Bob F wrote:
"Mike" wrote in message
...
My wife is looking for ways to cut some expenses out of our family
budget, and she has suggested that we drop the monitoring of our home
alarm system. She got the idea from a friend of ours who has done the
same at his small business. If his alarm starts going off in the
middle of the night, then it will continue to sound until he shows up
the next morning. I wouldn't say we live in a extremely high-crime
area, but we do live in the suburbs of a city where there is a good
deal of crime. Any of you folks going "unmonitored" out there??

Thanks....

Mike

P.S. Our alarm system consists of sensors on all doors, a motion
detector on the main floor, and a smoke alarm (we have several battery-
operated smoke detectors, too).

My understanding is that the police here hardly ever respond to alarm calls, and
certainly not quickly, so monitoring is kind of useless.

Make sure that your alarm has good outside speakers, and that your neighbors
will check if they hear it. Or get a phone dialer to call your cell phone when
the alarm sounds.


Chuckle. There is monitored as in a control room 3 counties away, and
monitored as in a local office with their own rent-a-cops they send out.
Some cities ban auto-dialers due to false alarms. Neighbors tend to
shoot out flashers and sirens that don't auto-reset after a few minutes.
If you are just 'out', an auto-dial to your cell will work, if you don't
mind being the first responder. Not much good if you are away on a road
trip.

If your neighborhood is bad enough that you need an alarm system, I'd
find someplace else to cut the budget. BTW, I'll bet your friend didn't
tell his insurance company he dropped the monitoring.

When I hit the lotto and build my dream house, it'll have automatic
shutters that lock the perp inside 5 minutes after he breaks in. It'll
then talk to him as it pumps the place full of something scary but
non-lethal.

--
aem sends...