anyone use Alarm Monitoring Service Atlanta (AMSA)? (house, to buy)

[sweettea1]

Love them. They're 1/2 price of others and do the same job.

[BSC Libertarian]

AMSA has been very good IMHO.

[alexcorrea]

Originally Posted by sweettea1

We use them and think they are great! Have a small company mentality, great customer service and beat all prices. I would recommend them highly.

Small company mentally is not what you want. I would go with a bigger company like ADT or Broadview. Thier prices are higher for a reason. Would you rather have a mercedes or a hyundai?? What happens if there is an emergency where you live? (hurricane, tornado, earthquake, flood, blizzard). Everyone that works in the monitoring center is local if they you can't get to work HOW CAN THEY!!!! The reason these companies are more expensive is because they have various monitorins centers. I do have to agree that these companies aren't for everyone some people just cannot afford it but some security is better than no security.

[jbrookers]

Originally Posted by Go Blue 99

I'm in the market for a home security system. I've heard that I should stay away from ADT and Brinks because they are expensive and their call centers are overseas.
Does anyone here have any experience with Alarm Monitoring Service Atlanta (AMSA)? They have glowing reviews over at Kudzu; the reviews are so good, it almost makes me suspicious.

thanks

We have used them and they are great.

[teaparty2010]

We previously used LOUD Security and were tired of getting ripped by paying 24.95/month and getting horrible service. We decided we needed to make a change. We currently use Diversified Systems and couldn't be happier with their lower rate of $15/month. Before we switched we did a little research and found that Diversified Systems had the best value for their service. I like the free managing tool that provide us. With our account being viewable on the internet we can manage our multiple locations from our central office. We found that Alarm Monitoring Service of Atlanta requires a 3 year contract to get their advertised rate of 12.95/month and doesn't offer online access to your account . What are some of those old sayings " cheaper is not always better" , " you get what you pay for ".

[bdawk]

Upon a recommendation by a friend, I tried Ackerman.

We agreed to have them take over the existing system that was in the house we recently moved into. Paid almost $400 for NEW equiptment to be added on. Today - six weeks and 3 company rep visits later - we do not have a fully functioning system and can not get a call back after repeated calls and emails (maybe 8 total)

Good luck.

[NYPeach]

Originally Posted by teaparty2010

We previously used LOUD Security and were tired of getting ripped by paying 24.95/month and getting horrible service. We decided we needed to make a change. We currently use Diversified Systems and couldn't be happier with their lower rate of $15/month. Before we switched we did a little research and found that Diversified Systems had the best value for their service. I like the free managing tool that provide us. With our account being viewable on the internet we can manage our multiple locations from our central office. We found that Alarm Monitoring Service of Atlanta requires a 3 year contract to get their advertised rate of 12.95/month and doesn't offer online access to your account . What are some of those old sayings " cheaper is not always better" , " you get what you pay for ".

I agree with you about LOUD Security...they are not good at all mainly customer service, although the rate I was quoted was 19.95/month or 16.95/month if I did it online, recurring payment set-up)

I used to have ADT which I loved (yes they are not cheap (monthly rate) but I did get free installation, 3yr agreement and but when I moved to my new apt it was pre-wired with LOUD. However I am doing my best to get out of that contract and see if ADT could be used with the pre-wired system in my current apt.

My choice is ADT had them for at least 10 years and never had a problem.

[spyderman33]

ADT and Brinks will always make you sign contracts regardless if the system is installed or if they are installing a brand new one.

Doesnt work for me... I used Ackerman in ATL and they were awesome.. When I cancelled, there were no questions asked and they did so professionally and promptly... Try that with Brinks or ADT...

[a|ex]

if you want an option, you can monitor you home yourself. instead of your system calling a paid service, you can have it call your cell phone. i have security cameras with my alarm system and i see no need for a service to call me whenever my alarm is triggered. if i'm at home and my alarm goes off, it's kinda lame for a service to call me first to verify that i'm in danger. i'm just gona git ma zombie gun.

if i'm away and my alarm goes off, i can log in and check the cameras online. it would also be faster for me to call the LEO instead of the service calling my home first then notify the LEO. if i don't have online access at the moment, i can always call the LEO and notify them my home alarm was triggered and if they can send someone to check the perimeter.

i used to have a local monitoring service but realized i'm depending on others for my family's protection. i'd rather have a more proactive security system. btw, i wired my own alarm and camera system on my new home. home security should also include home defense.

another option is a monitoring service using internet or cell phone. there's really no advantage of having one locally or out of state. they receive the trigger code and call the home, if no answer or wrong password then they call the LEO.

i can't remember the name of the internet monitoring services, but i do remember them being around $5-10/month.

the advantage of DIY systems is that you can add temperature and water sensors cheaper than an installer. the bad part is you need some electronics knowledge and programing can be frustrating. i'm in the process of programing my system to arm/disarm itself automatically at certain times.

-a|ex

[rcsteiner]

I had replied earlier in the thread, but since we just switched security monitoring services I thought I'd update:

We used to use ADT, and were quite happy with both their service and their response times, but because of the relatively high monitoring cost I decide to switch to Ackerman.

They were able to switch over to use our existing system, no charge, and the monitoring fee is less than half what we were paying.

ADT was also very polite (and quite nice, actually) about our terminating their service.