Amazon Ring Partners With Rapid Response For $10 Monitoring

The resell price of monthly residential alarm systems still is pegged at mid $30 range in some areas.  I got an ADT promo flyer in the mail today:

Basic monitoring (no cloud video or cell backup, POTS only) is $36.99/m for a minimum of 36 months:

Now this monthly price includes hardware and install (the flyer calls it an $850 value), but the ADT offer charges $99 up front as a 'customer installation charge'.

So, spreading $750 over 36 months equals ~$21 per month in hardware cost. This means ADT is collecting ~$16/month in monitoring costs for three years, or about 2X the $8.33 per month cost of annually billed Ring monitoring.

Probably one of them if-you-can't-beat-em-join-em situations. There are only, what, 7 or 8 central stations large enough to handle an extra 100,000 subscribers in the next 12 months over and above whatever organic growth would be? If Rapid doesn't take Amazon's money, somebody else is going to. 

One aspect of this surprises me.

In our poll in Amazon Ring Launches $10 Monthly Professional Alarm Monitoring released last month, over 65% of votes said this move was a net negative impact to alarm providers:

However, now that Rapid Response has been tied to this, ~65% of votes think that Rapid should do it:

So this means many of the same alarm dealers feeling negatively impacted by the move think Rapid should do it?

The following was posted on CEPro Newsletter. It is focused on SimpliSafe and third-party monitoring, but also applies to Amazon/Ring and Rapid Response.

#1.. We believe SimpliSafe has a weak-link in their powerful chain…. their remote monitoring.  Hopefully they are now preparing to move all customers into their own next-gen monitoring facilities and technology.  Contracting with a traditional, licensed, third-party monitoring firm, like Lydia/C.O.P.S., was a good place to start, however way too much “baggage” for the SimpliSafe business model.  “Baggage” like credibility and liability.  For example, promote high security, but deliver lower level security. Recent statewide legislation (including FL,TX,GA) targeted licensed monitoring firms (like C.O.P.S, ADT, Moni, EM24, Rapid Response, etc), specifically prohibits a call to the police first for emergency response to private deterrent alarm systems. Must call customer first, serious downgrade from customer security expectations (aka Verified Response).  Local police response to private property alarms is going away or already gone (but customers are unaware).  Law enforcement will treat SimpliSafe (& Rapid Response) same as other firms under contract and dispatched from C.O.P.S. Tainted by association with traditional, private monitoring firms that have lots of nasty legacy liability.

#2… Verisure (another Hellman & Friedman investment) is a good example of a very large private security firm that delivers high end private security around the globe without the aid of public resources. Most countries do NOT offer public responders to private property alarm systems. Private response is the norm.  For example, the entire country of France and Israel formally practices VR-Verified response.  In parts of South Africa, TYCO responds in armored vehicles with a variety of weapons.  Maybe the next-gen model in the US will blend SimliSafe (& Ring) and Verisure with highly profitable private911.