Home alarm systems are a great way to provide security and protection for your home and family.  Home alarm systems deter unwanted intruders and are an excellent tool to quickly summon the authorities in the event of a break-in or other emergency.

However, no matter how sophisticated your home alarm system is, it is only as good as the alarm monitoring company.   An alarm monitoring company with excellent service and support will enhance the level of protection provided by your home alarm system while a poor company will detract from it.  Therefore, you should choose your home alarm monitoring company carefully.

One common mistake made by many homeowners is to choose a residential home alarm service based solely on price.  While price is important and you don’t want to feel like you are getting ripped off, keep in mind that the cost of hiring employees and buying and maintaining top quality monitoring equipment and facilities are about the same for most home alarm monitoring companies.

Alarm monitoring companies that offer ultra low rates are cutting corners somewhere.  They may be relying on older, inferior monitoring equipment or paying their employees less than other companies and as a result they probably have a difficult time attracting and retaining high quality workers.  They may also overload their employees which means your alarm may not get the immediate attention that you need.

Look for a company with an excellent local reputation.  Ask friends and neighbors for recommendations and check online reviews.  Remember to read these reviews with some skepticism because you don’t know who posted them, but you can often get a consensus if there are more than just a few reviews.

See if the company has a local monitoring station or whether the monitoring is done from outside yoru area.  Finally, make sure your existing equipment is compatible with the alarm monitoring company.  Some monitoring companies only monitor their own equipment while others have the capability to monitor all types of home security systems.