Sure, you may save a few bucks by not paying that subscription fee to an alarm monitoring company. And self-monitored systems usually do not require high-end hardware or a subscription fee for monitoring, so they’re a good low-budget option.

But what hidden costs are you really paying when you opt for self-monitoring?

1. Your personal safety

It’s important to think about the circumstances that will trigger your security system. There are two scenarios:

You are inside your home or business during the break-in.
You are not home when the break-in occurs.

If you’re at home, you want the police to arrive as quickly as possible. If you are in an emergency situation, it may not be possible to call 911 from your home. An intruder is not going to wait for you to open your security app and signal the police.

In the second scenario, you’re not home. Do you have a good connection to Wi-Fi or data? Are you on vacation?  What if the break-in occurs while you’re scuba diving in Cancun? Are you going to be tied to your mobile device 24/7 during work, vacation, meetings, while you’re at the movies, during your commute?

Even if you do get the security alert and are in a position to respond, you certainly do not want to return to your business or home to confront the intruders and put yourself in danger.

Break-ins aside, what about your smoke and heat detectors? What if there is an emergency, and you are not able to monitor the system closely?

In both of these situations, you will be safer if your alarm monitoring company can contact emergency services for you. Self-monitored systems will alert you of an emergency, but you’ll ultimately be responsible for contacting the police or fire department.

But with a UL-approved alarm monitoring station, you ensure that you, your family, and your property are protected 24/7, 365 days a year.

2. Delayed response time

A security system is only as good as the response it generates. Let’s say you are out of town and receive an alert from your self-monitored security system. Do you have the correct number to call?

If you call 911, you will not get your town’s local dispatch. You’ll have to be transferred to the right person, and those precious seconds can feel like an eternity.

In the case of an active intrusion, every single second counts. If your thief is savvy, they can often break in and smash your control panel before you get the notification and call the police. Crash and smash technology paired with a professional home security monitoring station will prevent this common occurrence.

The delayed response time you get with a self-monitored alarm system might make a difference in how much damage intruders do to your property and whether they get away with your valuables. Home security monitoring could also mean the difference between burning the toast or burning down the house.

With a home security monitoring plan, though, you’ll get quicker response times, keeping your family and property secured. Home alarm monitoring, combined with a robust security system, saves countless lives each year.

3. No customer service and tech support

Have you ever bought new technology that stops working at some point?

Consider how you’ll handle tech problems when you buy your own security equipment: If your system has false alarms, how will you figure out what’s wrong so you don’t get fined by the police? Who are you going to call for help when you want to upgrade your system, add new devices, or move your system from one property to another?

The lack of customer service and tech support is a major hidden cost of self-monitored alarm systems. Although it might cost a little more per month to work with an alarm monitoring company, the support and service will pay off in the long term.