Alarm without central station?

Is there such a thing as a home security / alarm system that does not use a central station?

Some years ago I paid a well-recommended contractor to install a system in my house. I also paid the central station fees that vendor partnered with. A couple years later I upgraded my system to work on the cellular network in order to eliminate my landline phone. This was additional cost in hardware, installation, and monitoring fees. I've been happy with this contractor. A couple years later said contractor is really no longer the main player but has taken a back seat to the alarm monitoring company who is now looking for a contract - purportedly to lock in rates.

I did not receive a free or discounted system as a tradeoff for monitoring contract. I have paid for repairs when necessary. I'm annoyed that I am now forced to deal with a company I did not choose. I can certainly take my business elsewhere, but I have to wonder, Is there hardware technology out there that would skip the middle man and notify me via email, text, or recorded voice? My system is using the cellular network to communicate with central station... what do they have that I don't? Is it just that they have an operator sitting there waiting for a signal to come in? I understand that there would not be automatic dispatch of police, but I'd probably be ok with that as long as the alarm rang locally, notified me on my phone when I am away, and gave me the ability to activate/deactivate/see status remotely. Surely the monitoring companies would resist this technology, but I can't imagine that they have any lobbying clout.

Any thoughts or experience with this?

I have no experience with what you are suggesting but offer that you to keep in mind that you might not always be available by cell phone in the unfortunate event of a home invasion, or fire. In those situations those minutes matter.

Sure http://homealarmreport.com/the-best-self-monitored-alarm-systems/

Obviously doesn't do much for you in a home invasion situation.

My husband set this up. It first calls his cell, then my cell, and if there is no response from either of us within a certain time, it calls police/fire. In 10 years, on the rare occasions an alarm has triggered, we have always been able to respond and reset the alarm.

We purchased a wireless GE SIMON XT system years ago at Safemart.com which has now gone the route of providing the service, to do this ourselves independenlty of the central monitoring companies. You can either connect the system to a landline or to the internet and configure it to make calls to certain numbers/people as well as police/fire etc. The system is expandable and very easy to configure. You can add features/elements as you go or as your needs change. You can probably get a start up system via Amazon or BestBuy or via this website http://www.homesecuritystore.com/alarm-systems/wireless-alarm-systems?p=2.

Some interesting options here, most do not require a subscription. Not sure how many allow you to set up call out numbers.

http://www.cnet.com/news/diy-home-security-roundup/

I believe a professionally monitored alarm system is more affective than a local alarm system. With that said a local alarm is better than nothing. A word of advise for folks who chose the self monitoring route, if your alarm goes off and you get an alert on your phone don't ask your neighbor to check and see if something is wrong call the police.

Bump. I'm paying more now for monitoring through the cellular network than I would if I had a brand new system installed and financed.