Livewatch Security

I was on the market for a security system and this one seemed easy enough to install.......went through the process and some of the window sensors were not working. I called Customer Support who was very friendly and we went through the entire process again...this time other window sensors did not work. This went on for a week or so...then the door senors stopped working....than the motion sensor stopped working...at no time in over a month did I have a fully operational security system. As I was about to return the system I was told they have "new" sensors and they just realized they received a bad batch and are working with another company.....Gave it a try....and same issue returned....some sensors worked....some didn't. I finally returned the system and stopped getting emails.....only to find that they were still billing my credit card even after I returned the equipment. Very nice people and very understanding.....unfortunately their product is not up to par. While we do have a large home, it's an open concept and the sensors that weren't working were no more than 15ft away from the base. The previous owners of my house had a wireless system with no issues at all.....I'm going to be using that company going forward.

They did an excellent job! I will definitely recommend them and absolutely use them, again.

The system was delivered quickly. The staff was helpful in determining my specific needs and responsive with my questions.

Everything went well. Worked with Jacob W. when purchasing my system and he was extremely helpful. Everyone I spoke to was helpful and the longest I was on hold before speaking to someone was 2-3 minutes. It toes take some tech knowledge to setup the system, and get it working well, but even if you don't support is very patient and good at helping you out.

Awfully. Livewatch business models has no local installers as an option. I'm busy with work and young kids, and I ended up spending multiple nights and several hours troubleshooting with (very professional and courteous) staff via phone. But we couldn't get 2/3 of door sensors to work and neither motion detector. I went with a company that has local technicians.

It's a shame, I had high hopes for them, use frontpoint and decided to try the underdog. It's been a horrifically frustrating experience and folks should set their expectations accordingly. They simply have incredibly poor systems and are growing too fast to adequately support their customers: for example, i am put on hold for support calls - both technical and customer- endlessly- i can't even count the amount of time I have hung up. Support for both technical or customer is CLOSED after hours and on weekends and holidays. When my console was broken i couldn't even chat with them about how to fix or order a new one for over 72hrs let alone the time needed to replace it, not very comforting. When I first ordered: they shipped to the wrong place so gear had to be returned and my setup appoint got cancelled; we rescheduled but the setup tech wasn't informed and called me repeatedly over and over. That got cleared up, i setup another appt. and then got repeated calls to reschedule which was already done. After I did setup I still got calls to reschedule. All my info was mangled- the account owner, addresses, contact info. It took me 4 different calls to actually get it setup even though at the end of each call they reviewed it correctly. And, to make those changes I had the luxury of sitting on hold over and over and over for extended periods of time. And then it turned out that the data in livewatch's systems wasn't the same as the data a alarm.com, their monitoring service, so i had the excitement of working through that twice.

sales person on the phone used high pressure tactics and would not let me think about it if I wanted the deal on the table. I gave it a try due to great return policy but order arrived incomplete so I returned everything to Livewatch and was without an alarm system for about a week since I had already cancelled Spectrum/TWC. I am glad I did not get around to cancelling my Simplisafe order so got that a few days later and have been very happy with them and the system since mid-June. Ongoing Livewatch monitoring was too expensive although initial investment was low at $99 and the alarm gear seemed low quality and not of any consistent manufacturing source. Just looked like a hodge-podge of components thrown together.

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I wouldn't trust this company at all. They use terrible sales tactics to get you to buy a one size fits all system. They have no regard for what you really need to make you feel safe. Very very very off-putting sales. They talk to you like you-are unintelligent. I literally stopped the call mid way because I felt so disrespected. The I went to Frontpoint and they have been wonderful. They listen to you. There are no sales tactics. You just tell them what you want and they give you pricing.

Very well and great tech support

Very well. Online ordering and chat process super easy and efficient. Materials delivered as expected with good instructions. They walked us through the monitoring setup and answered all questions.

I received the system on time, set up was fairly easy. Activation support was superb and in the month since the alarm was activated it has worked flawlessly. I like the fact that I can check, arm and disarm the system remotely. I receive a text very quickly every time the alarm is armed or disarmed. There is a monthly fee of $39.99 and the basic cost of the kit was $99.00, a motion detector, panel, camera equipped motion detector, 4 door alarms, a panic button key fob, stickers and signs.

I chose Livewatch for several reasons. 1) Price. Although I was willing to pay more up front to have a shorter contract length, the lower overall cost for Livewatch was very appealing. (A good credit rating contributes to the lower cost) 2) The consumer satisfaction rating for Livewatch was very high, along with other well known companies. 3) "A" rating on Angie's list 4) Livewatch offers a one year commitment and you can cancel anytime. My son has Frontpoint and is happy with their service but it carries a three year commitment. I would rate their customer service as phenomenal. The initial delivery of the system was next business day, configured to my personal request! The set up was easy due to the way the product was packaged. (Instructions on the top as you open the box. System initialization was a breeze, the technicians were very patient with my question,s and everyone I spoke to was very knowledgeable on how the system worked and what I needed to do. I was allowed 72 hours to play with the system and deliberately set off alarm to make sure that the system covered exactly what I needed. (No worries about Police being immediately called for my practice.) I had one issue with a garage door sensor that I somehow deleted from the system. I sent a text and receive a text back that a technician would call. Technician called in a hour and helped me restore my switch. She was polite, knowledgeable, and did not rush me. I have a one year commitment that I can cancel anytime (so technically not a commitment) however I feel I will be staying with this service a long time.

The activation went well, the support person was courteous and professional. I am satisfied with the Livewatch Security equipment, it is simple to use and expandable with home automation but I haven't tried any of that yet. I am very happy with the website and app that are available for controlling the system. I think the monthly monitoring fee is a little high given that the equipment isn't completely subsidized in the price.

Great Customer service!

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We went with the Honeywell Tuxedo Touch Home Automation Controller which is enabled for a Total Connect 2.0 security monitoring/home automation account.  With this, we also purchased a Vista 21IP alarm panel, a 5883H wireless receiver (which we installed into the panel), Honeywell wireless sensors for motion detection, glass breakage, door/window opening, fire/smoke detection, Carbon Monoxide detection and garage door tilt.  We also purchased some Honeywell sirens to scare off intruders and alert us to alarms going off anywhere in the house.  We already had cable internet and a gigabit wireless router with high level encryption.  LiveWatch once we signed up with them would provide the cellular 4G card for the alarm panel.  By breakdown in communication, we had to rush ship a 6160 keypad to program the panel.



The most difficult part, and this is where I would suggest getting a licensed installer if your mind turns to mush just reading the manual for all the codes to enter for the numerous panel options.  I did, and I manage and configure computer equipment for a living, so don't feel bad about contracting this part out.  They'll configure the panel with all the appropriate settings, document all configuration parameters in the book (if they don't document in the provided pages in the manual, tell them they aren't getting paid.  they'll put the information in real quick or leave in which case you can get a better installer to program it).  This documentation should include installer and master codes, configuration codes chosen for each section and if applicable, email and phone numbers programmed into panel for notification of alarms.



So now that the scary part is over, we can connect our security system's siren.  Wait?!  Siren!  Oh yeah, that thing that's going to be the most likely part of your home security system that will make an intruder want to leave immediately (other than your double-barreled rifle pointing at their face of course).  For this, we went with the Honeywell Wave2PD piezo siren (same as a smoke detector alarm, both in size and loudness (eg. decibel or db).  This we mounted to our central air ducts (think echo chamber) so the sound travels anywhere the air is heated or cooled.



Note that US building codes say you can't have non-plenum wires in ducts.  What you CAN do with the sirens is mount them directly against the outside of the duct with the siren facing the duct.



Now, you can program your Tuxedo Touch after powering up the alarm panel so that it can connect to your wireless router, or use the RJ45 (ie. Cat5e) hardwired connection to said router.  Use installer code which we won't be advertising here since it is in your manual and doesn't need to be handed out to criminals browsing the internet.  Setup year, month, day and time, set weather to your zipcode and setup some home automation via "scenes".  Scenes are what will be the brains behind our smart outlets, smart bulbs, etc.  Your Tuxedo will have access to see (not modify) the status of all sensors programmed into the alarm panel.



Finally, if you haven't done so already, work with your Security installer and/or Security Representative (in our case a LiveWatch rep and security engineer) to activate your monitoring at which point they can provide you the Total Connect 2.0 login for your Tuxedo (and Smartphone if applicable) as well as your alarmnet.com login (assuming they are using alarmnet like 99% of monitoring companies).



As for the experience with LiveWatch, I can say that overall I was very pleased.  The Service rep I worked with over both phone and chat (Dominic) was professional, patient and good-natured despite all my questions about LiveWatch.  When there was difficulty enrolling our alarm panel main board, he provided an email where I sent him the photo of the information he needed and he worked with an engineer there to complete enrollment for account creation.



The only negative, which was rapidly addressed when it was brought to their attention, was that an incorrect model of cellular card was shipped to me.  But like I said, they rapidly addressed this, getting the correct card pre-configured, and shipped the next morning (FedEx doesn't pickup after 5PM normally).  In addition, without asking for it, the engineer I was speaking with applied a free month of service to my account for the mistake.  The next morning I got the support ticket resolution email, but didn't get a tracking number.  So I chatted with Dominic who apologized for the confusion and determined the package was awaiting pickup, at which point I would receive tracking information.  Again, before I could even ask (and I type pretty fast), Dominic applied Overnight shipping on the correct card awaiting pickup at no cost.



At this point, I'm just awaiting delivery at which point, Justin from LiveWatch will be calling at the scheduled time of day to guide me through installing the cellular card into the alarm panel and any other required steps at which point he will provide my TC2.0 and alarmnet.com account details when he verifies monitoring is successfully activated.



Update 10/15/2015

So I received a replacement GSMV4G cellular communicator and connected it to the charged battery from the one I already had plugged in.  I did this so that I could walk around the house checking for the best cellular signal possible in places where I could run network cables and power to the external device.  Eventually I found the best location (ironically) was right underneath a stairway.  I say ironically because it was actually fairly close to several large metal appliances/electronic devices.  I tested the new location by moving the communicator 6 inches to the left, the right and one step down and signal strength went from 4 of 5 bars down to 1 or 2 bars.



I mounted the communicator in the new location, ran new network and power cable to it and worked with Pablo from LiveWatch (Level 2 technician) who confirmed excellent signal strength and full connectivity from the communicator, to the cell tower, to the alarmnet servers and finally to their central monitoring station.



We then performed a test on the system by opening the front door to fault the sensor after arming the system in test mode (test mode at CMS).  It took less than 1 second for him to see the fault notification which was perfect!  After that was completed, Pablo sent me the login information for Total Connect 2.0 login for the default user which was under my email that I provided him previously.



I also retrieved my home insurance policy number and called LiveWatch support to have them assist with getting my insurance discount.  I provided the policy number, agent first and last name, agent email and agent phone number and confirmed my home address.  The LiveWatch agent entered all the information into the form and sent it via email to my insurance agent and to my registered email address.



Due to the requirements of the city I live in, I will have to contact a specific individual for a permit form to authorize LiveWatch to contact Police/Fire/Medical (all one permit which has no cost) on my behalf.  Once I get the permit form, fill it out and get it approved, all LiveWatch requires is the permit number, though I'll probably just email them a copy of it along with a blank form so they can have it in their system for other Aurora, IL residents.



Update 10/21/2015

I had to purchase some more 14 gauge electrical

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I have had the LiveWatch System in my home now for 9 months. From the start there were issues with connectivity due to my location which took time over 3 months to resolve after going back and forth and finally contacting the higher ups.
Just yesterday I received notice that someone tapered with my keypad alarm which triggered my alarm however the truth was that my area experienced a power surge and power outage that lasted approximately 10 minutes. The alarm panel was supposed to be backed up by the built in battery pack, and I have two, one in the panel and and 2nd exterior battery back up,both failed to power the unit.
So the company called the police who came out and now we are stuck with a charge for a false alarm that occurred because we had a power outage and the alarm company was unable to discern the difference between a power outage and what they called "keyboard tampering". I fear because I know there will be power outages in the future due to storm etc. And will my alarm go off each time?. They termed it their was a GLITCH in the system and we downloaded a patch to correct it. Questioning if LIVEWATCH was  aware of GLITCHES in their systems, all alarms systems should have automatically been updated prior to an event that would triggered the glitch. When I spoke with LiveWatch they  were non-sympathetic, "Oh they said the contract you signed said you were responsible for all false alarms and not Live Watch.' Should not an alarm company stand by their products, services, and equipment? Should they not appologize and make concessions for glitches in their systems? Should consumers have to pay out of their pockets for false alarms triggered by the alarm company or monitoring services?
In addition at the time of the alarm. a photo image showed up on the alarm screen when I checked it reviewing the sequence of the alarm that occurred eariler that day. the following morning the image was gone along with the time the image was taken. The Livewatch representative said oh you must have erased it. I said no I did not. But someone from LiveWatch over night erased the image. They replied Oh no one from LiveWatch has access to your panel. Really. So how was the image erased??
In addition Our IQ panel freqently freezes, voices is distorted...