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Ken
DIY (do it yourself) start with manufacturers. If there was manufacturer producing car kits, people would build their own cars. Actually somewhere down the road this may happen. Car sales drop because young people today don't buy cars, so manufacturers would have to come up with something to stay in business. Maybe flying car kit. Maybe it will come from China or India, but it may happen. All we can do is to try regulate it by some laws and licenses.
Alarm manufacturers fell miserably on following new standards. Decades after POTS phone line was declared dead, it is still hard to find alarm system that works reliably on new non-standard phone lines. It is certainly not as easy as buying cellphone. Alarm systems still use the crappy keypads that don't respond well, or flex under buttonpress, so there are false alarms (exit error, etc). Alarm systems are hard to use. That's the bottom line. People who have it, don't use it and forget how to use it.
If manufacturers want to stay in business, they need to improve customer service. Listen to dealers, end users, accept complains and compliments, listen to suggestions and get their design engineers involved in this information they wouldn't have if they don't provide the customer service. It is different world today. People have choices and have access to product reviews and user feedback. The market is not driven by low cost and cheap design. iPhone is neither - inexpensive or cheaply designed and it is the hottest item of century.
Dusan
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who's listening?
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Ken
Regarding the "How do you get heard", it seems that "Anon" gets too much time on your board! HAHAHA
Al - - er, I mean ANON!
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Ken,
Our members have found your emails to be a source of information that we, as actual alarm dealers, have no other source to. Your vetting of information brought forth displays your intent to prevent misinformation from being spewed.
I receive a lot of calls, from actual alarm dealers, asking me if I read your emails. This indicates to me that your emails are bringing forth information that dealers find important to their businesses.
My motto has always been, "90% of the lie, lies in the facts never brought forth." Keep bringing the facts to the table and the truth will come out.
Appreciate,
Roger D Score, President
Arizona Alarm Dealers Association
Arizonaalarmdealers.com
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comment on alarm.com and other products and manufacturers
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Ken,
It seams that quite a bit of negatives get brought out against alarm.com compared to the other cell path providers. To be fair, they all have rough patches. My experience with alarm.com has been very good and good for my business. They are in constant contact with me (unlike my other cell provider which i only receive a bill) bill me directly, allow me to choose my own central station, and easily change which central though the dealer portal if i want/need to. Furthermore, they have a very good marketing resources and some $$ for their dealers, and lots of training and education at the ISC show and ongoing if you're willing to travel to VA.
Is the service perfect? No, there are some things they should correct (lead program for instance), but the service works, works with a couple different manufactures, and is much more refined than the late entrances by Honeywell & C24 (now Telgaurd).
Everyone should take time @ ISC and play with, ask questions about, and try to break all the services; cell path and interactive is here to stay, noise only systems will soon be relegated to the DIY market.
Stay Secure!
Curtis Crawford, Security Specialist
Alert Alarm Company
Moscow Kansas
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Response
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My criticism was in regard to contract terms alarm.com requires from dealers, which appears to be non negotiable, not its product or services, of which I know little about.
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Ken,
One great answer to the situation with alarmnet or alarm.com is AES-intellinet radio’s. All the dealer needs to do is have an IP link set up in the area they want to cover and thenthe central station needs to be set up at their end with receivers and now you just eliminated the need for these companies and don’t have a monthly cost per unit. You created your
own network. No more third party. It’s monies you keep and you can also add interactive services. Another nice feature is no need for cell towers or worry about when they go down or taken down for maintenance. The system is 2 way technology UL approved for burg & fire.
As long as you keep your payments to your monitoring service up to date no need to worry of being shut off. Just my suggestion but it feels good not to pay out for each radio WE put out their. We have our own central station with currently 900 radio’s. So you take that amount times what you pay for your base rate on GSM and figure that is a nice pocket of
change that you put back into your own pocket every month.
Norm
Security Alarm
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Ken
This is a BIG issue. I have had my go rounds with CRN/Alarm- path; Mike Hanson; and NAPCO. Proprietary is a tangle, both sides can get trapped. When They sell you the TX, that works only on their network: They can then up the rate: or not support what they sold you; it becomes obsolete (they had no idea that the unit they sold you in Jan. would not be able to be supported by December!) Tell you to pay what they say the invoice is and shut of ALL your transmitters and hold em hostage if you do not (NAPCO). One would think that the people that run the Cos would see the folly of screwing over the dealer, especially one who does a good deal of bus and pays their bills, but this is not always true. You then have to take them to court to deal with their egregious behavior to wring money out of them (NAPCO).
In selecting Tellular, I selected them more on the basis of who they are as to character than for any technical or cost considerations. Turns out that decision was well founded as their pricing is most competitive and tech I think they are right there.
Just my experiences and wisdom.
Bruce Boyer
Lone Star Security & Video
San Fernando CA
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TO SUBMIT QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REPLY TO THIS EMAIL OR EMAIL Ken@Kirschenbaumesq.com. Most comments and questions get circulated.
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Speaking Engagements
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Sonitrol Verified Electronic Security. Annual convention March 22, 2014 at The Worthington Renaissance Fort Worth Hotel in Fort Worth, Texas.
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SentryNet's 19th Annual Dealer Conference. April 22 - 24, 2014 at Harrah's in Tunica, MS. register at http://www.sentrycon.us or call Peggy at 800-932-3304 for more information. www.sentrynet.com
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Alabama Alarm Association. AAA's Fall Meeting and Trade Show - October 21, 2014 from 3 to 5 PM at DoubleTree Hotel 808 South 20th Street Birmingham, AL 35205 contact Shelly (205) 933-9000 for more info
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Electronic Security Summit for 2014. October 22-24, 2014 at the landmark Broadmoor Hotel. Colorado Springs, CO. For more information contact Alexander J. Quirin, CEO & Managing Partner, Advisory Summit Providers, LLC., (786) 999-9738 alex.quirin@aspsummits.com www.aspsummits.com
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