Some questions about a self monitored alarm.

dakan

Hi Folks

I'm looking to replace my non-monitored alarm system this summer. I'm looking at self-monitoring options but I have a few questions I'm hoping someone can help me with before I go contacting companies.

I've never paid for monitoring and don't want to begin paying a monthly fee. I've read here on Boards that HKC alarms will allow for self-monitoring on a smart phone but there will always be a monitoring fee. Is that correct?

I've read that GSM alarms allow you to put in your own SIM and therefore does not have any monitoring fee. How exactly does that work? Do GSM simply ring or txt programmed numbers or does it allow for more functionality like turning the alarm on and off from a smart phone or viewing webcams?

Does anybody have any recommendations for any self monitored alarms that doesn't require a monthly monitoring fee?

I appreciate any replies.
Thanks.

KoolKid

Hi The HKC Fee is correct . There is also a fee for every app you download .
See the sticky here for some very good information.
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057394782

There are many systems out there that also have free options available with apps free to download also.Shopping around here will definitely save you money
GSD & Siemens Vanderbilt would be some popular options with many installers.

2011

dakan wrote: »

Does anybody have any recommendations for any self monitored alarms that doesn't require a monthly monitoring fee?

I appreciate any replies.
Thanks.

I would recommend HKC. I am not an alarm installer so I have no axe to grind.

The self monitoring option with HKC costs €5 per month. There is a one off fee to purchase the app, from memory this cost me €8

The €5 per month fee does not bother me. My only concern is that this may rise to an amount that I am not willing to pay. If this were to happen I would explore other options. However there is always the risk that services that are free now with competitors will incur a fee at a later date.

The downside of going with a system that has an app with free monitoring is that these systems are (in my opinion) of lesser quality than the HKC or in the case with the Siemens (high quality) offering only installed by a comparatively small number of installers. Less competition tends to result in higher prices. So what you save on monitoring may be lost on installation costs. Swings & roundabouts.

The HKC has other advantages that few other systems can offer such as motion detectors with built in cameras.

In summary I wouldn’t advise basing the selection of your intruder alarm system on the cost of running an app. Also treat advice from people with “skin in the game” accordingly. Yes advice can be excellent, but will also have a commercial slant.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

dakan

Thanks 2011 and Koolkid

I'll do more reading up on this. I didn't want another monthly bill but €5 isn't bad. I assumed from asking around that monitoring was in the €25-30 range.

I won't write off HKC so and do a bit more research.
Thanks again.

Seve OB

HKC used to send you a text if your alarm was hooked up to a landline. Told you what zone the alarm was triggered. No fee.

Then they copped on and started to charge
I'm not sure how they changed it, but they did.

But even if you don't sign up, when alarm is triggered you still get a call. I've no longer got an Eircom line so can't exactly remember what the call did, but you knew your alarm was ringing

2011

Seve OB wrote: »

HKC used to send you a text if your alarm was hooked up to a landline. Told you what zone the alarm was triggered. No fee.

Then they copped on and started to charge
I'm not sure how they changed it, but they did.

But even if you don't sign up, when alarm is triggered you still get a call. I've no longer got an Eircom line so can't exactly remember what the call did, but you knew your alarm was ringing

I have no landline and I can assure you that I get texts as does my partner. This is covered by the €5 per month fee.

Seve OB

2011 wrote: »

I have no landline and I can assure you that I get texts as does my partner. This is covered by the €5 per month fee.

Read my post again.

This was before they brought in a subscription model

kub

Seve OB wrote: »

HKC used to send you a text if your alarm was hooked up to a landline. Told you what zone the alarm was triggered. No fee.

Then they copped on and started to charge
I'm not sure how they changed it, but they did.

But even if you don't sign up, when alarm is triggered you still get a call. I've no longer got an Eircom line so can't exactly remember what the call did, but you knew your alarm was ringing

No HKC did not cop on.
Eircom provided a service for years where upon it was possible to transmit text messages from landlines to mobiles.
HKC came out with a text dialler which functioned through this Eircom service.
Eircom decided to discontinue this service, therefore it was no longer possible to transmit a text through a landline and this affected alarm systems which used to transmit text massages.


So blame Eircom not HKC

Seve OB

kub wrote: »

No HKC did not cop on.
Eircom provided a service for years where upon it was possible to transmit text messages from landlines to mobiles.
HKC came out with a text dialler which functioned through this Eircom service.
Eircom decided to discontinue this service, therefore it was no longer possible to transmit a text through a landline and this affected alarm systems which used to transmit text massages.


So blame Eircom not HKC

Fair play. I wasn't exactly sure of the technicality as to how it worked.

So I guess when Eircom dropped the facility, HKC stepped up to the mark and replaced the service with their own version.

But eircom did still make a call instead of sending the texts, for free. We just changed broadband to Virgin so that's why we dropped the line

cupcake queen

dakan wrote: »

Thanks 2011 and Koolkid

I'll do more reading up on this. I didn't want another monthly bill but €5 isn't bad. I assumed from asking around that monitoring was in the €25-30 range.

I won't write off HKC so and do a bit more research.
Thanks again.

Just to add, we have a HKC and we are charged 60 euro once a year for the monitoring, the 5 euro is not charged per month. So it is not an extra monthly bill as such.

kub

Seve OB wrote: »

Fair play. I wasn't exactly sure of the technicality as to how it worked.

So I guess when Eircom dropped the facility, HKC stepped up to the mark and replaced the service with their own version.

But eircom did still make a call instead of sending the texts, for free. We just changed broadband to Virgin so that's why we dropped the line

You are correct, HKC did indeed step in with a solution, this was for installers to connect the Text Dialler to a HKC server and they would transmit the texts but as they were not a phone company and not as such getting anything from it, they had to charge for it as their resources were being used, if i recall correctly though the money was small.


Yes Eir do indeed make a call when the alarm activates, i suppose that deters people from potential suing them in the event of not been notified of an activation if the worst thing happened.

KoolKid

cupcake queen wrote: »

Just to add, we have a HKC and we are charged 60 euro once a year for the monitoring, the 5 euro is not charged per month. So it is not an extra monthly bill as such.

€60 per year is the €5 per month paid in a single installment..

2011

KoolKid wrote: »

€60 per year is the €5 per month paid in a single installment..

:D my thoughts exactly!

Thoie

I have a HKC, and my understanding is that the €60pa is the cost of keeping the SIM in the alarm active.

I paid for the app as well, and have the "notifications" on that app set to priority (so it will always sound, even if I've got the phone set to do not disturb). The app only works when you have data (or wifi). For example, I was in the US with data switched off last week, and was not in a wifi zone, so I didn't get the app alarm message when someone checking the house for me failed to turn off the alarm.

The texts come through as long as you have phone signal (not necessarily data). In my case I got 3 in a row:
Thoie's alarm
Date Time
Entry fault

Thoie's alarm
Date Time
Zone Hall Beam

Thoie's alarm
Date Time
Unset by User

The time stamps were all within seconds of each other, so I knew that my friend had opened the front door (Entry fault), failed to enter the code, in turn setting off the PIR in the hall (Hall Beam), and then eventually, amid the cacophony, finally put the right code in. I was expecting my friend to drop over around that time, so I wasn't concerned.

If I didn't see the last "unset" text, or wasn't expecting anyone to let themselves in, then I'd have known that someone had entered by the front door, set off the hall beam, and as further messages came in from other PIRs, I'd have known whereabouts in the house they were. At that point I could have asked family/friends at home to call the gardaí.

cupcake queen

KoolKid wrote: »

€60 per year is the €5 per month paid in a single installment..

Yes.
My point was just that it is a monthly fee but you are not charged monthly. I took the op's first post to mean that he did not want a monthly bill. I see now he said monthly fee.

Seve OB

Thoie wrote: »

The time stamps were all within seconds of each other, so I knew that my friend had opened the front door (Entry fault), failed to enter the code, in turn setting off the PIR in the hall (Hall Beam), and then eventually, amid the cacophony, finally put the right code in. I was expecting my friend to drop over around that time, so I wasn't concerned.

If I didn't see the last "unset" text, or wasn't expecting anyone to let themselves in, then I'd have known that someone had entered by the front door, set off the hall beam, and as further messages came in from other PIRs, I'd have known whereabouts in the house they were. At that point I could have asked family/friends at home to call the garda

sounds to me like you don't have your alarm codes et up right. you can give everyone their own code so you would know exactly who has reset

Thoie

Seve OB wrote: »

sounds to me like you don't have your alarm codes et up right. you can give everyone their own code so you would know exactly who has reset

"User" in that case was the name of the person who'd unset it. A few "users" were set up by the installer at the start. Can I add my own additional users myself, or does the installer have to do it?

-jellybelly-

I got an alarm from covert security. You download an app so you can remotely arm/disarm/reset. The alarm comes through as an email and there is no monthly or yearly charge. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcsPTqPwqgQ

Seve OB

Thoie wrote: »

"User" in that case was the name of the person who'd unset it. A few "users" were set up by the installer at the start. Can I add my own additional users myself, or does the installer have to do it?

you can do it yourself
quite easy
but you need engineer code, you should have it

Thoie

Seve OB wrote: »

you can do it yourself
quite easy
but you need engineer code, you should have it

Sorry OP for pulling this off topic, but thanks Seve OB. I don't have the engineer code, but will talk to my installer about it.

KoolKid

cupcake queen wrote: »

Yes.
My point was just that it is a monthly fee but you are not charged monthly. I took the op's first post to mean that he did not want a monthly bill. I see now he said monthly fee.

You can pay monthly or annually its all the one. I'd take it from most people that they don't want the recurring payments whether they be weekly, monthly or annually.

KoolKid

-jellybelly- wrote: »

I got an alarm from covert security. You download an app so you can remotely arm/disarm/reset. The alarm comes through as an email and there is no monthly or yearly charge. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcsPTqPwqgQ

This is the case with many systems. HKC are more the exception than the norm. Most are free with fast polling to notify you of a problem quickly.

Idioteque

I have a HKC with gsm dialler and I don’t pay any subscription fees to them . Installer put a prepaid sim in that I provided and I just have to top up phone every 6months with €5 to keep it active.

Maybe their app provides some extra functionality or it’s just nicer to look at but I get alerts sent to me by text and can do a load of stuff via text.

kub

Idioteque wrote: »

I have a HKC with gsm dialler and I don’t pay any subscription fees to them . Installer put a prepaid sim in that I provided and I just have to top up phone every 6months with €5 to keep it active.

Maybe their app provides some extra functionality or it’s just nicer to look at but I get alerts sent to me by text and can do a load of stuff via text.

Sounds like you have the GSM Q, any SIM can be fitted to this unit and people can top it up as they like.


But that is never mentioned as that goes against a certain posters agenda.

dakan

Thanks for all the replies folks, its all very informative. I'll start contacting some companies this weekend and go from there. Anyone know if there is a rate-my-tradesman type review site for alarm companies?