Security Systems
Alarm takeovers and system upgrades in Kent
Taking on systems somebody else installed, and upgrading what is already there rather than replacing it because that is the easier sale.
- Free estimates
- Insurance work undertaken
- Domestic & commercial
Why people end up stranded
It happens constantly and it is almost never the customer's fault. The company that installed the system stops trading, or stops answering. A property changes hands and no paperwork comes with it. The person who knew the codes has left. A managing agent changes and the new one inherits a panel nobody can program.
At that point the system usually still works. What has gone is the ability to change it: add a fob, remove a leaver, alter a zone, or get footage off a recorder. That is an administrative problem wearing the costume of a technical one, and it is very often recoverable.
What a takeover actually involves
The first visit is an assessment rather than a quote for a replacement.
- Establishing what is installed, what still works and what has failed
- Recovering or resetting engineer access so the system can be programmed again
- Testing every device rather than assuming the ones that look fine are fine
- Replacing the standby battery, which is the most common single fault
- Reprogramming for the people who are actually in the building now
- Documenting it properly, so the next person is not in the same position
Upgrade or replace, honestly
The industry default is to condemn what is there, because a replacement is a bigger job. Our experience is that most systems we are called to are serviceable and simply have not been maintained: a tired battery, a sensor covered by furniture somebody moved, and programming set up for a household that left years ago.
There are genuine cases for replacement. A panel whose parts no longer exist. A system installed to the wrong specification from the start, where servicing it does not make it right. Analogue cameras that cannot give you a usable image no matter what is done to them. Where that is the case we will say so and explain why. Where it is not, we will service what is there and leave it alone.
Upgrades that are usually worth it
If a system is sound but dated, these are the changes that make the most difference for the least money.
- Adding app control and phone alerts to an existing panel that supports it
- Replacing analogue cameras with IP on the existing cabling where it allows
- Increasing recorder storage, so retention is 30 days rather than five
- Adding coverage to the entry point the original design missed
- Bringing an alarm and cameras onto one app instead of two
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
Nobody has the engineer code. Is the system lost?
Usually not. It is the most common situation we walk into and there is normally a route back into a panel, depending on make and age. Bring whatever documentation exists, because it makes it quicker. Where a panel genuinely cannot be recovered we will tell you plainly, and then it is a replacement decision made on facts rather than on convenience.
Will you service any make?
Most common makes, alarms and CCTV both, including older panels and mixed setups where two or three companies have each added to what was there. Where a system is genuinely obsolete and parts no longer exist we will say so rather than keep charging to nurse it along.
Do I have to replace everything to change installer?
No, and be wary of anybody who says you do. Changing who maintains a system is not the same as needing a new one. In most cases the hardware is fine and what it needs is a proper service, a battery, and reprogramming for whoever is in the building now.
Can you upgrade my old cameras without recabling?
Often yes, depending on what was installed. There are ways to run modern cameras over existing coax, and where the original installer used structured cabling it is usually straightforward. Where the existing cable genuinely will not carry it, we will tell you that and what recabling would involve rather than quietly quoting for it.
What does an assessment cost?
Nothing. We look at what is there, tell you what state it is in and what it needs, and quote for that. If the answer is that it needs a service rather than the replacement you were bracing for, that is what you will be told.
Free estimates
Want a free estimate in Kent?
No up-selling, just simple honest advice. Domestic and commercial work across Aylesford, Maidstone, Medway, Sittingbourne, Gravesend, Canterbury, Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks, Dartford, Bromley.