Finding the right security provider

Chelsea Mitchell Security Resources

Home and business owners have many options when it comes to securing a facility and choosing the “right” security company can be difficult.

The challenge is that “right” varies from facility to facility.  Work works great in one application, may not be so great in another.  The important thing is to do your homework, find a company focused on service and support, and one that installs custom designed systems.

During your research, here are a few questions you’ll want to investigate:

Ask where their monitoring center is located.  Is it local?  In the NW?  In Texas?

  • Many security companies are downsizing and/or consolidating their monitoring centers.
  • Sonitrol Pacific is locally owned and operated.

Ask how they verify an alarm is valid.

  • Motion sensors and door contacts deliver great results in certain applications.  However, the operator monitoring the account has no way of knowing what set off the motion sensor or door contact and no means to verify a valid alarm through technology.
  • Sonitrol Pacific uses audio sensors and monitored video to give our operators ears and eyes.  This delivers 360 degree coverage and a means to verify alarms.

Ask the operator to account ratio.

  • It’s not unusual to find a central station that assigns one operator to watch over 10,000 customers or more.
  • Our operators monitor fewer than 2,000 customers each.  This ensures our clients get the attention and focus they want.

Ask their average police response time.

  • Nationally, the average police response time to an unverified burglar alarm is a little over an hour.
  • Nationally, the average police response time to a Sonitrol audio detection is seven minutes.

Investigate their guarantees and warranties

  • Before signing any contract for security services, make sure it includes a 6-month money back guarantee, a full equipment and labor warranty, a one-hour emergency service guarantee, a false alarm fine guarantee (they pay the false alarm fines the city will charge), and a performance warranty (they pay you compensation if they miss a break-in).  These guarantees are the only way to ensure you’re truly protected.