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COMMENTS ON SCOTT GOLDFINE AND SIMPLISAFE
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Ken,
    First, thanks for the services you provide not only as the industry’s law firm but also the newsletter and marketplace so many us find highly useful. Regarding the SSI editorial, SimpliSafe is acting on the changes in consumer preferences. Being honest with ourselves, for residential alarm customers the prospect of being locked into a long term contract with no assurance against service level deterioration/responsiveness in the future is very unappealing. The residential alarm customer is very different when it comes to being technology astute and being instantly in communication with work, friends, family and even the family home via smart devices. Past generations did not have the technological means to do that. This now means we must adapt and offer solutions to meet the different expectations of younger versus older consumers, technology mastery vs. provider-dependent solutions.
    I don’t see the basis for outrage by the alarms industry over SimpliSafe advertising. Contact term enforcement is a daily event in every major city and the informed consumer is looking for an alternative that offers no long term contract obligation in exchange for the low up-front investment a DIY system offers. Even I find the ability to have the system immediately send me a video clip upon motion activation, the ability to lock & unlock my home, adjust my thermostat and turn on the coffee maker from my phone to be a remarkable asset. I can see what triggered the motion or door contact and, if needed, call my local authorities direct to advise I have verified an intrusion and provide a suspect description. All that with no long term contract is highly appealing.  For us, I think we must recognize and capitalize on technology advancements then offer solutions to meet the expectations of this next-generation consumer. General Shinseki is quoted as saying if you dislike change, you’re going to dislike irrelevance even more. It’s up to us as an industry not to whine, but to remain relevant!
Thanks
Jack Sink
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Ken
    Excellent, keep up the good work. With 39 years in the biz, this really burns me too.  This is an ever-changing technology driven biz, also  the most abused.  I've been preaching about the "Simply-Safe's" of the industry for years, starting with the original $395 ADT deal.  While these companies are having a more recent effect on our bottom-line, most generally not a problem. 
    Now, for this old dog to be taught new tricks, we were one of the first alarm.com dealers. Also the first to have over 150 users where the system became unstable and a specific fix was issued industry-wide due to our situation with 20 specific accounts.
    On a daily basis I'm out in the field, as I still enjoy it.  Talk about butcher and hack jobs...it's overwhelming!!!!!
    My electronics degree consisted of 1800 core electronics hours as well as 34 college hours complimented with many industry related certificate programs.....  Now, let's see if I can build one of the Simply-Safe hack devices as a demo?
Steve Barnhart
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Ken 
    Please get the ball started along with goldfine for all of us that are legitimate and long standing in this industry to "DO SOMETHING SAY SOMETHING" against this ridiculous company ----
as a past president of the "burglar and fire alarm association of michigan" I know there are many good hard working companies that need to be heard ------please let us know what we can DO AS AN INDUSTRY TO STOP THIS HORRIBLE TYPE OF BASHING -----
    THANKS
HANK LUKS 
CONTROLLOR SECURITY SYSTEMS 
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Ken
    Nice article, read it from the original magazine, too bad, nothing going to change!  I'm glad he got to vent.
 (no need to comment unless you wish, I'll send him the same note).
 Thanks
Marty
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Ken, 
    Scott is right. SS needs to stop trashing the alarm industry. Something should be done because I'm mad as hell about it too. Thank you for running this column. 
Brian Watson, President
Alarm Center Security
Baton Rouge, La