http://www.Alarm-Monitoring.co.uk A guide to buying burglar alarms, taking you through all the key things to consider - particularly when buying a monitored alarm with alarm monitoring.

1. Alarm buyers check list
10 things to consider when you’re
buying a burglar alarm . . .
Click to go through check list >>

2. 1: Wired or wireless
Q: Is the system wired or wireless? A: AMCO answer
Both wired and wireless systems have their pros and cons. AMCO provides both wired and wireless systems to
suit the specific needs of customers.
• Wired systems are more reliable and don’t require
sensor battery replacements.
• Wireless systems are easier to install and don’t require
the sensors to be physically wired in - averting any decor
concerns.
www.Alarm-Monitoring.co.uk

3. 2: Type of monitoring
Q: What type of monitoring does the
A: AMCO answer
alarm come with?
There are two main types of alarm monitoring - “call back AMCO only provides “interactive immediate audio
monitoring” and “interactive immediate audio response monitoring” for full peace of mind - as this
response monitoring”. type of monitoring means that you’ve got someone on
standby 24/7 to help you in an emergency if needed.
• Call back monitoring means that when the alarm is
activated the property is called via telephone, and AMCO is unique in offering this type of advanced
keyholders are informed of the activation by telephone. monitoring as standard to customers.
• Interactive immediate audio response monitoring
means that when the alarm is activated monitoring centre
staff can immediately listen and talk into the property via a
speaker / microphone unit to check what’s happening.
Then depending on the status of the situation can call the
keyholders or emergency services (Police, Fire or
Ambulance).
www.Alarm-Monitoring.co.uk

4. 3: Deterrence and response speed
Q: Does the system I’m considering
A: AMCO answer
really offer the best security?
The two key factors that lie at the heart of good security AMCO provide the best security possible as we
are deterrence and response speed. provide both high levels of deterrence and install
special monitoring that reacts and verifies
1) Deterrence: ideally, you want to deter a burglar from emergency situations quickly.
attempting to rob your property by showing them your
property is well-protected. This is usually done by 1) High deterrence: AMCO installs highly visible bell-
installing a visible bell-box and warning stickers. boxes at properties, and also provides warning
stickers with our £1000 reward scheme.
2) Response speed: the best security will react quickly,
and immediately alert the police / fire / ambulance in the 2) Quick response speed: because all AMCO alarms
case of an emergency. Importantly it’s key to consider how come with *interactive immediate audio response*
emergency scenarios are *verified*, as the emergency monitoring, it means our monitoring team can listen
services won’t respond if the emergency isn’t verified and talk into the property remotely seconds after an
properly. activation, allowing us to quickly verify a situation and
call the emergency services.
www.Alarm-Monitoring.co.uk

5. 4: Contract length
Q: How long does the monitoring A: AMCO answer
contract tie me in for?
All monitoring contracts will have a “minimum contract AMCO’s minimum contract period is 12 months and
period” and a “termination period” (the amount of time our termination period for both is 3 months
you need to inform the alarm company before you
terminate your contract).
You need to check the details of how long these periods
are, so you don’t get tied into a contract that’s too long for
you.
www.Alarm-Monitoring.co.uk

6. 5: Maintenance support and costs
Q: What type of maintenance is A: AMCO answer
provided, and how much does it cost?
There are two types of maintenance support that can be AMCO provide a minimum of one remote check every
provided: month and provide 24/7 telephone support.
•“On site maintenance” - where engineers visit the After the initial one year guarantee (parts and labour),
property to check the alarm. if a fault is detected that requires an engineer, then
call-out visits cost £49.
•“Remote maintenance” - where the system can be
automatically checked via the telephone line. N.B. It is a common myth that alarm systems are
highly complicated pieces of equipment. In truth they
You should also be aware of “Call out charges” - i.e. how aren’t, and because of this they rarely go wrong.
much it costs if you need an engineer to come out and fix
your system.
www.Alarm-Monitoring.co.uk

7. 6: Hidden costs
Q: Are there any hidden costs I’m not A: AMCO answer
being told about?
Alarm companies (apart from us!) are famous for their AMCO pride ourselves on being transparent, and
*hidden extra costs*. Make sure you ask about these, in don’t hide extra costs.
particular:
• Fuse spur: all our systems come with a fuse spur
• Fuse spur: to adhere to regulations, alarm systems as standard.
should be connected to the mains power via an
“unswitched fuse spur” and NOT plugged straight into a • Premium telephone charges: our alarm monitoring
power socket. If you don’t have an existing fuse spur telephone charges cost on average £1.50 a year. We
installed, make sure you get your alarm company to install do not try to make extra money from customers with
one and that this is included in their quotation price. expensive telephone charges unlike some of our
competitors.
• Premium telephone charges: every time your alarm is
activated it will make a call via the telephone line. Make
sure your alarm installer isn’t using an expensive number
to dial them every time you set and unset your alarm as
this could cost result in high ongoing costs for you (often
£100’s a year!). www.Alarm-Monitoring.co.uk

8. 7: Ease of use
Q: How easy is the alarm system to use? A: AMCO answer
An alarm system should be easy to use, and simple to All AMCO systems are incredibly simple to use.
maintain, so as little can go wrong as possible! Unlike competitors, we don’t install unnecessarily
complicated equipment that is more likely to go wrong
The key thing you need to do with an alarm is turn it on (and cost you more money to fix!).
and off. Alarm companies generally offer two ways of
doing this 1) using a fob 2) using a key pad. As standard, AMCO installs key pads to control our
alarm systems as we believe key pads are more secure
•Fob: The way you turn a system on and and off using a than fobs.
fob is by swiping your fob over a detector. The positives
are that it’s quick and easy. The negative is that you may
lose your fob, meaning that anyone would then have
access to your house.
•Key pad: all you need to do with a key pad system is
enter your 4 digit number to control the system. The
positives are it’s quick, easy and secure. There aren’t any
negatives! www.Alarm-Monitoring.co.uk

9. 8: Ownership status
Q: Do I own the system when I buy it? A: AMCO answer
Check in the small print of your alarm quote to see whether All AMCO systems are owned by the buyer NOT
you own the alarm system, or whether it’s a rental system. rented.
www.Alarm-Monitoring.co.uk

10. 9: Industry standards
Q: Is the company installing my alarm A: AMCO answer
registered with NSI or SSAIB - and
does it matter?
NSI (NACOSS as it used to known as) and SSAIB are AMCO follows the European Standards (EN50131)
alarm certification companies that many alarm companies that ensure that AMCO security systems provide the
subscribe to. best possible protection for its clients and their
property.
Both of these are private companies and are NOT
government bodies. We are NOT a subscriber to either of the inspectorate
companies as we see it as a costly bureaucratic
NSI is the trading name for “Insight Certification Limited” burden for both us and our customers.
and SSAIB stands for “Security Systems and Alarms
Inspection Board Limited”. Instead of paying unnecessary certification fees we’d
rather pass those savings onto our customers!
www.Alarm-Monitoring.co.uk

11. 10: Would my alarm really save me?
Q: Would the alarm system I choose A: AMCO answer
really save me and my property in an
emergency scenario? AMCO’s special monitored alarms have a pedigree in
not only preventing burglaries (and getting burglars
The final thing to consider is, whether the alarm system arrested) but also in saving lives.
you buy would really be effective in an emergency
scenario. A great example of AMCO saving a life is one of our
customer’s *Mr A* in Preston, who suffered a diabetes
Plenty of alarm companies claim to provide *peace of attack which led to a fire incident in his home. Thanks
mind*, however in many cases the level of security to our *interactive immediate audio response
provided is actually fairly low. monitoring, we were able to quickly listen into his
property, identify the issues and call both the
The key weakness most alarms have is that only include ambulance and fire services - who reacted
*call back monitoring*, which is flawed as it relies on immediately.
verification via telephone, which slows down the
verification and reaction process. The ambulance service saved Mr. A’s life, and the
fire service saved Mr. A’s house.
www.Alarm-Monitoring.co.uk

12. System comparison chart - part 1
[Print out and fill in when doing a system comparison]
Consideration AMCO system Competitor system
Type of system Wired or wireless (you choose).
“Interactive immediate audio response” monitoring -
Type of monitoring meaning someone is listening and talking into the
property immediately via a speaker / microphone.
12 months is the standard monitoring contract
Length of contract
length. 3 month termination notice period.
Monthly remote system checks. After the first year
Maintenance support
guarantee, a 30 minute call-out costs £49 + any
type and call out costs
parts.
Hidden extras (e.g. Fuse Fuse spurs are installed where the customer does not have
an existing one installed. AMCO does NOT use expensive
spur or premium telephone numbers. Average yearly telephone bill costs for
telephone numbers) AMCO systems are around £1.50.
www.Alarm-Monitoring.co.uk

13. System comparison chart - part 2
Consideration AMCO system Competitor system
All AMCO systems are owned by the buyer, NOT
Ownership status
rented.
AMCO does not subscribe to either of these
NSI / SSAIB registration
companies.
Installation cost (one- [use the quote calculator on our website to calculate
off) the cost of your system]
Monitoring cost £14.95 per month for “immediate audio response”
(monthly) monitoring
We have not increased our annual monitoring fees
Annual price increase to existing customers for over 16 years and we
intend to keep it that way as long as possible.
* All AMCO prices quote include VAT
www.Alarm-Monitoring.co.uk

14. The Alarm Monitoring Company says . . .
Check to make sure the alarm you
choose offers the best security
possible to save you and yours.
Got any more questions? Drop us an email: info@Alarm-Monitoring.co.uk
You can also download / print this out if you want to!