How to Choose a Wireless Home Alarm System

So you've decided to purchase a new home alarm security system, or maybe your still debating...either way, there are some important factors to consider. Once you've decided to move forward, what are some of the next steps to make this decision? You could wait for one of those door to door salesman to conveniently drop by and provide you the deal of the century or you could take matters into your own hands.

Having been down this road before, it's not something that you initially put a lot of thought into. Which is why the door to door salesperson selling wireless home alarm systems have so much success. Let's face it, none of us want our houses broken into. So when a door to door salesman shows up, we make an emotional decision. The sales pitch might be that your next door neighbor just bought one and if you don't get one, you're a target for burglars. In your mind, you might think,"Well my next door neighbor just bought one, hmmm, maybe I should just get one."

Whether you buy a wireless home alarm or not that's a personal decision. However, there are some important concepts to consider before you pull the trigger. Below in no specific order are some important components you need to think about when making a decision on buying a home alarm security system:

1. Wireless vs. Wired - Going with a wireless home alarm most likely is your best shot if you haven't wired your home for a home security alarm. Wireless systems are the industry standard and the batteries in the sensors last a long time. So, don't think twice about going wireless.

2. Cellular Backup - With a wireless home alarm you do have the choice on whether or not you want a cellular backup for your alarm.(usually there is an extra cost) Cellular backup just means, in the case that some nut job decides to cut your phone line and then break into your house, the wireless alarm will still submit a break-in notification to the monitoring company and then on to the police department. More and more this is becoming part of some of the basic monitoring packages. This is good option to consider.

3. Equipment - Generally speaking, if you sign up for a contract, there is a basic equipment package that comes with it for free. However, what you get for free, most likely won't be enough equipment to monitor all of your windows, doors, glassbreak etc. But it should get you pretty close. So make sure and find a package that includes the main station and a good amount of sensors to go with it.

4. Contract Length - The length of the contract is the killer. Most companies want you to sign a 3 year contract! Serious? Not all companies do a 3 year. So look for a 1 or 2 year agreement. Although one thing to consider, is that with smaller contract durations, the equipment that is offered either comes with a price or you get less equipment for it still to be free. This old adage works with alarms, nothing is ever for free.

5. Monitoring - Monitoring becomes the real cost involved with one of these wireless home alarm systems. Without monitoring you just have an expensive noise maker. There are a lot of different options with monitoring. Costs will range from $15 a month to $50. Most alarm companies have different monitoring packages that include different features. The ones that are more a la carte provide more flexibility into what you want to spend your money on. You can pay for options like video monitoring, fire or environmental monitoring, etc. The bottom line here, is look for as much as you need and shop around for aggressive pricing. There are already so many monthly expenses, try and make this one palatable.

Last thought, a lot of companies are now offering iPhone apps and web apps to help control your home alarm system. These should be free ad ons. Look for these as perks when deciding on a new home alarm. Good luck and make sure and shop around using some of these key concepts as guidelines.