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When I moved to California in 1990, I found the town I live in to be just what I wanted, a quiet community where people were nice to each other. The town is a small rural community in the central coast of California, known well for its agriculture and faming. The town has grown quite a bit since then, and with good growth comes some bad growth, such as a big influx of transients and “pass troughs” that tend to cause some trouble. Recently, there was a break-in a few homes down from me, and even though nobody was hurt, it got me thinking just how safe is my home, with a wife and kids, I wanted to be sure that they were safe when I was away or traveling for my work.
It was then I had an opportunity to learn more about home security, and I found most companies were not cheap, most wanted to install major equipment or have me sign up for services that were either invasive or not what I wanted to have. Just when I was starting to think that having the knowledge that my home would be the safe haven I wanted it to be, I came across Vivint, a company that not only provided security, but home automation and safety services that were more realistic and very affordable.
Vivint provides a range of comprehensive security and home automation services, simplifying lives, increasing energy efficiency, and protecting families. With this company, I found that I could get the exact plan I wanted at the right price. Now I know one cannot put a price on their families’ safety, but due to the economy, it is great to find a service provider that is just as interested in your needs as you are.
When I contacted them, I was met with a no pressure, non-sales oriented question and answer session. They asked what my concerns were and what I was looking for; they listened to me and let me make the choices, after this they told me what services were available. I found that Vivint has three base plans, their Security System plan which protects the home and family, the Energy Management plan, which helps you conserve energy and makes your home more energy efficient, and the third plan is the Home Automation plan which allows you to control and monitor your home, this plan also includes all the features of the first two plans.
Since the people at Vivint are Home Automation specialists, they suggested I go with a plan that provides great security and incident prevention, with children in the home; we discussed equipment that would assist in providing a constant secure setting that would make it comfortable and make false alarms impossible. The old style of entry pad would have failures or be prone to inquisitive children’s button pressing, but with Vivint’s GoControl touch screen security interface, virtually no chance that this could happen.
The GoControl panel has an internal battery in case of power failure and the company’s 24 hour support team could call directly to the panels built in cellular device, requesting confirmation and assist in contacting authorities if there were an actual emergency. The GoControl panel provides you with home automation system control, enable and disable features, set alerts and codes, tells time and lets you know what to expect in the weather.
There is an interface system between our Vivint Smart Thermostat, Fire and Carbon Monoxide detectors and door sensors that make a round the clock in home security presence possible, without having a man at the door. We even got interior light controls that allow us to turn on the lights before entering the home and key chain units to arm and disarm the system so we would not have to fumble with the keypad in the dark or of we had a bunch of packages to carry in.
As an additional feature, we elected to have the stationary and motion sensitive cameras that can be set to an online portal, so if we were to take a family trip, we could go online, view a detailed log of the systems internal checks and see by way of the cameras’ what is going on in the house. For instance, my wife and I went out for a weekend and we left the little ones with their grandmother, but my teenager was home by himself, I knew he would not have guests over, but I checked anyway, I logged in to my laptop and checked the house cameras, no party, but he was up watching movies past his bedtime at 3:00 am, so I called the house, really freaked him out. Later, if we choose to, we can upgrade the system to include small appliance controls, class breakage sensors and motion sensors.
I would like to take a moment to mention that the service we received on the phone was fantastic, kind and courteous representatives that guide you through what could be a very daunting process. Our biggest surprise however was the installation team; not only did they show up on time ( driving three to four hours to get to our home, but they were just as polite and courteous as the office team, they were completely professional and installed the equipment faster than I could have imagined. The installation team had everything installed, wired, powered and programmed in less than 2 hours, and then with perfect patience, trained my wife and I on the system, and how to set everything up. Since the installation I had only one little issue, I called in, got a live agent in less than three minutes and we were able to troubleshoot the issue, however the next day an agent showed up at our house, explaining he was in the area and wanted to check the issue for resolution, and it was at no charge.
I could go on and on about how impressed I am with Vivint and the quality of service they provide, but I would rather invite you to see for yourself the range of highly effective and economical plans they offer at their website, at Vivint.com, they provide you with a guided tour of their company, services and price packages that educate and inform you on exactly what to look for and expect. With interactive graphics and videos that show you what the service is capable of, it makes the decision making process easy. I am very happy with my Home Automation system, and now when I am away on business related trips, or just out on a day’s work, I know my family is safe, and thanks to Vivint, our home is a safer place to be.
