someone returns home and unsets the system you'll get a push notification and voice Alert to your phone saying " system unset ". There's videos on YouTube

Hi Evolution1,
The security company who installed the system around 18months ago convinced my husband to upgrade to this app system and he paid them €150 fee for the system upgrade, plus €150* annual charge. If I was home I would have put a halt to it but they caught him on the hop. It's crazy money for what it is, particularly when our GMS text system was working fine in the first place.
*I checked the invoice and it's €150 for the annual fee, not €140 as originally stated. Gulp.

KoolKid

Something is not right there.
I understand it's a new system, but do the maths.
Hopefully you would get about 15 years out of the system. At €150 per year that's €2250. (that's not even taking increases into consideration, and there's bound to be some)
Spend your money on almost any other brand and you will have free self monitoring with alerts, free apps and free remote access to the system for the life of the system.
I think you have been sold something.....

2012paddy2012

loublue82 wrote: »

KoolKid wrote: »

140 for an app & notifications?:eek::eek:
You are being way over charged! Which HKC system do you have. If its the older Securewatch I'd recommend upgrading your panel to another manufacturer . Most now offer free apps with remote access and free alerts.
At 140 a year you would soon have a new system paid for.

Hi Koolkid.
The panel states, "complies with EN 50131 Grade 2 class II" and it's less than 2 years old. I don't feel that we need an upgrade at this point, but I am not convinced that the app + maintenance fee is the way to go - especially at the rate the security company who installed it are charging.

Have same system if you have engineer access..and a bit of knowledge.. can you set it up yourself? Why not just put in replacement sim in at end of current contract?

KoolKid

You could do that for text notifications but not the app.

2012paddy2012

Thks is the app basically just the same as looking at the log on RKP ..except you get the Info "live" with app....e.g. when someone comes in/out ....yr notified?

KoolKid

It's a bit more detailed. You get notifications of various events and you have full control of the system.
I don't understand why people are paying these charges. Most other makes of system offer these services for free.

loublue82

KoolKid wrote: »

Something is not right there.
I understand it's a new system, but do the maths.
Hopefully you would get about 15 years out of the system. At 150 per year that's 2250. (that's not even taking increases into consideration, and there's bound to be some)
Spend your money on almost any other brand and you will have free self monitoring with alerts, free apps and free remote access to the system for the life of the system.
I think you have been sold something.....

You are so right Koolkid. When you put it like that, considering the longterm costs, it's shocking.
I have spoken to the Security company this morning and I've insisted that they revert the system to it's pre-app, text-only configuration and refund us our money. I am taking no crap.
What an unholy rip off.
They'll take care of this either today or Monday.
To summarise, the Security company charged 150 to upgrade the software and callout fee, 150 annual service fee, and they had my husband sign a service agreement for 2 years. The app costs 8.99 in the app store, which just added insult to injury...
It's still unclear whether the service fee comes from HKC themselves or from the security company, or a combination of both. I could grill them about that, but I'm just glad to be getting rid of this lemon.

All this for an unessential piece of kit that I didn't even ask for. They got my husband good, I'll give them that!

2012paddy2012

KoolKid wrote: »

It's a bit more detailed. You get notifications of various events and you have full control of the system.
I don't understand why people are paying these charges. Most other makes of system offer these services for free.

Thks

loublue82

2012paddy2012 wrote: »

loublue82 wrote: »

KoolKid wrote: »

140 for an app & notifications?:eek::eek:
You are being way over charged! Which HKC system do you have. If its the older Securewatch I'd recommend upgrading your panel to another manufacturer . Most now offer free apps with remote access and free alerts.
At 140 a year you would soon have a new system paid for.

Hi Koolkid.
The panel states, "complies with EN 50131 Grade 2 class II" and it's less than 2 years old. I don't feel that we need an upgrade at this point, but I am not convinced that the app + maintenance fee is the way to go - especially at the rate the security company who installed it are charging.

Have same system if you have engineer access..and a bit of knowledge.. can you set it up yourself? Why not just put in replacement sim in at end of current contract?

Hi 2012paddy2012,

I would love if had engineer access, but I am a lowly homeowner with no knowledge of these systems. If I could have bought a replacement SIM and made the swap myself without calling these guys out, I would have done that in a heartbeat.
I read in a different thread that you can't share the engineer codes on Boards, and I understand why that is. They'd be damn handy though if any issues cropped up again!

KoolKid

loublue82 wrote: »

You are so right Koolkid. When you put it like that, considering the longterm costs, it's shocking.
I have spoken to the Security company this morning and I've insisted that they revert the system to it's pre-app, text-only configuration and refund us our money. I am taking no crap.
What an unholy rip off.
They'll take care of this either today or Monday.
To summarise, the Security company charged 150 to upgrade the software and callout fee, 150 annual service fee, and they had my husband sign a service agreement for 2 years. The app costs 8.99 in the app store, which just added insult to injury...
It's still unclear whether the service fee comes from HKC themselves or from the security company, or a combination of both. I could grill them about that, but I'm just glad to be getting rid of this lemon.

All this for an unessential piece of kit that I didn't even ask for. They got my husband good, I'll give them that!

So you didn't even get any new equipment????
The app charge is ott also IMO.
AFAIK no other manufacturers charge for the apps..
The annual charges go to HKC, but I don't think the €150 is correct there either.

loublue82

KoolKid wrote: »

loublue82 wrote: »

You are so right Koolkid. When you put it like that, considering the longterm costs, it's shocking.
I have spoken to the Security company this morning and I've insisted that they revert the system to it's pre-app, text-only configuration and refund us our money. I am taking no crap.
What an unholy rip off.
They'll take care of this either today or Monday.
To summarise, the Security company charged 150 to upgrade the software and callout fee, 150 annual service fee, and they had my husband sign a service agreement for 2 years. The app costs 8.99 in the app store, which just added insult to injury...
It's still unclear whether the service fee comes from HKC themselves or from the security company, or a combination of both. I could grill them about that, but I'm just glad to be getting rid of this lemon.

All this for an unessential piece of kit that I didn't even ask for. They got my husband good, I'll give them that!

So you didn't even get any new equipment????
The app charge is ott also IMO.
AFAIK no other manufacturers charge for the apps..
The annual charges go to HKC, but I don't think the 150 is correct there either.

No new equipment. Just a system upgrade and an instruction to download and pay for the app (correction, 7.99) and input our account details to start using it.
If I understood correctly from other threads, most people pay 60 annual fee to HKC, so 150 is extortionate in comparison.

KoolKid

Even the €60 fee is too much in my professional opinion. Other systems have free apps with free usage along with other features like quick network fail notifications.

loublue82

KoolKid wrote: »

Even the 60 fee is too much in my professional opinion. Other systems have free apps with free usage along with other features like quick network fail notifications.

I fully agree. Thanks for the conversation about this - it's been very helpful.

KoolKid

Your welcome. Unfortunately some companies prey on peoples lack of knowledge.
I'll bet most selling these HKC packages don't even offer or inform customers of the free alternatives.

fred funk }{

You're paying €150 per year which includes the sim charges and a service agreement? That sounds like very good value to me.

2012paddy2012

I'm paying 10 euro a year for the necessary notifications ..e.g. alarm event ... initially ..2 and event e.g. passing by a PIR...you know it's genuine.
02 sim card...two top ups ..5 e a time.
150 is dear if that's all you need for example.
Independent sim diallers not that dear and once off expense.
Depends what you want I suppose...think op was ripped off ,myself.

fred funk }{

2012paddy2012 wrote: »

I'm paying 10 euro a year for the necessary notifications ..e.g. alarm event ... initially ..2 and event e.g. passing by a PIR...you know it's genuine.
02 sim card...two top ups ..5 e a time.
150 is dear if that's all you need for example.
Independent sim diallers not that dear and once off expense.
Depends what you want I suppose...think op was ripped off ,myself.

How is it a rip off? If I'm reading it correctly, the op chose to include a service agreement for that price. That's very good value. As a supplier of these services myself, €150 for the hkc sim and contract is very good value considering a service call out charge can range from anything from €70 to €180.

Some installers in here offer similar services for far greater cost but will still jump at the chance to get a dig in when HKC are mentioned.

fred funk }{

KoolKid wrote: »

Your welcome. Unfortunately some companies prey on peoples lack of knowledge.
I'll bet most selling these HKC packages don't even offer or inform customers of the free alternatives.

Some of those free alternatives aren't very reliable in fairness. Plenty of call backs I'm hearing.

Evolution1

loublue82 wrote: »

No new equipment. Just a system upgrade and an instruction to download and pay for the app (correction, 7.99) and input our account details to start using it.
If I understood correctly from other threads, most people pay 60 annual fee to HKC, so 150 is extortionate in comparison.

You would have gotten a New GSM communicator in order to have the app.

The companies offering free apps and notifications are only going to be free when you connect them to your homes wifi. If your wifi goes down that's your notifications gone. The rumours of price increases can be applied to any system. There's nothing stopping any company from adding a charge.

The €60 covers the top-up of the HKC GSM SIM card which is constantly using data and the maintenance of the servers. You're real paying for a service which entitles you to complain should you have issues. You've no right to complain when using a free service. The HKC system will still Alert you to all system events in the event of a power fail unlike the free systems which will only do this when you pay a yearly fee for a GSM unit. You will pay around €60 per year possibly more to use other "FREE" systems when using a GSM unit to be alerted by text and push notification.

I don't agree with the app charge.