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Three important questions you may never ask...

Question- What is a "Self-Contained System", and why do so many ADT Subcontracting Dealers install them, and why do most security professionals avoid using self contained systems in their own homes?

Answer- A self-contained system simply means that the "communicator" and the keypad are all combined into one unit. When a burglar breaks in through a main entrance/exit door, he has the same delay period that you have when you come home and turn off your alarm. During that delay period the combined Keypad/Panel/Communicator is easily taken off the wall and the telephone wires are disconnected by the burglar before the system has a chance to contact the central station. ADT Subcontracting Dealers use this system because it is cheap for them to buy and install.

Pictured below is a self-contained system. The talking Keypad, the siren, the panel, and the communicator are all in one unit. The entire security system is exposed for a burglar to disable.

We use a "Separately Derived System" the keypad, the siren and the main panel with the communicator are placed in 3 seperate locations. The communicator is installed in a metal locked box, which is hidden in your home. The siren is also in a seperate location so it doesn't act as a homing device to the panel. If a burglar attempts to tamper with the keypad at the door, the main panel will still communicate with one our four central stations.

Also, our monitoring costs less without sacrificing quality. We have 4 central stations and a tested 12 second reponse time. This is a faster response time than ADT, Brinks, or Protection One. In some cases we are faster by minutes, not seconds.

In the end, our monitoring is over $600.00 less...

...and we are faster

Example-

A self-contained system with a $32.99 monthly monitoring rate for 7 years= $2771.16
Our System "non-self contained" with a $24.99 rate for 7 years= $2031.16
THAT IS A $640.00 SAVINGS

Question- "How does an alarm company,- with less than 750 operators on a shift, monitor almost 5.5 million clients?"

Answer- The Conglomerates like ADT know that they can't possibly handle actual emergencies and false alarms with this type of operator to client ratio. So what they had to do is use a handicap. The way they accomplish this is through "Passive Monitoring" when the entry/exit delay isn't the only delay period used before contacting the central station...

A delay is programmed on the entry door. Once that delay has expired the siren will activate. However, the dialer in your alarm panel will not activate simply because it is on an additional 2 minute delay period. Further, once the Operator receives the alarm call from the dialer, the operator will then wait an additional 2 minutes over and above the 2.5 minute delay time. That is a total of 4.5 minutes. This is supposed to give the client even more time to enter the code (additional to the entry/exit delay) thus canceling the alarm call before it dials the central station and possibly wasting the time of an operator having to deal with a false alarm.
In a real emergency this is unimaginable because the central station can't determine which calls are actual emergencies, and which calls are false alarms until they talk with the customer. But the contact time to the customer is delayed up to 4 or more minutes!!!
The salespeople from these companies might tell you they have a 15 to a 30 second response time. This is a complete falsehood.
This practice of "Passive Monitoring" may reduce the amount of calls into the central station, but it adds minutes to the response time simply because they do not have enough operators online even though the network might have multiple central stations.
Also, if the alarm cycles through all of the delays and the system actually reaches an operator, now the call will be taken in the order it has been received! That function can take an additional 2 to 3 minutes.
If you have a house fire or a break in, and you are not home to hear your siren, your alarm company could wait up to a full 6 minutes, -in some cases more, -before they contact the authorities! Although this may be good for the central station by "weeding out" false alarms, it is extremely bad for the customer with a real emergency.
It's unacceptable to us, but it is common practice with conglomerates similar to ADT.
Those 4 to 6 minute delays in a fire or burglary could cost you everything.
A Fire doubles in size every 20 seconds. During the early stages of a fire, the flame might only be 1 foot tall and 1 foot wide, but it could easily reach a height and width exceeding 24 feet thus becoming a full blown disaster during that delay period.

Question- "How is the HLS Central Station Network different than others?"

Answer- Our Network of Central Stations is the most advanced communication system in our industry. From security system monitoring to Military Encryption, we continue to make advances in vehicle fleet monitoring and data applications that go beyond the standard science of alarm monitoring. In fact, our Network is so advanced that ADT contracted the 2 way voice systems from this central station network for their own clients at a premium.

We use an "Active Instant" monitoring platform instead of a "Passive Wait " format.
Our network consists of multiple redundant central stations.
If your main central station is experiencing high traffic, your alarm call will be immediately routed to another central station which will have operators to act on your call.
We do not put our customers on a dialer delay, and we certainly do not use a 2 to 6 minute holding pattern such as ADT and some of our competitors.
We act on all emergencies instantaneously!

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