Frequently Asked Questions

Alarm monitoring is where your home or business is protected 24 hours a day by a dedicated team of professionals. Alarm signals are sent from your alarm system along with status messages and other system events. We monitor your system for a lot more than just a break-in, for example, if your power goes out to your home we will notify you so that we can ensure the alarm battery back-up does not go flat before help arrives.

Watchdog Alarms strongly recommends against monitoring your alarm via your phone line, and we can quickly and easily install a mobile data unit that will send your signals securely to our control room using the mobile network. This ensures that compromising the alarm is not as simple as just cutting the phone line

When the alarm is activated we will follow your pre-determined instructions with may be to notify you and any keyholders of the activation. This will include details such as which sensor has triggered and what actions have been taken. We can also send guards if you are not available or are not comfortable attending on your own.

If we determine it’s a genuine alarm (either by video verification or multiple zone activations) then we can also request police attendance.

The most important thing to do is to first ensure the offender/s are not still in your home. Personal safety is the most important consideration.

Once you are sure it is safe to return to your home, or from the safety of a neighbour contact the police immediately and be sure no to touch anything. This could damage vital evidence and DNA that could lead to help catching the culprit!

One important consideration is that statistically you are very likely to be broken into again within 3 months, so make sure you take the appropriate steps to re –secure your home. Also when replacing expensive items, make sure you don’t leave empty cardboard boxes advertising your new purchases on the street!

Yes, and we have a number of totally portable wireless systems that we can quickly and easily install that are just as quick and easy to remove without leaving marks.

Security systems vary in price depending on the size of your home, what features you choose as well as the brand of the equipment. Basic systems that are great quality don’t need to cost a lot. A basic system starts from $999.

Generally yes with most insurers offering a discount of around 10 -15%. Monitored alarms will generally get an additional discount of around 5-10%. Its best to speak to you insurer direct.

You may even find that some insurers won’t cover you if you don’t have an alarm system!

This all depends on your personal financial situation. We will be happy to provide a Tax Invoice for both your alarm and monitoring service.

Alarm signals are transmitted immediately and will be received in approximately 10-15 seconds from activation.

Pet-friendly sensors are available for most systems. We have sensors that will intelligently detect the difference between a person and a pet up to 45 kg, or two dogs up to 24kg each. For the cat lovers out there, the system will also allow up to 10 cats to be in the home.

Absolutely, and this is our speciality. We prefer to monitor our customers using both cellular (mobile) connections and also IP. The phone line is extremely vulnerable to tampering and compromise by simply cutting the incoming line. Cellular ensures this is not possible.

No, and we would never use your internet connection as the only monitoring path. If we were to connect your alarm to the monitoring centre using the internet, we would always have a back-up path of using a cellular connection.

Yes, all devices in your system will either have their own batteries (in the case of wireless devices) or will be connected back to the main battery back-up for hardwired systems.

With the advances in technology there is no longer a clear winner. Hardwired systems mean you don’t need to replace batteries in sensors etc, but these are harder to install and in some cases impossible to install due to the building construction. All wireless systems that are used by Watchdog Alarms supervise all wireless devices and alert the user and the monitoring centre in regards to low batteries, faults and even if the sensor “disappears” or fails with regular check ins. Wireless systems have the advantage that they are quick and easy to install, and in some cases also mean that you can take the system with you when you leave with minimal disturbance to the property.

Generally not as it will leave holes and cables in the walls etc. If we were to supply and install a wireless system this is much easier to remove.

If you are looking at a system that you can take with you, have a chat to us about a wireless system that we can install while minimising the amount of drilling in the property (in some cases we don’t need to do any drilling at all!)