Alarm monitoring recommendations?
 

One of my buddies just bought a new home that has a pre-wired alarm system. He's looking to get alarm monitoring and from doing some preliminary research, it seems most of the companies that do this want to push their hardware as well.

Does anyone know of any companies that do purely monitoring only, or can accomodate pre-existing wired alarm systems?

I know a couple people who use Vancouver Intrusion Alarm | CCTV Security System Installation and Monitoring in Vancouver, for their monitoring but I don't have personal experience with them.

We use these guys for commercial monitoring... they do residential as well, no idea what their rates are, but they give us good service.
Security Monitoring Vancouver | 24hr ULC Approved Hold-Up & Medical Alert Monitoring | Accurate Lock, Safe & Alarm Co.

use monitoring cntr. ($10) no frills of alamr monitoring. in conjunction w/ ip phone.
alarm . dialed is 1 800 . so i just pay 2$ to park the number monthly ,, and no $ for dial outs.

Thanks guys for the suggestions. I'll give them all a call.

I did talk to The Monitoring Centre this morning. I'll put down here what they offered in case anyone else is looking for the same thing:
$99 setup fee, $9.99/mo billed annually. Cellular is aditional $159 + $8/mo

Any recommendations for install?

I need my home and basement suite done, separate panels

Did they do any testing with the phone line? When I talked to them today, they didn't recommend VoIP phone lines and from doing a little research in the past, some people have had issues with using VoIP lines as well. I know with my ATA and even my Cisco VoIP phone, there's a second or two delay before I get a dial tone.

The other big issue being that if power is cut, your ATA or VoIP device is offline and it can't make a call. You'll probably need to back it up with some sort of battery backup.

For installs i've used Covert Security, they do really good quality work and can do much more than just alarms.

A couple more updates for monitoring companies in case anyone is interested:
Midas Alarm & Security: $12.99/mo. No setup fee GSM module is $200 + $25/mo

Radius Security (part of VanFire): $31.95/mo with 3 year plan required. $99 takeover fee. Cellular is $179 + $10/mo. Also has Internet Monitoring as an option for no additional charge as an alternative to cellular or phone line.

Arpel: $25/mo. 10% off if you prepay 12 months. Cellular is $150 for the hardware and $11/mo

Didn't get a callback from Covert after I submitted an online inquiry so might give them a call on the weekend.

I'll check with covert security as well, as i need someone to reconfigure my alarm panels. unknown passcode and basement panels not working.

yes they did testing, and i had to play with my ata to have it working 100%, my home alarm notifies me by chirping to tell me phone service is offline.
im using a cisco ata. i think i am ok and dont need backup as this is a townhouse complex and draws attention. (neighbor is a cop).

alarm cntr gets codes as to which door and window or motion. so working 100% . i have ups, that last couple of hours.might even outlast alarm backup batt..so im good that way