In the wake of a collapse in the low-cost alarms-for-monitoring genre in North America, many industry commentators see high quality DIY wireless alarm systems as the next generation of mass marketed security product. The possibility that pre-coded monitoring packages could exploit simple phone, Internet or GSM links to get through to participating monitoring stations is further fuelling fears. While suppliers of the DIY systems are highlighting the modest commercial success of the systems, big U.S. installers are clearly concerned.
Force Security Solutions’ Ken Kocker told SSN the problem with the systems…may not lie in the competition factor, but in the confusion they brought to the marketplace.
“I understand what they (alarm manufacturers) are trying to do and I applaud their efforts from a business standpoint,” Kocher told SSN “but let’s keep the consumer in mind who doesn’t know what they need from a security standpoint.”
“I am concerned with it (DIY systems) devaluing the importance of security to the consumer and taking out the expert,” he added.
