EnvisAlarms or Alarm Relay

[haizman]

Hello,

I've been looking at adding monitoring to my EVL-3/DSC system. I'm trying to weigh the pros/cons of going with EnvisAlarms vs Alarm Relay.

A friend who works for Watchlight/Alarm Relay will get me the same pricing as EnvisAlarms, but an older forum post I saw indicated I may have to subscribe to the EnvisAlertsPlus package in order for Alarm Relay to monitor my system. This would add an additional $5 per month, so I'm wondering if anyone can comment if this is true or not?

Beyond that, the only potential benefit I see of going with Alarm Relay is that the central station is local to my area (San Diego), and I have a personal contact there in the company.

There may be some additional benefits of going with EnvisAlarms? Perhaps someone can let me know what I can gain by going with them?

As far as connectivity goes - do the central stations connect directly to the EVL-3 module? If so, will I have to allow that port through my router? I'm a bit concerned that the EVL-3 only supports a 6-digit password, and doesn't support special characters.

Anyone's experience and comments would be appreciated!
Thanks!!

[NonTech]

You DO NOT need to subscribe to the EnvisAlertsPlus package in order for Alarm Relay to monitor your system (so no additional $5 per month)!

IMHO, the fact that Watch Light/Alarm Relay is a US-based Alarm Monitoring Company is a major plus in my book. Also, Watch Light/Alarm Relay is very close to where you live makes it even more enticing.

You should ask Alarm Relay if they will "release" the EnvisaLink 3 back to you in the event you decide to go with another Monitoring Company. I think they technically "take control" (unlock) of the device once you sign up with them. Service this forum to assess what "release"/"take control" of the device means.

Do remember that when a module is "unlocked", Envisacor registers the module to whomever paid the unlock fee and therefore effectively owns the module. So if you registered your Envisalink with a monitoring company and you didn't pay your bill, they could turn off all features in your module. FYI.

http://forum.eyez-on.com/FORUM/viewtopi ... =take+over

[GrandWizard]

You DO NOT need to subscribe to the EnvisAlertsPlus package in order for Alarm Relay to monitor your system (so no additional $5 per month)!

The only reason why you might consider Envisalerts+ when getting monitored by Alarm Relay is if you had a Honeywell panel. Alarm Relay will charge you an extra fee if your panel sends Opening and Closing reports (arming/disarming) so you would have to give up this feature. Envisalerts+ has server-based "synthetic O/C reporting" which gets around this problem.

IMHO, the fact that Watch Light/Alarm Relay is a US-based Alarm Monitoring Company is a major plus in my book. Also, Watch Light/Alarm Relay is very close to where you live makes it even more enticing.

The Envisalarms monitoring service is provided by Acadian Monitoring in Texas which last time I looked was still a US-based alarm monitoring company.

You should ask Alarm Relay if they will "release" the EnvisaLink 3 back to you in the event you decide to go with another Monitoring Company. I think they technically "take control" (unlock) of the device once you sign up with them. Service this forum to assess what "release"/"take control" of the device means.

Any company that professionally monitors an Envisalink has to effectively take ownership of the module, regardless of whomever actually paid for it. At Eyezon we always respect our DIY customers' ownership of their equipment and our customers will not be penalized for wanting to move to another monitoring service.

[haizman]

Thanks for the responses!

As for the connectivity to the EVL-3 module for monitoring - can someone confirm if central stations connect directly to the module? If so, any idea what port needs to be opened to allow that connection?

[GrandWizard]

Thanks for the responses!

As for the connectivity to the EVL-3 module for monitoring - can someone confirm if central stations connect directly to the module? If so, any idea what port needs to be opened to allow that connection?

No, the Envisalink connects directly to the central station. No port forwarding is required.

[slowjoe6969]

[/quote]
Any company that professionally monitors an Envisalink has to effectively take ownership of the module, regardless of whomever actually paid for it. At Eyezon we always respect our DIY customers' ownership of their equipment and our customers will not be penalized for wanting to move to another monitoring service.[/quote]

So does this mean I wouldn't be able to access the device via the Eyez-on website anymore?

[GrandWizard]

That is correct. The monitoring company would have their own version of portal and their own separate Envisalink accounts.