Phone Watch alarm Issues

Optimum

Hi all we are currently have a Phone Watch alarm installed and are still paying for the monitoring, we have it in place about 5 years.
I was thinking of changing to another company for monitoring. Can/will a new company use the existing hardware in place or would we have to upgrade to a new system.

The current control panel is the one with the two ariels (concord.??) I have bought new batteries to change the window sensors + smoke alarm, as the last time the p.w engineer was out he said they would need to be changed and it would cost a lot as we dont have the maintenance contract...

So I changed the battery in the smoke alarm first and now every time we set the alarm the control panel says that it has been tampered with, and then we have to bypass the smoke alarm before the alarm will set, its been like this for two months now, I dont want to start changing the batteries in the window/door sensors only to have to bypass them before the alarm will set..kinda defeats the purpose of the alarm, Is there an easy fix for this?

KoolKid

Again, shop around there are many companies who would do this for you, there are also many other who only know one or 2 brands.

hitbit

Sorry people but I don't see the point in having a phonewatch alarm which is not monitored. I know it is expensive to avail of the monitoring/maintenance service currently €41.54 per month, New owners are only in the door and upping the prices, have to have a word with them tomorrow. Only had them out last week doing half yearly routine maintenance. Guy changed every battery including those in key fobs. I imagine doing same myself would cost nearly as much as the annual maintenance fee. I have never had to call them out in an emergency maintenance situation but my brother in law did and was very pleased with their response. I have had a couple of situations where the alarm was activated in error by early morning risers. To their credit Phonewatch called within 30 seconds seeking the password. My insurance co offers a 25% discount for the monitored alarm. So if its possible have an alarm, have it maintained and monitored. This household takes great comfort in knowing someones babysitting when we're out or in bed. I have always loathed Eircom as a provider of services ( Phonewatch was the exception ) to the point that I had to have a GSM unit installed as I would not have an Eircom landline in the house. Hope the new owners are as good.

Hitbit:):):):):)

kub

Wow you are paying Phonewatch €2 short of €500 a year, that is outrageous.

I have a call lined up for Tuesday whereby I must reprogram a Phonewatch monitored from them and into another monitoring company, who provide as good, if not then better service,at a saving of € 160 to the customer.

KoolKid

kub wrote: »

Wow you are paying Phonewatch €2 short of €500 a year, that is outrageous.

That is exactly why we are always saying shop around.

altor

hitbit wrote: »

Sorry people but I don't see the point in having a phonewatch alarm which is not monitored. I know it is expensive to avail of the monitoring/maintenance service currently €41.54 per month, New owners are only in the door and upping the prices, have to have a word with them tomorrow. Only had them out last week doing half yearly routine maintenance. Guy changed every battery including those in key fobs. I imagine doing same myself would cost nearly as much as the annual maintenance fee. I have never had to call them out in an emergency maintenance situation but my brother in law did and was very pleased with their response. I have had a couple of situations where the alarm was activated in error by early morning risers. To their credit Phonewatch called within 30 seconds seeking the password. My insurance co offers a 25% discount for the monitored alarm. So if its possible have an alarm, have it maintained and monitored. This household takes great comfort in knowing someones babysitting when we're out or in bed. I have always loathed Eircom as a provider of services ( Phonewatch was the exception ) to the point that I had to have a GSM unit installed as I would not have an Eircom landline in the house. Hope the new owners are as good.

Hitbit:):):):):)

The reason you have this extra service is because you are paying for it.
A service contact like you have pays for all the extras but in reality you will have the system paid for twice over over in a couple of years. Handy money for them. I wont get started on the GSM they installed :rolleyes:

brian ireland

Is it possible to switch from phone watch to another company using the phone watch installed Alarm?

KoolKid

Yes. Shop around. Many licenced company's will reprogramme and monitor those systems.

kub

brian ireland wrote: »

Is it possible to switch from phone watch to another company using the phone watch installed Alarm?

I can appreciate where this poster is coming from. PW's well oiled Marketing machine, thanks by and large to their existing customers money has the public thinking that they are the be all and end all when it comes to monitored alarm systems.
What the public does not know however is that alarm monitoring has been around long before Nynex and Telecom Eireann set up PW.
Also the equipment they use is not solely designed or custom made for them, any component licensed installer can and will gladly move monitoring stations and will take over the maintenance of PW systems.

brian ireland

kub wrote: »

I can appreciate where this poster is coming from. PW's well oiled Marketing machine, thanks by and large to their existing customers money has the public thinking that they are the be all and end all when it comes to monitored alarm systems.
What the public does not know however is that alarm monitoring has been around long before Nynex and Telecom Eireann set up PW.
Also the equipment they use is not solely designed or custom made for them, any component licensed installer can and will gladly move monitoring stations and will take over the maintenance of PW systems.

Thats great news for me. My Phone-watch contract expires at the end of the month. Might shop around for a better deal..

kub

brian ireland wrote: »

Thats great news for me. My Phone-watch contract expires at the end of the month. Might shop around for a better deal..

Let us know how you get on.

altor

brian ireland wrote: »

Thats great news for me. My Phone-watch contract expires at the end of the month. Might shop around for a better deal..

The only issue is with the older classic systems. Parts are no longer available for them. Upgraded systems from the classics to concord are fine as 433 sensors are used with the concord system.

Any of there other systems are easily defaulted and set up to ring another monitoring station.

el pasco

kub wrote: »

I can appreciate where this poster is coming from. PW's well oiled Marketing machine, thanks by and large to their existing customers money has the public thinking that they are the be all and end all when it comes to monitored alarm systems.
What the public does not know however is that alarm monitoring has been around long before Nynex and Telecom Eireann set up PW.
Also the equipment they use is not solely designed or custom made for them, any component licensed installer can and will gladly move monitoring stations and will take over the maintenance of PW systems.

But what other company in Ireland does a monitored alarm system with monitored smoke alarm with monitored CCTV?

If they exist please let me know!!

kub

el pasco wrote: »

But what other company in Ireland does a monitored alarm system with monitored smoke alarm with monitored CCTV?

If they exist please let me know!!

I am only in this business 24 years and each and every monitoring station which i have dealt with over that time monitors everything you have mentioned and a lot of things you are obviously unaware of.

Evolution1

el pasco wrote: »

But what other company in Ireland does a monitored alarm system with monitored smoke alarm with monitored CCTV?

If they exist please let me know!!

Every company out there does! And phonewatch don't monitor CCTV they simple monitor photos the alarm sends to the station.

Visonic systems use PIR cameras that send images or video clips to monitoring stations.

Riscos agility panel sends the images/videos to your smartphone and to the station.

If you want a wired or wireless smoke alarm smoke alarm simply request it from your installer. The same goes for anything else you require.

Securiguard
Cuala
Network security
BM alarms

All the above will give you a system with PIR cams and they'll even give you the privilege of having an alarm that reports Radio jams to the monitoring station. Phonewatch turn this important feature off .
Also the above companies and others won't charge you extra for additional sensors to be monitored.

kub

And that was only to name a few.

Evolution1

kub wrote: »

And that was only to name a few.

Sorry haha only ones I was 100% certain of.

altor

kub wrote: »

And that was only to name a few.

Looks like he missed a few alright

karlgibs

I have been thinking about moving to PW for a while but something keeps stopping me. I don't like the idea of being held to a ransom of a monthly fee which they can change when they want. They are doing a decent offer for March of 100 off and 25% off the monitoring fee but still. Even then they won't remove the existing bellbox or keypad.

I have an existing wired Aritech alarm which is a bit on the old side (1995) and keeps randomly going off. Securiguard and Network security seem decent. Which uses the best system ? Securiguard seem to use Visonic and I like the wireless keypad.

Cheers

KoolKid

You are right to have the concerns you have re PW.
You will be tied to their system & their monitoring with no option to switch or shop around. Do your shopping around now & you will save yourself a lot of money in the long run. Also use a company that uses global brands rather than their own. I have found Network Security have their panels & devices tied down in similar ways to PW to prevent you switching to other companies if you wish shop around in the future. With most other companies this would not be the case.

Evolution1

Network security use Risco gear. You can indeed change companies if you wish down the line very easily too with the panel they are using.

I wouldn't touch phonewatch. Who knows who is watching those cameras. The cheap deal is to try attract customers after the Joe Duffy episode. You need a system that detects them before they enter your home or business. The phonewatch system doesn't offer this basic level of protection.

KoolKid

Evolution1 wrote: »

Network security use Risco gear. You can indeed change companies if you wish down the line very easily too with the panel they are using.

Any I have come across are coded separately.
Even if you have engineer access you cannot add standard Risco devices. Likewise if you change the panel it will not recognise their existing devices. Risco have confirmed this to me.

altor

karlgibs wrote: »

I have been thinking about moving to PW for a while but something keeps stopping me. I don't like the idea of being held to a ransom of a monthly fee which they can change when they want. They are doing a decent offer for March of 100 off and 25% off the monitoring fee but still. Even then they won't remove the existing bellbox or keypad.

I have an existing wired Aritech alarm which is a bit on the old side (1995) and keeps randomly going off. Securiguard and Network security seem decent. Which uses the best system ? Securiguard seem to use Visonic and I like the wireless keypad.

Cheers

Any company that is certified can connect a system up to monitoring.
What I would recommend is finding the fault with the system you have installed then upgrading to a hybrid system which can be connected to any monitoring station or self monitored by yourself.

pango

Mod.

Pango

Can you please open your own thread for your own issue next time.

Thank you