So i decided to upgrade my alarm system... separate my garage and outbuilding ...got a quote from an alarm company ...for just under R 20 000 for a keypad ...an expander and a couple of PIR sensors ... i could rewire my whole house for that amount of money ( not really).. i decided to go do a basic and advanced training course on how to do it myself... so far it has cost me R4000 in total for the latest top of the range modern system which even allows me to control my wifes hair iron which she forgets to switch off... from anywhere in the world ... so long as there is sun to charge the batteries or the the power hasnt been off longer than 3 days or telkom line hasnt been stolen again or the LTE sim dongle isnt connecting ...you get the idea.


Back in the day... alarm systems came free with the armed response (thats what they advertised) it was included in your monthly contract... nothing is free in this life ...they would fix and maintain it for "free" ...unfortunately this is no longer the case ...i have customers who have paid in excess of R30 000 for an alarm system to be fitted and a monthly fee which grows annually to a point ...that unless you approach the company will just keep growing... until you notice specials running for R350 and realise you are up to the R900 per month mark because you have just been paying by debt order worry free... mine has just been reduced back to R380 per month.

False alarms... something that is more common than hijacking... house invasion.. and murder all put together... it is one of the most complained about topics with regards to alarms systems... in fact to a point that i have customers who have just given up and switched the system off.

Which takes me back to all my issues and how the technicians tackle the issues... i am yet to see a technician run a "soak test" ... do a wire resistance test... never mind pull out a laptop and link a serial cable to the main board to download and view the event log ... it more like a doctors visit ...take this and if it doesnt work we will bill you for another visit and try something else...eventually we will find the problem and still send you the bill.

Something else i hear often... we will get the office to update the system.. due to the lack of experience or knowledge of what is becoming more technical advanced system ...which requires the technician to sit in training for at least half the course ... where you cant just rely on a default setting. ...sometime we find simple issues like a PIR which requires being changed to entry /exit or follower zones for example where something (a wall) has been moved and now the PIR detects movement when the away alarm is set on the keypad.