Before you sign anything

Eight things worth asking, whoever you end up with.

We would rather you asked these of us and got good answers than signed with anybody — us included — and found out in year two. Print this. Take it to whoever is quoting you.

1. If the system is free, who owns it?

Ask: at the end of the term, is the equipment mine?

A free system is rarely a gift. The hardware cost is inside the monthly, and on most of these deals the panel is never yours — cancel and you are handing it back or leaving it on the wall for the next company to refuse to touch.

Here: you buy the equipment and own it from the day it goes in. We will show you the line item.

2. How long am I signing for, and what does leaving cost?

Ask: what do I owe if I cancel in month 14 — and does it renew automatically if I miss the window?

Three years is the standard in this city. Some run five. The termination clause is usually a percentage of everything left, which is how a $16 monthly becomes a four-figure problem.

Here: no term at all. Month to month, with 30 days’ notice to cancel and no buy-out. If we get less notice than that, there may be one more monthly payment, because we are billed for your monitoring until it is properly shut off — we would rather say so up front. If we are not worth the money we should not be able to hold you.

3. Will anyone else be able to monitor this panel?

Ask: is this proprietary, or can another company take it over?

Some panels are locked to the company that sold them. When you leave, the equipment you paid for becomes scrap and you start again from zero. It is the quietest trap on this list because you do not find out until you try to go.

Here: standard First Alert, Resideo and Alarm.com-compatible equipment. Any competent company can take it over. We would rather earn the renewal than lock the door.

4. What does the monthly become after the term ends?

Ask: does this rate change in year four?

Most of the cheap headline rates are tied to the contract that pays off your free equipment. Almost nobody publishes what happens after. Ask for it in writing, because ten dollars a month is $1,200 over a decade.

Here: no term, so there is no renewal step built in. Our first-year promotion steps up once, to the published price. Our base monitoring rate has not changed since we started, and with no contract you are never locked in if it ever does.

5. Who answers at three in the morning, and where are they?

Ask: which monitoring station, and is it ULC-listed?

The app is not the company. Behind every alarm system is a central station, and plenty of companies will not tell you which one, or which country it is in, until something has already gone wrong.

Here: Lanvac, ULC-listed, live operators, and we have used them for more than twenty-five years. Ask us and we will say the name before you finish the question.

6. What happens the first time it goes off by mistake?

Ask: what is the false alarm fee in Ottawa, and what will you do to avoid it?

This one is local and almost nobody warns you. Ottawa Police charge roughly $180 plus tax every time they attend a false alarm, and it is recorded against your address under the city by-law. Enough of them and a property can lose police response altogether.

Here: we tell you before you sign. Nothing is dispatched until the station has tried you and every keyholder, and you choose what happens after that — police, an optional guard callout averaging about $80, or nothing at all.

7. Why won't they tell you the price?

Ask: what does it cost — today, on the phone, before anyone visits?

Almost every alarm company in Ottawa will not put a number on a website. There is a reason a price only appears once someone is sitting at your kitchen table, and it is not a reason that works in your favour.

Here: every plan and package price is on this website. Price a package and see the total before you speak to anybody. If it does not suit you, at least you did not lose an evening finding out.

8. How do I pay, and who can take money out?

Ask: how is the monthly collected, and can the amount change without me agreeing?

Some companies keep a credit card on file and charge it for anything they decide is owed — service calls, "upgrades", false-alarm fees. Find out exactly how you will be billed, what can be added to it, and how you stop it.

Here: one way only — pre-authorized monthly payment from your bank account, set up with a void cheque. Anything beyond your monthly is quoted to you first. We never ask for banking details by email or on this website, and to stop, you give us 30 days’ notice — with less, there may be one final monthly payment.

None of this is a reason to pick us.

It is a reason to ask. Take these eight questions to whoever you are talking to — including us — and choose whoever answers them straight. We are at 36 Capital Drive if you would rather ask in person.

Ask us these eight questions 📞 613-233-1115