House Alarm

We are shopping for a new alarm system and wondering what product, model, etc. that you have used before that is reliable, robust, quality, no false alarms and do you know of a reputable company that is reasonable in price.

Thanks:)

Is this to install yourself or did you need it installed & monitored by a security company ?

Also, how complex is the setup to be ? Several different zones with a multitude of sensors, a few keypads and a large family worth of user accounts each with different 'rights' or does it only have to be relatively simple with only a few sensors, a single keypad and one basic code (not that the keypads or codes are really anything difficult to sort out anyway) ?

I have used a system from Valet in Tullamarine in both our home and at my daughters place ( I think they are also in the Eastern Suburbs). Frank Vella at Tulla is very helpful and the systems have been reliable over the 6+ years.

I installed both myself but they can organise installation. Also will arrange monitoring at about a dollar a day. The monitoring company has been very reliable in our experience.,

No association other than being a satisfied customer.

Hi There

I have used the Clipsal Homesafe 5400 system on two places now and have been happy with it. It has a dialer so that it can be monitored etc. My main concern was false alarms and I have not had any over 7 years of use.

Does anyone take any notice of alarms going off these days. My friend has a cleaning business in Sydney and on many occasions the owners of the houses where he cleans have forgotten to turn off the alarm or forgot to change the number for him to gain access to the building and when this has happened and he has set the alarm off. He has never had anyone come to the house to see what was going on. Only on one occasion did he have a phone call from the back to base people and he told them he was the cleaner and the owners had forgot to turn the alarm off that morning and they were happy with that explanation. Nobody came to the house.
In one of the houses where this happened, he actually did the clean which took about an hour and although the alarm was going off continually. Nobody came near the house.

I have seen so many alarms going off and nobody seems to take any notice of them any more. Same with car alarms in car parks nobody seems to care enough to find out what is going on.
Maybe just the blue light is the way to go that would probably deter would be thieves from breaking in. I mean why take a chance with a house that appears to have an alarm when there are plenty without them.

Tend to agree but they aren't that expensive really and I like knowing that mine is set up to call my mobile ... so I can have soemone check the house if I'm away.

It's one thing I was glad to leave behind when we left Sydney. No-one here has car alarms either, except for the bloody tourists.

Re people checking alarms, IMHO alarms aren't to get other people's attention, they're to scare off people that shouldn't be there.

Our neighbour's alarm went off 3 times on Saturday morning, and we did actually knock on the door to check, but the poor guys were inside (and deaf!) trying to stop the false alarm. Ended up cutting the power completely, and to the battery box!

Hi guys,

Little explanation on monitoring on alarm systems.

1st thing to realise is that monitoring is that monitoring, the alarm system sends a signal to a base and the personal by law are to take action on that alarm within 3 Min's 1 min for a high priority Duress hold up.

What they will do is follow the instructions that are set up by you.
normally it will be ring the premises first ask for a pin or codeword if the person cant answear that question they will then ring the people on a contact list normally 3 contacts for most households can be more if you wish until they get someone to either attend or to give further instructions send a patrol car request police etc ask the sales person what police would do in case of the alarm going off If they cant answear tell them to come back when they do.:no:

If you put people on that list you must advise them what you would like them to do and if they are comfortable with it.

Things to be aware of and questions to ask the sales person signing you up.

How much will it cost to get a patrol car to attend an alarm and what is the average time that they can get to a site as this can be any time from 5 Min's to 1 hour most will give you an average of 20 Min's but this can change due to storms etc.

Will the police attend if the alarm is going off, depending on the state NSW QLD VIC SA WA normally police wont attend a single activation some wont even attend multiple unless you attend with them and if its new years or something else forget it they wont attend.

Keep your contacts up to date and also make sure a couple of people have keys whilst away just in case something gos wrong and it normally will do if your away.

Also be aware that security and police cant and wont enter a property unless they have cause to do so.

Pet sensitive alarms well yes they can work but then can just be a pain in the ass get a dog better then an alarm.

Don't leave your windows open and turn your alarm on you neighbours wont be very happy.

The battery backup for in case of a blackout or a thief turning off the power in most system's is good for three hours most don't recharge so they need to be replaced don't change it unless you are sure of what you are doing also ask if the type of system will automatically recharge the battery before you buy it and get the sales person to put that in the contract.

One last thing pay your phone bill you cant send signals to the base if you don't have a phone line that gos the same for mobile units.

Alarm systems are a deterrent they wont stop a good thief I could take one down with no signals in 2mins.

So much more I could add any questions send me a PM and I will try to help.

Willy

i'm just got a crow alarm installed with the dual core sensers so that there is no false alarms
An alarm is only good if you use it all the time we have a stay mode and a home mode the stay mode means that we can have the alarm on at night and the home is for when we leave the house to date it has been great except for when i forgot that i had it on its very loud but it came with two remotes so very easy to turn off in a hurry .i see it as piece of mind and a deterent so the house next door will get done over not mine .

Rob

I have a back to base and it gives me great piece of mind
When we fitted our system 12 years ago ( after a break in to the shed ....yeah I know :doh: ) the best advice was motion sensors in the sheds and the roof cavity as well as rooms , and front and rear door magnetic switches and a panic switch
The stay zone is the roof cavity, sheds and front and rear door switches , the away zone is everything
The installers wanted to have a 25 second delay to get to the alarm panel but I made them make it 45 secs which means you don't have to run or stress ,
If you go for a panic switch then go for one that needs to be pressed at least twice in 5 seconds to cover accidents
It also helps if all your :2tsup: windows have steel pins that lock them in place 6" open or closed