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Crookshanks
join:2008-02-04
Binghamton, NY

Crookshanks to waycoolphil

Member

to waycoolphil

Re: Then they can pay for the conversion of customer equipment

said by waycoolphil:

The most effective burglary deterrent component of a residential alarm system is the yard sign of a legitimate widely recognized company (like ADT).

Actually no, the most effective deterrent is a barking dog.
waycoolphil
join:2000-09-22
Cathedral City, CA

waycoolphil

Member

I'd rather they don't get close enough to my house to even hear the dog.
Crookshanks
join:2008-02-04
Binghamton, NY

Crookshanks

Member

*shrug*, waste your money then. You're paying $30 to $40 month for that "deterrence", which is essentially an expensive bet that a criminal is going to make a calculated and rational decision.

I would submit that breaking into an occupied residence in the United States of America is an inherently irrational act, given the American love affair with firearms and Castle Doctrine. Guess what? Home invasions still happen with distressing regularity, and the alarm system is precious little help in that instance.

Timeline of alarm:

1) Bad guy breaks into your house, alarm goes off.

2) ADT receives alarm, calls you to make sure it's not a false alarm. Meanwhile bad guy is in your house, possibly victimizing you or your family.

3) ADT can't get in touch with you, so they dispatch the police. You've already wasted the time it took for them to attempt to contact you. Now you've got to wait for the police to arrive. This may take five minutes or five hours, depending on where you live. Plenty of time for someone to do you serious harm.

You'd be better off just calling 911 yourself and saving the time ADT wasted making sure it wasn't a false alarm. Even at that, you'll be waiting precious minutes for the police to arrive, in the best case scenario, hours in the worst, so you'd best have a way to defend yourself until they show up.

The alarm is somewhat useful at ensuring the police arrive if your home is burglarized while you're not home, though again, they'll likely arrive too late to actually save your family jewels. You'd be surprised how much a professional thief can pocket in two minutes time.

Truly irreplaceable items belong in a safe deposit box, which you can rent for a lot less money than ADT's annual monitoring subscription. Everything else is insured, or should be.
waycoolphil
join:2000-09-22
Cathedral City, CA

waycoolphil

Member

Nice soap box. You seem to be missing my point--with the yard sign the odds are highly in my favor that they will break into my next door neighbor's house that has no sign. Even though I tried to convince him he should have one.

I was marketing/telemarketing director for a large home security firm and we had confidential reports from the LAPD that totally back me up on this. The signs also helped us stroghold entire neighborhoods but that's another issue.
Crookshanks
join:2008-02-04
Binghamton, NY

Crookshanks

Member

said by waycoolphil:

You seem to be missing my point--with the yard sign the odds are highly in my favor that they will break into my next door neighbor's house that has no sign. Even though I tried to convince him he should have one.

Go ahead and bet on the rationality of felons if that makes you feel better.

I'll keep my 1911, thank you very much.
WhatNow
Premium Member
join:2009-05-06
Charlotte, NC

WhatNow to Crookshanks

Premium Member

to Crookshanks
The signs work almost as good as the alarm. The dog barking does not work if it barks at everything all the time. It is also better if the dog is not aggressive but stay away so it can't be silenced by hitting the dog on the head.

The wireline is still slightly regulated but when ma bell was broken up and any company was allowed to lease the entire system at a discount the telcos no longer owed customers service. In cities there is competition from cable. The biggest problem is the customers are ditching the wireline for cable or just wireless. When I got my cell phone I dropped my TWC voip line. Seldom made a call on it and all I got was sales calls. Saved $40+ a month. AT&T has already announced they were dropping switched service by 2020 so this FCC announcement is late.