Alarm Relay

My monitoring contract with ADT finally expired (a whopping $ 40/​month) and, after investigating other options, I went with Alarm Relay. That was a year ago, and after a year I am extremely pleased with my decision. Not only was getting set up a breeze, but whenever an alarm is tripped, I always get a phone call within 5 – 10 seconds. At about $ 10 a month, Alarm Relay is saving me a ton of money and providing the same, if not better service than ADT.
I would make the switch again in a heartbeat!

I have been looking to discontinue home phone service and find less expensive monitoring for a few months now. So last week I finally decided to take the plunge. I had a 10+ year old Ademco (name before they were bought by Honeywell) Vista 20P revision 1.2. I wanted to add functionality with my smartphone. When I spoke to an Alarm Relay rep, they recommended I buy a newer Vista 20P revision 9.18 or higher for the added functionality. So I picked one up on my Amazon Prime for $ 58. After I received the panel, I set up an appointment with Alarm Relay to have it installed. Within a couple days I received the Ipdatatel (CBAT) wireless alarm communicator. This device can communicate by internet via Ethernet port, and also by cellular connection. I decided to only utilize the cellular connection of the communicator since I didn’t have to run any wires to my router. I had a two hour appointment set up with Alarm Relay, conveniently for me on a Saturday. My appointment was with Trevor, who was very knowledgeable and helpful the whole way through. So here is the best part! Before i disconnected my old panel, he was able to remote dial in and back up all my settings including partitions, zone names, etc. from my old Vista 20P. After that he stayed on standby while i swapped boards. The connections to the new Vista 20P were identical to my old panel. This made it a breeze to swap out. I removed the old 20P circuit board from the panel (2 screws) and replaced it with the new one. I then swapped wire for wire to the new board. After that Trevor uploaded all my previous programming into the new panel. That was awesome! Saved tons of time. He then discovered some zones that didn’t have names. Well, the original installer had never programmed them in, but Trevor was nice enough to help me accomplish this. Since then I have spoke with Trevor a few times and he has been very helpful and answered all my questions. And yes I had a lot of questions! Poor Trevor. Every time I have called Alarm Relay they have been very prompt answering the phone and have been professional and polite. So here we are a week later, and I have a cool new panel with access via my smartphone. Along with a bunch of new features I never had before. With the virtual keypad I can arm and disarm my alarm with my phone, I can view status, and I can even look at a log of all alarm activity. Really nice! And all for $ 18/​month. Be smart and ask all the questions on terms and contracts. Price goes up ever so slightly the first few years, but IMHO it is really worth it. I cut out the middle man, got rid of my home phone service and saved myself well over $ 40 a month doing so. I am very pleased. I really hope they continue their business model. Thank you Alarm Relay! :)

The owner of Alarm Relay called and we discussed my concern. He was very interested in taking care of the issue and refunded my money in full. He also stated that he was going to investigate and attempt to figure out what was wrong. If they could they would make things right (beyond giving my money back). This part has yet to be resolved so I will post another update when it is.

Poor customer service and nothing useful is included their standard service.
First and foremost alarm monitoring service providers should be judged on their response time, so let’s start there. This past holiday season I drove out to see family and forgot to cancel my dog walker. We had a never given our walker a code so when they arrived the alarm tripped. They called our number and notified us of what was happening, we could hear the alarm in the background still running which always adds to the confusion. We walked them through disarming and apologized for the confusion; all of which took place before we ever received a call from Alarm Relay reporting the alarm trip. A good 2 – 3 minutes had passed before they called; not impressive given that ever minute counts in an emergency.
Second most important for me is customer service and ease of access to support. Do not try and call in for any help you need with your system; whether panel based setup or general troubleshooting. You will only be able to speak with a «service specialist», and they will only tell you you need an appointment and have to speak with a programmer or technician (which will cost extra). Also, they will try and up-​sell your services to higher tiers and have access only to basic account information and general sales info. I have only called in 3 times (including my initial setup) and each time was the same. For background, I have built my last 3 PCs and research as best I can from user posts, blogs and the like so I am not constantly calling with mundane or low-​level questions. In the end I have come to the conclusion that 1) they only use 3^rd party program support thus incapable of offering timely and competent help and 2) they realize that once you subscribe you are unlikely to cancel until the year term is up.
Lastly, but still quite important, consider product advertising and service delivery. I had purchased my alarm unit from
which partners with Alarm Relay. The unit is a Honeywell model which allows for automation (lights, locks, & thermostat) and smoke detector utilization through the central panel. These services can be added by buying module add-​ins from Amazon (or any retailer) and controlling them from your panel. However, to get access to controlling your system through your phone and online you have to pay extra for Z-​wave automation and Wifi control to Alarm Relay. Their website does a pretty poor job of detailing price changes or levels based on service lines. All they state is the Alarm Monitoring monthly price of 8.95, however, this gets you nothing (no to: wifi control, Total Connect 2.0 access, or Z-​wave support). They advertise these services but don’t explain the additional costs and commitment. As as result, you will be spending as much or more than competing providers.
Do yourself a favor and spend the extra 5 – 10 a month and get a competent service to provide your security needs; it will be well worth it in the end.

Interesting. ths is the third time I’m writing this review. Twice before, my review was removed. Say lots about Unilocal. I’m going to take a picture of this review once posted & post it everywhere if Unilocal removes it again. What, can only leave negative reviews for nonpaying Unilocal customers?
The sales/​accounting department at Alarm Relay is crooked. I’ve referred two people to them. Both times, they gave a pretty lame excuse, to get out of paying the referral fee.

I installed my alarm myself so I only use them for monitoring. I have used Alarm Relay for few years now and have not had any problems. Once I installed the phone line they programmed the system over the phone line. easy.
I pay extra for the email notifications… I think it should be included in the price. I would rather have text notifications.
I just got a nice check from them for referring a friend… awesome.

I’ve read some of the other reviews of this company, and I have to admit, I’m shocked that they’re so wildly all over the place!
First off, this is not a three-​star alarm company. I went into my transaction with Alarm Relay a bit worried about the customer service, based on some of the reviews that were written here, but then when I saw what they were complaining about, I realized none of those things would impact me.
** I’m generally smart enough to cancel any contract before it’s up, if I no longer wish to continue service with a company. I put a reminder in my calendar about 10 months out, so that I’m reminded before the contract is up. It’s just standard business procedure to ask for the duration of any contract, and the cancellation terms. If you’re not asking these questions, and not reading the contract before you sign it, you’re not a smart consumer. I’m sorry. Complaining about this after the fact in a review, and giving the company a low rating because you failed to read the fine print, is not a very nice thing to do. It also skews the reviews, and might send people away. Sad.
** A lot of these bad reviews are focusing so closely on a single specific aspect of service (accounting, sales and referral program) and not discussing the company as a whole, that it makes me wonder if these people actually had service with this company or not. How was the service itself? Did you talk with the technical support department? Did they help you with any issues? Did you have any issues? How as the response time? Was set-​up easy or challenging? I hope to address the company as a whole rather than just a small piece.
Anyway, now onto my personal experience with this company.
First off, when I built my house over ten years ago, I had ADT pre-​installed. It was expensive, so I decided to swap things out for a UL-​certified company that was reasonably priced. I swapped out the ADT-​locked panel with a brand-​new panel myself, keeping the existing sensors and learned a lot about alarm panel set-​up and configuration. That was six years ago or so, and the panel I had initially put in there was showing signs of age. I decided to shop around for a new service provider and found Alarm Relay.
First thing I did was talk to them about the services they offered, and the pricing arrangements. I like paying for my alarm on an annual basis, because it’s a single bill I budget for once a year, and I don’t have to worry about it. Annual appears to be the only way to go with this company. You may prefer monthly billing, which competitors offer, but Alarm Relay does not.
Secondly, I knew I needed to replace my panel and go-​between box, and they had all of that pre-​provisioned and ready to go. Very nice. I ordered the go-​between box, and swapped out my panel with a brand-​new version of the exact same panel I had before, just with a latest firmware chip. This made reprogramming the new system trivial, as all of the set-​up items were virtually identical.
Lastly, after physically installing the go-​between box and scheduling an installation appointment a week out, Alarm Relay stepped me through the wiring (trivial), and configuration (these guys know alarms, and stepped me through quickly and efficiently). We put the alarm in test mode, and ran a bunch of tests, which worked great.
As far as payment goes, I paid for the go-​between box, up-​front, and was charged for the annual service fee after everything was set-​up and tested. They did not charge me for the service until the alarm was ready to go. I like that business model. If they sold me a go-​between box that didn’t work, why should I be charged for the service? But it did work, and it worked fairly well, however…
I have to address the service department. I have a rather convoluted set-​up in my house, with multiple Internet connections, wires running everywhere, and lots of hardware. It’s what I do.
I connected the go-​between box to one of my Internet routers, and the alarm connection seemed sluggish. I was paying extra to have remote management, and I didn’t want to have 30 to 60 second delays in keypad entry. Something seemed wrong.
After a week of troubleshooting, we figured out that it was a very corner-​case networking situation I had (manual versus automatic), and this go-​between was only automatic. After switching to my other router, the alarm works great, with only a second or two delay in remote management response, and very quick dispatch.
The annual price, when you divide it by twelve to get the monthly price, is very reasonable. I had to pay for the go-​between box up-​front, but I own it — it’s mine. So I could easily switch to another company if I wanted to but, honestly, it works great, and the price is right. It’s just nice knowing I’m not left with a brick if I decide to leave them.
Overall, a good company with a solid service ethic. I’m glad I selected them, and am certain to renew next year if the prices remain the same.

I was tired of paying a local company big bucks– like $ 26.95 /​a month for monitoring after going through a 3 year agreement with their botched alarm upgrade (not really an upgrade– I got even less functionality out of the system) so I was looking for a new monitoring service to do the job. Since I am a techie, I installed an upgraded model of the primary alarm panel and while searching the internet, came across Alarm Relay/​Watchlight Corp. They were more than ready to assume my monitoring needs and the technician worked with me to connect the panel to monitoring correctly at the requested appointment time. Been with them for 2 plus years now, I have decided to ditch the land line and get their internet/​cell module which works great thus far! I am still paying less and getting enormously better and responsive service than with the old company. I highly recommend Alarm Relay to anyone, anytime!

Just started with Alarm Relay. Because I monitor through the Internet my monthly fee is $ 13.95. At that my monthly rate went from $ 39 to under $ 14. So far very pleased. I was on the phone several time reprogramming my Honeywell system. They have been very responsive to my needs and extremely helpful.

Great company with exceptional alarm monitoring and installation services. Everyone is super friendly and knowledgeable.

I transferred to Watchlight for my alarm monitoring after yet one more ridiculous monitoring rate increase from my previous company (ADT).
My only complaint with the company is that when I’ve accidentally triggered the alarm, I get a call from Watchlight almost before I can close the door!

Hmmm, I see a couple of unhappy people here, but since those reviews don’t give any details, it’s hard to know what was their specific problem. I am not even sure this company installs alarms, but maybe they do. I use them for monitoring.
I decided to post my review after talking to one of the techs this morning on the phone. I have talked to them on a few occasions while setting up my monitoring service with them several months ago. I almost thought I was about to post the review for a different company since my view of the company is starkly different and positive from a couple others.
Background:
I’m an electronics and software engineering executive so I understand these systems well. In fact, I installed my own Honeywell Vista-​20P panel and configured it the way I wanted. I also have some understanding of how alarm reporting companies work since once upon a time long ago I spent a few months installing alarms in homes and businesses to help a local company who was overloaded with work and needed help.
My Interaction with AlarmRelay /​Watchlight.
I called them in May 2013 to subscribe to their monitoring service. I found the price to be among the best in the industry and the staff to be VERY knowledgeable. I ask some tough engineering questions that most people are not going to ask. Their answers were spot on. I didn’t have such great results with other companies in the past. They processed the order quickly and by the next morning an experienced tech called me to give directions for programming and testing my system. That process took about 30 minutes. I might say from experience that programming an alarm system is not easy or simple because manufacturers of such systems really have not done a good job of the GUI. Thus it is not surprising that some monitoring companies and local installers have some trouble from time to time. I don’t think this company is one of them. They fully understood everything I wanted to accomplish and expertly assisted me in a friendly helpful way. TWICE.
All has gone very well for several months. On a couple occasions, grandma tripped the alarm and we got RAPID calls to the home and cell phone to see that all was well.
I also subscribed to their BOLDNET feature where I can login via web browser on the computer or cell phone to see a precise history of ALL activity on the system including support calls to them.
My most recent interface with them was in the past two weeks. I installed new wireless smoke/​fire detectors in the home and configured them into the alarm panel myself. I tested them with AlarmRelay and all was well. However, the next day, I got an email and a phone call to tell me the detectors and/​or system were not configured properly. Nice that they noticed this problem. As it turns out after talking to a tech this morning, I had accidentally changed the «report type» on the control panel when I added the additional fire detectors. It was obvious to me that this tech (Brent) was totally knowledgeable about everything that needed to be done and clearly had been doing this job a long time. He was friendly, efficient, and courteous. The reconfiguration process and full system test took about 10 minutes and he called back to report all was well. I might add that when I sent them an email yesterday to tell them I wanted to perform these tasks this morning, another service associate (Joann) rapidly returned my email to say they scheduled a meeting for exactly the time I wanted at 9:00 am this morning. They also gave me a clue that I might have misconfigured the report type and they were right. At 9:01, Brent calls. Don’t tell me you can expect better service than that from a company.
Bottom line: I am sold on this company as the one to use and I plan to use them for years to come… as long as they continue the outstanding process they are using now.

just had the system at my business upgraded by these guys two weeks ago. thus far I am very happy with the service and the pricing I received. they identified points of vulnerability, corrected them, installed a state of the art system, and consequently were able to help me sleep better at night. well worth the money.
the technicians were punctual and professional also…

My experience with this company is very different than the other reviewers. I have had nothing but excellent service from this company.
We live quite a distance away from their offices but technicians traveled for 2 hours to complete both installs, one in the business and one in our home.
They installed quite a few cameras, motion sensors and transmitters in and around both our business and home. We have set off the alarm numerous times and always get a prompt phone call and follow up.
Our control panel at home had a problem and they came right out and replaced it with a new one.
Paul and (the other guy, sorry can’t remember his name) were very friendly, and knowledgable. They did the install cleanly and efficiently.
I’d say try them yourself and see what you think.
They’re far better than ADT

We had been with watchlight many years dropped them three months ago our home system went un monitored 3 yes three months with them or us for that matter not having a clue they inadvertently dropped us from their system, went on vacation power went out not a call nothing told us would have to pay an additional fee to them to monitor power outages, dropped off their system a second time, reneged on 8 months prepaid monitoring refund lied to us about having returned it, For many years was the standard not any more. For many we recommended them to anyone and everyone we knew now everywhere I go and I see a security sticker I tell them better be glad not watchlight and why

Crooks. They automatically renewed my one year contract and charged my credit card. I cancelled the service a few days after they charged me and i requested a credit for the remaining balance. They refused. So I am paying for almost 12 months of service that i cannot use. Crooks

Companies don’t get much worse! Quality of people poor. Quality of installation awful. Poor response especially for a security company. Pricing is very attractive, however you get what you pay for. Be careful, because they are dishonest. Truth is not their long-​suit and the contract is not worth the paper it is written on. Once they have your money you are out of luck and they do not care if want to close your account.

It would be a serious mistake to do business with this company. Yes, their monthly monitoring rate is cheaper than most but they were unable to properly install a system in a home I was remodeling and I had to hire another company to finish the job properly. Their customer service department is non-​existent and everyone from the president on down was rude and condescending. They repeatedly tried to bill me for installation charges over and above the original bid and were in fact never able to get the system to function. My four months of dealing with this company were a nightmare from start to finish.