For a Brinks Home alarm system, you’ll pay anywhere from $200 to $700. The $200 gets you a five-piece system that’s comparable to a Ring starter kit in terms of equipment. On the other end, $700 is more than a base Vivint system costs, but the Brinks Home package comes with two cameras, which makes the price seem more reasonable. But while Brinks Home equipment won’t necessarily cost you an arm and a leg, its monitoring might. Brinks Home recently redid its monitoring tiers. Its minimum price is pretty expensive: $40 a month. That’s $10 to $20 more than popular DIY systems’ monitoring, and it’s about $10 more than most professional systems’ lowest tier. The next tier is $45 a month, and the highest tier is $50 a month. No matter which tier you go with, you’ll spend a big chunk of change. But all the monthly fees also include smart home connectivity capability, making them a better deal than they initially appear to be. The two more expensive tiers also cover video storage costs. Plus, the Brinks Home professional monitoring service includes a bunch of emergency features, making it one of the more carefully designed monitoring systems out there. It looks like you can add smart home devices to any package without paying extra monitoring costs, but you’ll want to consult a Brinks Home sales rep to make sure. Brinks Home doesn’t have installation fees unless you choose to have a professional install your system. (More on that later.) The company doesn’t share a flat installation fee on the website, though, which makes us suspect it may vary based on the equipment installed. If you get the Ultimate package, your professional installation is free. Brinks Home also utilizes equipment from other brands, like its SkyBell doorbell or the Qolsys IQ panel that serves as the heart of the Brinks Home system. Brinks Home equipment: You can use this code if someone ever forces you to disarm the security against your will. It will disarm the system, but it will also let Brinks Home know that you need help. This technology not only sends alerts to the monitoring center and your emergency contacts, it also quickly and automatically connects you with all of them through text or email. And it makes it easy for you to cancel false alarms as soon as possible (thus the product name).
Indoor camera Outdoor camera SkyBell Slim Line Video Doorbell
The outdoor camera’s field of view is quite limited, so it will miss a lot. The night vision on all cameras is minimal. None of the cameras have two-way audio because the IQ 2.0 control panel has two-way audio (meaning you can’t address people at the door unless you’re viewing the camera footage through the panel itself).
Overall, for the cost, these cameras leave a lot to be desired. Brinks Home smart home integrations: When we say “Brinks Home app,” we actually mean “Alarm.com app,” as Brinks Home uses this generic app for its smart home needs. There’s nothing wrong with that—the app is highly rated—but know that you could get the same app experience with a smaller, local company. If you get an Essential or Complete package, installation is your responsibility. But you’re not alone; the company provides phone assistance to walk you through the installation. And if you don’t want to DIY it, you can also arrange for a Brinks Home tech to come and install it for you. If you get the Ultimate package, professional installation is included. One thing to note: unlike most professional installers, Brinks Home doesn’t offer a home security consultation beforehand. So it’s up to you to choose the equipment you think you’ll need. Many negative reviews suggest that Brinks Home has some communication issues with its customers, possibly because the company seems to be involved in more takeover of other security companies than typical. It sounds like a lot of customers don’t like their new provider compared to their old ones. Either way, know that you could have a potentially frustrating experience with Brinks Home customer service. So if you want to get the most out of your monitoring, you and Brinks Home will get along like nobody’s business. But if you’re more into gadgets, or you want something flashier, you should look elsewhere. If you’re still mulling this one over, visit our Best Home Security Systems for some expert comparison. Brinks’s history is more complicated than you might think. In 1859, it started as an armored transportation service for valuable goods (including the Hope Diamond). In 1983, a home security branch was added.¹ Eventually, Brinks Home joined forces with MONI and LiveWatch, creating the system as we know it today. The cancellation will take 30 days to be official, so you may receive another Brinks Home bill before the service expires.² Our recommendation is to cancel Brinks Home monitoring 30 days before your contract expires. That way, you won’t have any remaining contract balance to worry about. If you live in an area that requires visual confirmation of an intruder before you can sound the alarm, you might be on the lookout for professional video monitoring. Unfortunately, Brinks Home does not offer this service at this time.
