Welcome to No Contract Monitoring, which is here to serve home security monitoring consumers. As a consumer of home security monitoring services, I have learned a great deal in my pursuit of competitive pricing. With a great number of predators in the industry, my purpose with this site is to help you obtain competitive pricing and save money.
I make no money from running this website unless you use the affiliate links to home security products to make purchases. I offer free phone consultations as long as you are planning to purchase equipment through my affiliate links.
For the actual monitoring service, I make nothing for referring you to any of the monitoring companies. The companies I promote on this website I do so based upon their competitive, no contract pricing, and one company I promote because I can vouch for their great customer service as well, since I’m also a customer.
Before I really began to look around and figure out what companies are offering at what prices, before I knew better, I was a “promoter” for a certain monitoring company. I became a “promoter” because my neighborhood had been cased by people masquerading as salespersons for that same company, asking about our alarm systems, which got me to thinking about the need to get a system and make sure my neighborhood was protected. (Just to make clear, I told the person I had a monitored system although I didn’t.) It also convinced me that monitoring service in juxtaposition with yard signs indicating the property is protected really do deter would be home invaders.
I could still earn money for referring customers to that company. Albeit, I’m not even certain they kept track of my leads properly, but I digress. I have looked around for affiliate programs for companies that meet the criteria to make my short list. I have found nothing. I have found affiliate programs for companies that would not make my short list (e.g. companies that put you on a contract). If I wanted to, I could try to promote those companies so that I would actually make money for sending them referrals. But I would rather keep my integrity than to make a buck. If I don’t believe in something, I can’t sell it.
When it comes to home security monitoring service, there are several criteria that I looked for in deciding what companies make my short list. If you decide to go with any company that I promote on this website, please be sure to tell them Mark from NoContractMonitoring.com sent you.
1. NO CONTRACT – You shouldn’t be stuck on a contract. With so many cellular (for cellular monitoring) companies offering monthly plans, there’s no reason why you should be stuck on any type of contract with a security monitoring company in 2015. Any company that tries to put you on a contract is trying to take advantage of you. Unfortunately, this criterion excludes some of the bigger, more recognizable names (e.g. ADT).
2. COMPETITIVE PRICING – There shouldn’t be hefty activation fees, if any at all. You also shouldn’t be paying much more than $25 per month for cellular monitoring. Again, this criterion excludes some of the bigger, more recognizable names (e.g. ADT).
3. NO PROPRIETARY EQUIPMENT – There are some companies that might offer competitive, no contract pricing, but they sell you proprietary equipment that can only be used with that monitoring company. You shouldn’t get stuck with equipment that binds you to a monitoring company. If you feel like a company isn’t providing you with the service you want at the price you want, you should have the flexibility to switch companies without penalty and without having to buy all new equipment. This criterion excludes SimpliSafe.
4. CELLULAR MONITORING – You want cellular monitoring, since it’s much more secure than monitoring done over a landline or broadband connection since those systems can be defeated by cutting a line.
5. CRASH & SMASH PROTECTION – If a home invader can defeat the system by damaging the alarm panel, that leaves you just as vulnerable as if there’s a line that can be cut. With crash & smash protection, damaging the alarm panel will do nothing to defeat the system. Usually, the way crash & smash protection works is that the alarm system sends an immediate signal to the central station that the system has been faulted. If the system isn’t disarmed after a certain amount of time, then central station knows the system has been compromised and takes steps to make contact. Destroying the alarm panel doesn’t disarm the system.
6. YARD SIGNS & DECALS – I list this criterion last, because it’s tertiary to the other criteria. Once I narrow down my short list to the companies based upon the other criteria, I then compare and contrast the looks of the yard signs and decals. I do believe this to be important, since those yard signs and decals can be a deterrent to would be home invaders. What I am looking for in a design is that it’s easy for people to notice what that sign says and means. In some ways, the name of the alarm company can impact the effectiveness of the sign. I want a company name that conveys what the sign represents. I don’t want some long sentence with small letters on the sign. I want a basic color scheme that makes the sign easy to notice and read (e.g. a dark background with white letters). I don’t want a bunch of different colors making it look like I’m advertising something besides my home is protected. I don’t want anything eccentric.
Some customers might believe they will get a deal on the equipment by agreeing to a contract. Based upon my own experience, I can tell you that not only do the bigger companies try to put you on a contract, but some will try to sell you equipment at prices worse than what you can get by purchasing your equipment off of Amazon or eBay. Fortunately, I was wise enough to not rush into anything and I obtained my equipment off of eBay and ended up with a great monitoring company.
One company says you are getting free equipment valued at $850. Looking at the photo of the system, I can tell you that system is nowhere close to $850. It might not even be $150. Why would you purchase anything from a company that lies to its customers? There are some other things to consider when being offered “free” equipment. Do you really own the equipment? If something happens where you can’t finish out your contract, do you have to return the equipment? If something happens to the equipment, are you on the hook for $850 when the equipment is only worth $150? Are there service call fees for very simple things like replacing batteries?
I can understand there being an installation fee, so long as it’s not too hefty. After all, there’s a service being performed. However, given the pricing for monitoring by some of the bigger companies and the fact they stick you on a contract, there really shouldn’t be any installation fee. As far as I’m concerned, some of the bigger monitoring companies are predators seeking prey. They find their prey by finding people who haven’t taken time to do their research by coming to websites like this one.
Another thing consumers will want to consider is what the real price of the service they want will be. I say that because a lot of companies will advertise some low figure to lure customers in. But then when you look at the plan for that price, it might not even be for central station monitoring. It might be self-monitoring using your own smart phone. Or it won’t be for cellular monitoring.
Look out for companies that try to upsell you things you don’t need. As an example, suppose you have your alarm system installed and think to yourself it might be nice to know for certain what’s going on in your house in the event of an alarm. Perhaps you have pets or something and would like to know for certain what triggered that alarm. So you want cameras. Fine. But there’s no need to purchase monitoring for the camera. Central station monitoring for your alarm system is sufficient. If you want a camera system to be able to verify what’s going on in your home, purchase some IP cameras and do self-monitoring using your smart phone. The nice thing about technology is that it makes the consumer much more self-reliant.
Based upon all of the criteria listed above, there are a few companies that I really like. The one that I chose myself is Alarm Grid. Alarm Grid was the clear winner on number 6. Alarm Grid offers nationwide monitoring, so wherever you are you can go with them. I love their customer service, as they have the friendliest employees. Sterling Donnelly is the best and he has put together some of the most awesome videos for the DIY installers. Not only that, rather than upselling things I don’t need, Sterling has given me very sound advice. Sterling was nice enough to point out that there’s no reason to purchase monitoring of security cameras to verify what’s going on in the house, since self-monitoring would be sufficient.
I should let you know how I get the price I get for the service I get, because if you go to the plan pricing page (see: www.alarmgrid.com/monitoring) you won’t see the price I’m paying for the service I get. I pay $25 per month for central station, cellular monitoring. If you go to the plan pricing page, it is the Bronze plan which is listed for $15 per month. Also, the Bronze plan shows that it is only phone or internet monitoring. I wanted two things: central station monitoring, which ruled out the self monitoring plans, and cellular monitoring. The other stuff, like arming and disarming the system via phone and web, Z-Wave control, and text alerts, I didn’t need. So I opted for the Bronze plan and was able to add cellular monitoring for an additional $10 per month, which makes the total $25. If you are looking for basic cellular monitoring with a central station, that’s what I would recommend. I don’t see the option to add cellular on that page like I was able to do a few months ago, so you might need to call them and talk to them.
The other companies I really like – in no particular order – are EMC Security, which services the Atlanta metro area; Premier Security, which also services the Atlanta metro area and has signs that come in second to Alarm Grid; LiveWatch, which offers nationwide monitoring and could use better looking signs and decals but has great pricing on monitoring plans; Callaway Security, which also services the Atlanta metro area and could use some improvement on fair looking signs and decals; Brian Security, which services the Atlanta metro area, and could also use some improvement on the signs.
I’m still looking for companies to add to my short list. If you are a representative with a company that you believe belongs on my short list based upon the criteria I listed above, please feel free to contact me.