Quote from: SteveInWA on May 02, 2014, 07:17:36 PM
So, yes, please do let us know what you decided. Were you able to break your contract with ADT?
Steve. Yes, a little off topic, but getting an alarm system working through an Obi is related and of interest.
I don't have a contract with ADT. Maybe I'm luckier than I realized. I signed up through my insurance company over 12 years ago. I think it was a two year commitment. At the time my insurance discount was more than my ADT bill, although that's no longer the case (not because ADT went up much but the discount went down). My ADT price has only increased once in 12 years. So, I don't have the issue of breaking contract.
I also fortunately have the ADT installers code. I was able to enter the system and play around. I did that some before signing up for NextAlarm by having the system automatically call a different SP for outgoing call.
I haven't cancelled yet, so I can't promise that ADT won't try something, but since they currently can't really even communicate directly with my system, there's really no way they can (without some NSA type tatics).
For NextAlarm I first checked their website to see if my system was compatible, it was. But, I decided to call NextAlarm to ask the question anyway, under the theory that if I couldn't get good help before I was a customer, I certainly wouldn't get it once I was a customer. My call was answered very quickly (I don't recall exactly how long, I think it was about 15 seconds). The representative was very helpful and verified that my system would work, asked whether I knew the installer code, and some other questions. I verified that my smoke alarm which is part of the system would also work.
Setting up the NextAlarm account was easy. You can do it before or after hooking up the ethernet adapter (it's not even required, you can have your system call NextAlarm, but of course I'm trying to avoid the whole VOIP thing for the alarm system). I bought and hooked up the adapter first. Following the instructions, I was able to verify that my alarm system could communicate with the NextAlarm system, so I then created my account.
NextAlarm wants the basic info such as name, address, passcode, alternate contacts, etc. They also have me enter each zone, and an optional description of each zone. I entered the description as it makes it more clear which alarm went off. You also enter whether each zone should be police, fire, ambulance, etc.
NextAlarm also has you provide the local emergency number (not 911). I simply called my local police department and asked them what emergency dispatch number and alarm service company should call. I did that after I set up my account, but I emailed them the information and they added it to my profile. Once my account was completely set up after a couple of days, I see where I could have added that info myself.
I can easily put the system in test mode, just like with ADT, so I can test the system and verify that NextAlarm got the signals.
If you alarm system supports it, they off the ability to arm/disarm remotely (mine does not support that).
Also, if you system is programmed to report every disarm, you can set up NextAlarm to notify you if it's not disarmed at a certain time. This is for "latch key kids", so you know if they didn't arrive home by a certain time. I did not set up this feature.
The other day, my power went out and I got an e-mail from NextAlarm stating that they had lost contact with my alarm system. After the power came back on, I got another email stating that the connection was re-established. My alarm system has a battery of course, so if I put my adapter, modem, and router on a UPS system, I could survive a power outage for a few hours or so.
I have not tested an actual emergency (ie system not in test mode), so of course I don't know how well they actually respond.
I also only paid for one month of monitoring. They offer discounts to prepay more than one month.
I'll probably drop ADT like I originally planned because I do get sick and tired of all the e-mails and postcards wanting me to upgrade to the Pulse system. I'm not a big fan of companies that I do business with spending tons on advertising on current customers.