Not Happy with Alarm Force
Alarm Force is cheap but there are some serous bugs in the system. I initially went with Alarm Force because of the commercials, the low monthly cost, free installation and that the system is wireless so I would not need to run wires. When I had mine installed about 6 months ago (I paid an additional $700 for extra sensors, smoke detectors and 2 keypads so I don’t use my cordless phone to operate the system). The installer placed the receiving unit right beside my wireless router (at the time I was informed the Alarm Force receiving unit needed to be close to where the phone line comes into my home). The system seemed to work fine until I came home from work about a month later and my front door was kicked in. I called alarm force and they had not received an alarm. After 5 calls to their technical department, we figured out the wireless router was preventing the receiving unit from receiving signals from the sensors. I moved the Alarm Force receiving unit to another room and away from the wireless router. The Alarm Force installer had already been to my home 2X to repair my system previously. The components have obviously been used before they came into my home. I argued that the installer should have tested the system before he left and questioned his qualifications. Alarm Force backed their installer. I also questioned why the installer did not wear a uniform, did not have anything showing he worked for Alarm Force and why drove a rusty old car that leaked fluids on my driveway. I tried to get out of the 3 year contract but Alarm Force refused and no one would let me talk to a manager. Then, last month my back door opened around 3 am (I have no idea how it opened). The door chime woke me up but the alarm did not go off. To be honest, walking through a dark house ½ asleep looking for an intruder and waiting for Alarm Force to come on with 2 way voice communication as back-up that never happens is really crappy. The door that opened is set for instant alarm in the “home” mode and the alarm was definitely on. Also, I pay for cell back-up and if my phone line is cut Alarm Force informed me that they will notify me immediately. Well, the cell back-up does not work because the cell signal isn’t strong enough (ironically I live in a major city centre) and the phone line cut option does not work either. My wife accidentally unplugged the phone line from the wall to the unit for 4 weeks. Alarm force never notified us that the phone line was disconnected. Alarm force is still not sure why this option doesn’t work but they continue to charge me the extra fees. So basically, the only thing worse in my opinion to not having and home alarm is having a home alarm that you think works and actually doesn’t. I’m new to the home alarm thing and when my contract expires I will be looking for another provider. Maybe skip experiencing Alarm Force and roll the dice on another company.
Alarm Force not work
Put in a new alarm system and it works great, we’ve set it off a few times on purpose just to see…ha Our batteries have a 4-5 year life and we can replace all of them ourselves. Great customer service too. Alarm Force is nothing but old equipment that doesn’t work half of the time and that you are responsible for testing once a month or so they say. They put our box in the cupboard, we could hardly hear it! The techs installing our new system looked at us like we were nuts when we asked them how often we should be testing..a good alarm system will let you know via keyboard when a sensor battery is low.. Alarm Force never did, just stopped working and one of our door sensors never worked no matter what we did to it. The charge for them to come and look at it was crazy so we just left it and put our 130-pound Rottweiler and his bed there instead. Alarm Force is not very pet-friendly either. In general I am not a tech geek or anything but this alarm system is a bunch of crap and a ripoff. I would not recommend it to anyone! I only remain anonymous ’cause I don’t have a google account, I would gladly give my name…
Another Alarm Company
Alarm Force customer for 7 years now. ADT for 3 years prior, Brinks 2 years before that, and Monotronics 1 year before that. Let me just say that these are some nice fish stories.
The battery in the main box is a backup battery which is used when your power is out. Eventually with power outages, surges or any flickers in your electricity it will drain just like any other backup battery. $100 charge, that’s a big fish. Mine cost $20.24 after tax. That was 4 years after having the system. I was told about the batteries in the sensors prior to installation. They recommend changing them once a year. How hard is that. Yes if you can’t change your own batteries they are going to charge you. The cost of the batteries is a little higher than retail. That’s the point, they can’t do it at retail or the poor guy who is doing it isn’t getting paid then. Go with ADT and get a wired system. No battery changes, but heaven forbid you need service there. ADT $35 an hour and $20 every 15 mins. after. I would much rather pay a guy $25-$30 to change the batteries that I am just too damn lazy to do myself.
As far as the two way. It’s not crystal clear, however I am not making my phone calls from the box. The point is to let who ever is in your home know, we know your there and the police are on the way. It is not a recorded voice, unless the 15 times I have accidentally set mine off in the past 7 years has just happened to be a different recorded voice each time that happened to sound just like the operator I was speaking to. Yeah if the intruder is quiet they won’t hear them, but guess what moron, if they don’t hear YOU it’s obviously not you in the house.
I won’t even mention the 4 times I have been broken into. The first I had ADT. They didn’t even know anything happened and that was that. The past 3 times over 7 years, yeah that’s a lot and apparenlty people want my stuff. Guess what, 1 break in with ADT cost me over $6000 in loss and damages, they were there a while while I was on vacation. Not to mention the over $350 in service charges from ADT to check and fix my system which didn’t work. 3 Break ins with Alarm Force have cost me $500 total and that was to fix a broken window on #1 Broken Sliding door on #2 and a door frame on #3. Hmmmm who’s the winner.
Go with another alarm company and see how quickly the awww of the bells and whistles wears off. I was there. The grass is always greener on the other side. You people are all stupid and are the same people who would sue McDonalds when you spill your hot coffee on yourself. Does the cup really need to say HOT…..It’s F’in coffee.
Alarm Force Features
From my friend Martin i heard about Alarm Force’s home alarm and security system. Hearing it’s advanced features i won’t hesitate to install it in my home. Now i am very complacent as there is no worry about security threats or intrusion. No other home alarm products have the features as with Alarm Force and i am strongly recommending it to people who are concerned about their home security.
Alarm Force Crap
Whether or not the Alarm Force “panel” was at fault, fact of the matter is, Alarm Force is crap. The Alarm Force system consists of a shoebox sized plastic box with a tiny transistor radio sized speaker mounted right next to the microphone. This box is usually placed on the kitchen counter and plugged into the phone line and power there.
As for the “$100″ battery, this is a tiny $5 battery (at most). Alarm Force is NOT a service company. Their whole purpose is to obtain as many monitoring contracts as possible. With that much emphasis on sales and “alarm systems” which require little or no installation skill it is no wonder Alarm Force customers have problems getting service.
Phone System
I do not have an alarm service yet and was doing some research to see if there were any issues/complaints about the alarm company. I want to add, that I worked for a security company for 14 years as a service technician. The way an alarm system works is a sensor connected to the main control panel triggers an alarm event when armed. This in turn, activates the dialer inside the control panel. The dialer does a couple of things then. 1 – The dailer relay which is a dry contact NO VOLTAGE what so ever, changes position/toggles to check for dial tone. When the control panel senses the dial tone, it then dials – hence the name – a preprogrammed number, just like a redial on your phone. The monitoring center is then called, again just like your phone at your house. Data is normally exchanged between the Control Panel and the Monitoring Center and then the Control Panel hangs up. The more likely cause is that the phone line probably took a surge that back fed the Control Panel, fused the relay shut and continued to the next device, the modem. This guy probably doesn’t realize this but the alarm probably took the brunt of the surge and slowed it down. He is lucky that all his phones in the house were not damaged. You see in order for the alarm to have priority over other phones in your house, it is usually the first in line if installed properly. In 14 years, I have seen my share of cooked phone lines and equipment. NEVER was it the cause of the alarm system. IT IS A LOW VOLTAGE SYSTEM! It operates in most cases at 12 volts DC and pulls realitively no noticeable current unless the siren is sounding during an alarm. The a/c transformer is usually 12-18VAC. The same as a cordless phone. Come on you Thomas Edison want to be – Don’t talk about things you don’t understand.
Alarm Job
You are looking for a job. You may be a new comer just immigrate to North America and you must make a living, raising a family. You don’t have time and money to further your education in North America although you are already well educated even with a strong technical background in your home country. You can’t obtain a job in North America titled the same in your home country. North America education and experience are a must. You can’t obtain a non-technical job in that you are well over qualified. You don’t speak fluent English as a high school student does. They can find a summer job more easily than you do. What’s your way-out? Alarm installer?
As an alarm installer, you install alarm systems for residential houses or commercial offices, buildings. If you don’t know what it is, please do a search in Google. The only real something what this job requires is being hardworking, not lazy. If you do believe that you are hardworking but not lazy then read further. Every field has successful people and being hardworking is a must. Therefore, if you become a runaway from a job related to your technical background, then you are probably not successful in any other field.
To be an alarm installer, the easiest way is to be a sub-contractor of an or a lot of dealers of an alarm company. A sub-contractor makes you a self-employer. You may need to do a search on your local government Website in terms of taxations. Some of your expenses can be counted as working expenses to be deducted. Do a search on your local alarm company and their dealership. They usually provide with on-job training opportunity. Your investment is the training fee a few hundred bucks, tools a few hundred bucks, insurance coverage and a vehicle. With less than a thousand bucks plus a vehicle and a few days training you start to make money. The toughest time is the beginning in that you need to work with your hands when you might have been sitting in the office back in your home country. Most runaways happened during the first month or even just two weeks. As long as you keep on you will get somewhere. Every new month gives you new excitement of progress, from hardship to in love with the job.
If you have technical background, you are a responsible man for your family and also a hardworking person, I believe that it’s one of good job opportunities for you when to further education in North America is impossible for you.
Alarm Force Nice
Alarm Force was founded over 20 years ago and is the fastest growing alarm company in Canada. I have family that has Alarm Force and have been satisfied customers for over 12 years. The nice aspect is their personal relationship with customers, the man who installed their system 12 years ago is still the man who services them, its nice when you are not another number.
Free Installation
Be careful of the adt free installation and holiday package u still need a adt installer in your house before any free system or installation begins. your looking at plenty of extras that dont come with the free system and install. Alarm Force one has no hidden fees. alarm force one(24.99)adt(30.00)plus 100.99 registration fee, adt may be better but alarm force one is alot cheaper.
Alarm Force has Best Value
Okay, so one’s a playmate, another is a queen and the other is my lover? How does it all add up? I mean, I haven’t done the research on Voxcom (Reliance Protectron since 2008) yet, but if you made a comparison chart, who is the best when it comes to value? I don’t mean to toot their horn, but I think Alarm Force would come out on top. Basic installation is free, there’s no “up-front” cost (which often turns away young people who have debts ie: most of the Canadian population) and they don’t over-sell options. Also, if the installer works directly for the company as in the case of Alarm Force, I think there tends to be a little more respect for the customer that way. Ever get store-bought furniture delivered from an out-sourced delivery dude? “Uh I don’t really know what color the sofa’s supposed to be man, I just deliver, man” Trust me, better to deal with less out-sourcing. Mind you, I haven’t gotten an alarm system put in yet, but I would consider Alarm Force over others. Yes Joel Matlin is obnoxious at times, but his presence is made. When’s the last time you heard an ADT or Voxcom commercial on the radio? And how easy is it to get help when you need it, be it technical or intrusion based?
- Claude Bussieres