Monitored Burglar Alarm Systems

[Braco]

Having just suffered our first break-in we are keen to try and better protect our property. Can anyone please point us in the right direction for companies that offer monitored Burglar Alarm Systems.

Thank you

[Pads]

Depends where you are

Heres one for my area ..they may be able to help you

http://www.audepropertywatch.com/

[nomoss]

Try Groupama

[Braco]

Thank you

[Chancer]

My second business in the UK was monitored alarms, I dont really think they exist in France, enfin I had better expand on that.

My neighbouring brasserie has one and it is seen to be the latest stae of the art innovation, the monitoring centre does not actually call the gendarmerie as they will not respond to such calls, they call the owners mobile phone or a keyholder, this could be done for a fraction of the cost with an auto-dialler.

in the last couple of years there was a cash handling depot turned over at Amiens, it was in a ZAC and the theives struck over a pont weekend, they eventually silenced the alarm but there was no-one around to hear it, I was gob-smacked to learn that it was not monitored or as the reportage put it, connected to the Police station.

A lady I know is overseas now with her family due to her husbands mutation, they were broken in to shortly before they were to go, she got in some alarm reps and had me there to ask the difficult questions, boy were the guys slippery, they just didnt want to give a straight answer, I persisted, kept repeating the same question until they finally admitted that the best you could hope for on their premium service is that they would send out a security patrol, .......................... from 80 km away, any prizes for guessing what response time you would get over a holiday weekend or in July or August?

I also recently chatted with a young guy who worked for an alarm company, the first one since being here, he says times are very hard, they do loads od devis but the price is beyond the reach of 99% of people yet they are working on very narrow margins (at least that is what the bosses tell him) he says that most of their work is now in Paris for rich private collectors because very few people have €20000 per annum (no not a mistake) to spend on a maintenance contract.

I told him that in 1997 my customers were paying me £150 per annum for maintenance and monitoring with 10 minute Police response, £75 in the first year. He now thinks that I am a mythomane.

In your shoes I would be looking at an autodialler and perhaps some cameras that you can surveille remotely via the internet, this sort of stuff was coming in when I decided to get out of the game, when i compared the price of what it cost me for equipment compared to the then new web-cams the writing was on the wall.

[Théière]

[quote user="Chancer"]I decided to get out of the game, when i compared the price of what it cost me for equipment compared to the then new web-cams the writing was on the wall.[/quote]

I reckon you would have got a good few years out of it Chancer, still hasn't taken over as much as you would think, people have only just got to wireless alarms that no one pays any attention to, although some of those do have auto dialer options.

On my pool computer I have an autodialer which sends me a txt if the chemicals go out of range. simple device uses a standard (old) Nokia mobile and is only switched on when it receives a signal so the battery lasts months. Thinking of getting a second one and using it to monitor the house.  If we were on the internet, I would definitely follow your advice for remote monitoring, not difficult these days with movement sensing cameras/software.

[Chancer]

I got out at a good time for me as an efficient one man band, I was on the Police approved list hence the monitored systems and then the ACPO policy changed after lobbying pressure from interested parties and henceforth businesses like mine had to be NACOSS registered with all the paperasse and procedures that that entailed, the problem beig is that parasitical organisations like that would always look for new legislation etc so as to create new hoops for you to jump through and for you to pay them to attest that you had jumped through them, ISO 9000, pretty much anything they could they would, I had introduecd ISO 9000 or BS5750 as it was then to much larger organisations and had managed to reduce the procedures and hence impact and costs to a minimum compared to our competitors who stuggled with the burden loaded on them through having used outside consultants.

With NACOSS I would have had no choice but to do as they demanded of me and would ahve had to hire guys toi do the work while I sat in the office shuffling paperwork, I would have lost all my competitive advantage and been miserable as sin, so for me I sold up at a very good time having read the writing on the wall well before others.

I then concentrated on growing the already considerable access control side of my business and also diversified into automatic gates and barriers.

So as far as alarms are concerned I have 7 years of experience 15 years out of date, back then no-one had considered an auto-dialler using a mobile phone etc, despite me being so out of touch, living in the past etc it shocks me to see how innefective and out of date French security equipment is even to me, and as for the price, well its absolutely unbelievable

[nomoss]

The company used by Groupama, Activeille, charges just over 100€ for the initial installation plus a monthly charge of 25,21€.

There is a further cost for a daily (local) telephone call to the alarm centre to verify the line, and, in my case, a dedicated telephone line.

When our original phone line was changed to ADSL the alarm system could no longer use it, and the increase in monthly charges for the alternative mobile phone equipment, plus calls, was about the same as a new phone line rental plus calls. As a result, we have a separate phone which still works when there is a power cut, unlike the ADSL connected one.

We actually only pay the same amount for the extra line as if we had kept the original FT line when we changed to ADSL, but have two independent phone lines/numbers.

The charges are partly defrayed by a reduction in the house insurance premium.

The service does not directly alert the gendarmerie. In the event of an alarm, a very loud siren sounds, and the centre makes contact via an intercom in the local control box (also very loud), asking for a password.

If no password is given, they contact a neighbour (who lives opposite) to check the house visually. If there is in fact a break-in the gendarmes are immediately called.

While I am sure this is not as sophisticated as systems available in UK, it works well for us, in a small village with neighbours close by. I think the alarm siren alone would be probably be enough to discourage any intruder from continuing into the house.

[Théière]

[quote user="Chancer"]

parasitical organisations like that would always look for new legislation etc so as to create new hoops for you to jump through and for you to pay them to attest that you had jumped through them, ISO 9000, pretty much anything they could they would, I had introduecd ISO 9000 or BS5750 as it was then to much larger organisations and had managed to reduce the procedures and hence impact and costs to a minimum compared to our competitors who stuggled with the burden loaded on them through having used outside consultants.

[/quote]

Sadly Chancer almost every industry is going the same way, regulating something in the guise of "professionalism" is bigger bucks than even the  "Green wash" peddlers. I come across bad work by certified people all the time so membership doesn't change anything.

[Salty Sam]

[quote user="Chancer"] I told him that in 1997 my customers were paying me £150 per annum for maintenance and monitoring with 10 minute Police response, [/quote]

Even back in 1997, I'd love to know how you could guarantee a police response within 10 minutes - especially for a rural location?

[Chancer]

I would always point out to potential customers that contrary to what the sales guys from the bigger companies had told them it was not a guarantee, IIRC the ACPO policy mandated them to aim wherever possible for a maximum 10 minute response, to be fair in built up areas they nearly always beat that as back then they were treated as a priority, now they have to be verified as above before they will even entertain them.

Something the UK had which I dont think exists in France is the personal attack or PA signal, when a panic button was triggered (usually by accident) it was treated as the highest priority, I was commissioning a system in Caterham where the Police training college is/was, the modem developed a fault immediately after my test and the central monitoring station confirming the signals and agreeing to put it on line, there was nothing I could do but wait, I knew it would be put through immediately and could not (then) be cancelled, they arrived in about 45 seconds, a whole bloomin platoon of them as well, vehicles everywhere, it looked like a scene from a siege movie.

It turned out that the husband who at that time I had not met was a deep undercover operative, well that is my belief, I knew he was an officer, he came home one day looking like a new age traveller, eyes stoned, looked like he hadnt washed for weeks, I can tell you their marital relationship was not what it could have been.

Re the sending out a test signal every day, that was a scam in the early 90's, I am surprised the French allow it, come to think of it no I am not, some central stations like CSF in Birdlip were offering free monitoring to companies who would naturally still invoice the customer te going rate if a test signal was sent out to a premium rate number, one customer came to me having been disgusted to find out that he was paying a phone bill of £120 per quarter when he was working in Saudi, back then a normal Redcare monitored line which is verified 100% of the time anyway cost my company £38 per year. It all fell out of bed when BT started producing itemised bills if you chose them, I gained a lot of customers at that time.

[nomoss]

[quote user="Chancer"]

.....  Re the sending out a test signal every day, that was a scam in the early 90's, I am surprised the French allow it, come to think of it no I am not, ..... [/quote]

 

Re the daily test signal "scam", the cost of this is 2.59€ TTC per month. The FT bill for 2 months, line plus test calls, is 37.17€.

As we are moving soon, I've been wondering whether or not to continue with the alarm system in the new house. Do you really think it's a waste of money?

[Chancer]

I have no idea in this country, in general alarms are excellent visual deterrents and rarely get put to the test, its therefore impossible to quantify how many potential burglars may have gone elsewhere.

However. given that in six and a half years I have yet to see one single other bellbox and I do get around a fair bi,t its safe to assume that mine sticks out like a sore thumb probably making people speculate on what I have thats worth pinching.

Mind you when the cash handling depots have such crap security as the one in Amiens there are richer pickings to be had without any risk of being caught en flagrant delit!

I loved the one where the supermarket used an air tube vacuum system to take the cash from the tills to the very strong safe, the braqueurs broke in (no alarm again) but didnt even bother trying to force the safe, they cut into the air tube and hoovered out all the money from the safe.

What you are paying for the monitoring is not a lot for the peace of mind you probably get from it.

[Théière]

[quote user="Chancer"] they cut into the air tube and hoovered out all the money from the safe. [/quote]

Now that made me laugh [:D]

[Chancer]

Dead true, happened in France and was reported on either TF1 or FR3.

Now 60 million people know how to get rich and sales of Dysons and industrial vacuums have gone through the roof.