Your contract renewed. Your equipment didn't.

The thing most people miss

When a monitoring agreement auto-renews, nothing physical changes. The panel, the sensors and the cameras that were installed years ago are the same ones protecting your home today — you've just agreed to keep paying for another term.

That's fine if the equipment is still doing its job. It often isn't.

What's actually changed

Communication

Older systems phoned the monitoring centre over a landline or an early cellular radio. Several of those networks have been shut down entirely. If your panel still relies on one, it may not be reaching anyone at all — and you wouldn't necessarily know.

Cameras

A camera from a few years ago typically streams a live picture and little else. Current equipment records locally or to the cloud, separates a person from a passing car, and sends you a clip rather than an alert that something moved.

Sensors

Older door and window contacts report open or closed. Newer ones pick up glass break and impact, and the battery life is measured in years rather than months.

Control

If arming your system means walking to a keypad, that's a generation behind. Current panels are managed from your phone, including letting someone in remotely and checking whether the back door was actually shut.

How to tell if yours is behind

What it costs to fix

Usually less than people expect, because providers would rather re-sign an existing customer than lose one. That's the whole basis of the two offers — either a credit of $600 to $1,200 toward new equipment, or four months of free monitoring with the installation covered.

Both require a new eligible system and a monitoring agreement, and you can only use one. The full terms are on the offers page and we'll go through them on the call.