We have done alarms in Illinois for over 5 years and we had to obtain a license.  Chicago also just initiated a no fault law for alarms. A few words of advice:
1. Do not skimp on insurance.  It is going to be expensive, especially in high-end homes.
2. Make sure every single time you get a signed contract, no matter how well you know the client.  You are now responsible if anything happens to the home, homeowner and its contents if you installed the alarm and say it is in working order.
3. You need to have a service department or someone dedicated to service the alarms,  If there is a fault, you need to be at the home ASAP and address the issues.
4. There have been some very large lawsuits lately concerning improperly installed alarms and no signed contracts.
5. If you are doing high-end homes with high net worth individuals, you need to understand how to properly secure the residence, which could mean all doors, all windows, motion detectors, heat detectors, smoke detectors, temperature monitoring, water detection and Carbon Monoxide detection.  It is not uncommon for the proper alarm system to cost $10-$20K, and you have just taken on a lot of responsibility.

I would take my time getting into alarms and really consider if this is something you can dedicate the man hours to and want the responsiblity for that home.  We have started to just do the pre-wire for the alarms and install the equipment and hand off the actual monitoring and support to a secondary alarm company.  We get a cut of the monthly monitoring and get the pre-wire labor and equipment margins, but no long term responsiblity.

If you join NBFAA they are partners with a company called Security America which is an insurance company for the alarm industry.  My insurance rate went down from $2,800 with my last insurance company to $1,100.  I’m in NYC that’s a huge break.  HOWEVER, you must be an NBFAA memeber

Losboskie,

Another good center is SentryNet in Pennsecola, FL.

aanitron - 04 November 2008 01:29 PM

FullHouseAudio - 03 November 2008 09:38 PM

We opened two years ago as a two-person, part-time CE installer.  We have been successful in the home audio and home theater markets and have also done a limited amount of CCTV.  Because we have targeted middle income housing and have not pushed the high-end market, we have not done any home security systems.  We realize there is a lot of opportunity with home security and we are starting to get interest from builders of high-end homes.  We want to start slow and cover our bases before doing an installation.  Are there any resources that anyone would recommend for learning more about home security?

Thanks

What State are you in? All states reguire a license. Alarms are much harder in the sense then audio systems, because they come with a great deal of responsibility. I would think long and hard before I would consider installing alarms. The Insurance is much more expensive also. There is much more money to be made in audio and less headaches, trust me we have been doing both for 20 years. The competion is fiece, with ADT, Brinks, etc. just my opinion.

I agree it is much easier to feed off alarm installs to someone who already has the licenses.  We have a contract with Broadview where we only sell and they install in 48 states.  No licenses, inventory, or theft is an issue.

Then there is the Direct Communications 48 state security referral program also.

Direct Communications