Subscriber Discussion

DIY Intrusion Startups Are Simply Not There Yet

U
Undisclosed #1
Jun 19, 2014

We have messed around with 15 DIY setups from Simplesafe to Verizon's (now defunct FIOS offering) down to Canary and compared them to the top 20 residential interactive wireless systems, almost all either Alarm.com or iControl based, but also including Xanboo (AT&T) and the new Vivint proprietary product. The service companies range from regionals all the way up to ADT's "Pulse." The "disruptors" are simply not there yet. Until I can see that a remote wireless verification of an event turns into a 10-30 second decision in the monitoring station to verify to police or personal emergency responders to get down to a 5-10 minute response window, no amount of "cool" or "easy of installation" will make unmonitored or self monitored (damn, who do I call first, 911?) systems worth it for a certain segment of end users. Do not diminish the size of this group who value life safety services and response over price, form factor, and how quickly the system can be installed.

JH
John Honovich
Jun 19, 2014
IPVM

I agree that there is absolutely a segment of the market that values 'life safety services and response over price, form factor, and how quickly the system can be installed."

However, how big of a market values the opposite and can be reached by the DIY startups? And can those startups build from that base and then move up market by adding more features / functions?

I don't know, but I am curious to see how far $57 million gets Simplisafe down that road.

U
Undisclosed
Jun 19, 2014

I trust you mean "DIY Intrusion Prevention". a DIY intrusion is when you break into your own house because you locked yourself out.

I assumed the problem was solved when I saw "we install security cameras" on the side of the Fry's Geeksquad-wannabe service van parked at the Fry's in Palo Alto the other day.

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Brian Rhodes
Jun 19, 2014
IPVMU Certified

"Until I can see that a remote wireless verification of an event turns into a 10-30 second decision in the monitoring station to verify to police or personal emergency responders to get down to a 5-10 minute response window."

The way I see this, there may NEVER be an alarm system that can routinely do this, no matter if it is a channel brand or DIY product.

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