Alarm Monitoring Service of Atlanta

We’ve had their service for about a year now and everything appeared to be working fine up until a couple of months ago. We’d trip the alarm by accident and the ear-​piercing ring would go off for about 30 seconds. I would disarm the panel — nobody ever called. This has happened for the third time in two months and nobody has yet to call from the monitoring company to check and make sure everything is alright.
I finally called them today to ask and the told me they had no record of the alarm being tripped, today or anytime in the past couple of months.
I told them I’m cancelling since I’ve lost all confidence with their service… that’s even if a technician comes out to fix it. I’ll never know going foward if they’re monitoring or not.
BTW, they also sub-​out their monitoring service to some company up in New York. Their customer service team just called from a Pennsylvania number. I’m wondering who actually works in the Atlanta area besides the sales guys.

I have been researching companies to service an existing security system in my house. I looked through Unilocal,BBB, and other sources to find the best system and service. I am frankly not the «hard-​sell» kind of person and find alarm monitoring companies to be in the range of sleazy sales people. Some of my neighbors have AMSA signs in their yard so I contacted them.
Amongst the great reviews on Unilocal (which can make you skeptical because you don’t always know if it’s a «company» person), the initial contact with their office, to my meeting with Pete Kipreos (my sales rep) and installation from Scott, it was a great experience. Pete looked at my current system, was honest about it’s capabilities but didn’t try to upsell me, just gave me the options in a non-​pressure atmosphere, I appreciated that!
My existing system is 10 years old, a Honeywell with cellular capabilities. Not a bad system but not a lot of options. He said it was good and they’d be happy to activate it for a small fee and reasonable monthly monitoring. He also showed me the Qolsys, a much more mobile, expandable, and «cloud» based system. I ended up paying the extra because I value the features it offers. The install went great, Scott showed me how to use all of the features, explained everything, and was very professional. I sleep much better knowing my house is secure and I can access it anywhere via my iPhone or desktop. Great system, highly recommend, reasonable prices, low or no pressure, and a local company, hard to find!

My wife and I love the alarm system we have with Alarm Monitoring Service of Atlanta because of the features it provides. The option we like the most is that it’s wireless and you activate and
deactivate remotely. My sales person Cynthia Baker explain to us how important it is to have a
wireless alarm system and we appreciated the special care she took with us. She didn’t try to rush through a sales pitch. She explained a wireless system will protect your home even if an
intruder cut your phone line in an attempt to prevent a signal from going to the police department. I told her we didn’t have a home phone and I didn’t think we could have an alarm system without a land line phone. She explained to us that the wireless system would work perfectly with just your cell phone. She said the signal would go out regardless if you have a land line phone or even if your phone lines were cut. The wireless system works through your cell phone and messages would come via texts or a call to you. This assured us we would be better protected with Alarm Monitoring Service of Atlanta. I have referred several of my friends and relatives to their company.

my husband and i used AMSA at our old home since 2003 and we were very happy with the service we received so of course we tried to get the same service at our new home. unfortunately that wasn’t the case once the tech comes out to install the system you have 3 days before you are locked into the contract. our alarm system conveniently started acting up on our 4^th day. it was constantly beeping throughout the house and we were unable to set our alarm. i called numerous times trying to get someone to come out to our home to fix this issue but they kept saying someone will call us to schedule when that finally did happen they tried to push it out ANOTHER week. that is another week of getting woken up all throughout the night with a startling beeping noise AND not being able to set our alarm, can someone please tell me the point of paying a alarm company if i can’t set the alarm and i get to sit up miserable half the night? i have enough trouble sleeping on my own i don’t need your help AMSA, thanks though. after my husband telling me that it was getting out off yet another week i called about 4 or 5 times trying to explain to someone what the point is. by that point i had already gotten recommendations from co workers for ackerman security. i spent more of my life waiting in a call que trying to reach someone at AMSA than was ever necessary. i am very happy we have left AMSA but they needed a review on Unilocal as well from me because obviously constant calls and practically begging for someone to come out and fix our alarm just didn’t do it for them! so out of the 2 weeks we had service from AMSA at our new home we were only able to use our alarm for 3 days and to get them to actually end our contract we had to pay right at $ 300.00. I’m sorry but a idiot would know more about customer service than this company. if they don’t take this situation seriously i don’t know why anyone would trust them to keep their home secure.

I appreciate Sean Key greatly. You introduced me to an alarm company that I was unfamiliar with. You were not pushy as a salesperson. Instead you are concerned. You were interested in what I wanted and made me realize that you were definitely interested in the safety of my family. Your sales tactic was not a pitch yet it was a sweet deal. You covered all the specifics and made sure that I understood. I thank you for like a number. You told me that you were going to deliver satisfaction. You delivered without a doubt. Though this review is overdue, Sean Key, I can’t forget you. Thank you very much. You made me feel very secure and also made my family feel very secure in our home. Keep up the great work and that genuine greeting. I know that families out there will appreciate it as much as we did. You are an asset to AMSA.
My experience with the installation technician was a very pleasant one. In today’s market you don’t find a lot of professionalism from workers. My technician explained all the necessary information to where I was comfortable, understanding all that was needed to operate the alarm system. John also took the liberty of going further by explaining the science of my equipment and it’s counterparts. He was thorough, very clean, something I really appreciate. Thumbs up buddy! You are an exceptional contribution to your company.

Shawn Key sold me the system and John Kalena installed it. Shawn was very knowledgeable about the security system and once I saw their QOLSYS pad and what it could do I was sold. I downloaded their app and can do several things remotely through my phone, including arming and disarming the system and viewing pictures that my image sensor takes if it is tripped. Shawn answered every question I had and showed me a video of how the system works. John then came and installed it and did a great job of installing the sensors securely; he also paid attention to aesthetics and I must say the system looks like it came with the house.
A friend of mine who has ADT came to my house and was blown away by the QOLSYS pad.

I highly recommend AMSA Alarm Security for your home security needs. Not only did we receive excellent service by our Sales Rep Stacy Farmer and technician Jon, but we also feel immensely safer in our home. The system is so easy! We set our alarm via the
app. Via the app, we’re able to view snapshots of the house while we’re not there and lock our front door! We recruited our friend to Stacy and within a week our friend set up service. Thanks so much Amsa!

While I have been a customer of AMSA for a few years, I had to recently upgrade my system due to lightning damage to my home. My service Consultant, Lamar Cofield was wonderful. He explained everything in detail, as well further assisted when the installation team recognized additional equipment was needed. I will highly recommend to everyone!

I have had the fortunate pleasure to work with David, Matt and Dan with AMSA. I recently needed to have my thermostats replaced and required a technician to come out for an install. Not only did Matt do an excellent job, but David, the service coordinator, was always available when needed. These guys continue to provide excellent service. I recommend them to anyone looking for not just a quality alarm system but also excellent customer service.

My experience with AMSA was amazing! Marco was my Sales Consultant and explained everything in crisp, and precise detail. He went above and beyond for me as a new customer. I requested a second key pad and Marco went to the office and came back out with the unit. Marco even got my installation done the very same day! I will definitely recommend Marco and AMSA to all of my friends and family.

This is an updated review following what had previously been a decidedly bad review that I would like to rectify.
In short, I had an alarm issue, and in trying to clear it up, I was stuck in an automated system that kept me going around & around in a phone tree. It was maddening. It was frustrating. I was ready to give up when I wrote my last review. In the end, thanks to few exceptional people in the local office (Barbara, Gary & Daniel) we were able to sort it out. They understood my frustration, and situation, and worked hard to correct the problem I was facing. Personally. Like real people. In a real office. In a city early.
Look, I get it. ²⁴⁄₇ call centers are necessary & those who work at call-​centers are usually prohibited from deviating from their script. But in my case it became frustrating when I was just trying to reach my local office (whose number I had called & was rerouted time and again).
When I finally was able to get through to the local division of AMSA, they were all but willing and able to go out of their way to help me, for which I am grateful.
I would especially like to call out Barbara for her diligence, Daniel for his expertise, and Gary for his skills on the scene. Quite frankly, these individuals tok the time to understand my dilemma, and fix the problem. I happily re-​signed with AMSA today.

We had a recent issue with our alarm system, and the technician who came out, Mr. Jacobsen, was very knowledgeable, and checked every possible issue, that could give us further issues with the system. His was clearly an expert-​repair, and I will be more than happy if he repairs my system in the future.

The technician came today and went above and beyond. He spent over 4 hours trying to figure out the house’s wiring, which had previously been done poorly. He also noticed that the smoke alarm was broken and helped replace it. Couldn’t be happier with the service.

We have been with AMSA for several years now and just upgraded with them. Their office staff and field staff have been great. Even though their parent is not in Atlanta, their monitoring service remains here, this is very important to us.
The service and the price of the service is the best we found.

Awesome experience setting up service with Senior Consultant, Robin Jackson at Alarm Monitoring Service of Atlanta! Robin was able to answer all of my many questions about setting up service for my daughter’s existing alarm system and implementing the best plan for her needs. Robin’s knowledge and experience out-​shown all of her competitors and was the main reason we went with them. The courteous technician was able to come out the next day and made sure the system was properly working. The system has only been in place for a couple of weeks, so far so good!

Just upgraded to the new and improved system and the technology is pretty awesome. Oh and I Have been w AMSA for almost 9 – 10 years and have no plans to leave as I believe they stand behind their products and their response time is the fastest ever if an alarm is triggered.

I used AMSA’s website to get a quote, and not long after, I got a call from Robin to set up an appointment with a Senior Consultant to come out to the property and take a look.
Robin was really friendly and got the appointment set up after asking a few things about the home.
A few days later I needed to reschedule it and called them — apparently after hours. I got in touch with someone (I forgot his name, but he was friendly too). He said he’d send Robin an e-​mail and that she would follow up with me in the morning for the reschedule.
That morning she called and got me rescheduled with no questions asked.
I met with John, the salesperson, and he went over the home’s existing security alarms, etc. and gave me a recommendation. I went with that, and in a few days their technician came out and did the work quickly and explained how to use the system and left.
We will see if AMSA lives up to the ratings they have in time.
Update:
AMSA is fast. Really fast. I got a follow-​up call from the salesperson I met with and I asked about the keyfobs that we had. My guess is that one or both of the keyfobs are misprogrammed or something, because while testing, they ended up dispatching the police. It all happened so fast and I only found out when my brother called me right after I got off the phone with the salesperson.
I had two more calls to the central station and they picked up immediately. I’m supposed to have a follow up call from a technician tomorrow to go over the keyfob. Considering that the existing systems are stuff we inherited from the previous owner and that AMSA is excellent at responding, they’re really awesome. It’s not AMSA’s fault if the stuff here is not working correctly, but hopefully they’ll come out here to take a look and correct the problem.

Ackerman convert… here’s my story…
Ackerman originally installed my entire alarm system (~$ 3,000). 3 years later, a touchscreen keypad failed completely… they charged me another ~$ 400 to replace this as it was apparently out of warranty.
13 months later the «new/​replacement» touchscreen locked up. I called Ackerman, explained the problem … and they sent out a salesperson who tried to sell me a new service contract and (when I wouldn’t buy) told me «call service» (which is what I thought I’d done the first time). I called back and (after much running around) was told I’d need to pay $ 89 (for the first 30 minutes) to have someone come out to diagnose the problem. The supervisor I talked to at this point told me the 12 month warranty had expired (4 weeks ago) so they couldn’t help me out in any way and they couldn’t give me any kind of estimated cost (not even a worst case scenario) without my first having to pay $ 89.
I then called AMSA (Alarm Monitoring Service of Atlanta) because I was damned if I was going to spend another dime with Ackerman. The person I spoke to there (Daniel) very patiently explained that occasionally the touch screens can lock up and need to be rebooted by power cycling your system. He talked me through exactly how to do that… and my screen now works again!
So:
… after an hour on the phone with Ackerman and another 30 mintues fending off one of their sales reps — I was massively frustrated with a non-​functional touchscreen.
… after 15 minutes on the phone with AMSA — zero frustration, system and screen are 100% working again… didn’t cost me anything. I switched my monitoring to AMSA and have had no issues for over 3 years!
I would recommend AMSA.
My advice, say as far away from Ackerman as you can. I’ve never dealt with so many clueless/​unhelpful people. Their sales people have flat-​out lied to me, I’ve had to deal with extremely unprofessional installers, and the only thing that’s been consistent is Ackerman’s clear interest in raking in as much $$$ from me as they can.

Great service and economical prices. The install went very well and everyone I have interacted with has been professional and courteous. Highly recommended.

I’ve been using AMSA for three years now and in that time, I’ve had two service calls for break ins (most recently two weeks ago). I like that the monitoring service keeps calling until I answer the phone and I also like that they promptly call the police. I test my alarm every few months or so and the monitoring station has always been great with my time frames and expected results from the testing.
I’ve had a few service calls — a dead battery, water in the siren, and repositioning the alarm contacts after a break in (again most recently two weeks ago). I’ve met three different service guys and they have all been polite and courteous. And the people in the office have always been polite, courteous and helpful, even suggesting services that would result in a lower cost to me.
My peace of mind is solidly in place having AMSA as my alarm monitoring service.
Unilocal 52 #20