December 2, 2010
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Question:
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An individual called me for help with his Brinks system. Since all Brinks I have run into are proprietary I suggested a panel keypad swap. He actually was trying to use his Brinks system as a local with door chime.
He had canceled his monitoring and it appears that Brinks went in remotely and defaulted his panel. Is this normal?
I know Brinks retains ownership of it's communicator, but do they own the whole system?
Any help or info would be appreciated. I gave him the license boards info in hopes they can resolve his problem. He didn't want to spend any money.
Thanks in advance, great forum.
John Elmore
Security By Elmore Inc
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Answer:
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Who owns the alarm system? Did really is the essential missing fact that determines a sound answer. I don't know if Brink's owns the system in question, nor do we know if Brink's disarmed the entire system. But, clearly some companies do disarm an entire system, and even more would like to when the subscriber defaults in it's monitoring contract.
So what's permitted, and what's not?
Most residential systems are sold, not leased. I do offer a Residential lease [which covers installation, monitoring and service] but it's not typical to lease residential. Where the system is owned by the subscriber, except for the communication software, it would be improper to disarm the system entirely. I could come up with several legal theories, but for here, let's just agree that you shouldn't disarm a system that is not yours.
If the system is owned by the alarm company and the subscriber is in breach, then the system can be disarmed.