You can activate a system for monitoring with Alarm Grid by choosing a monitoring plan, scheduling your activation, preparing for the activation, and completing the activation. While the actual process varies between different security systems, the general steps are the same for any panel. Alarm monitoring service is the only way for your security system to send alerts to you and/or a central monitoring station during important events. These events include system alarms, trouble conditions on your system, sensors faulting, and more. You also need monitoring service if you want to use your security system as an automation controller for remotely operating paired smart home devices through either a web browser or a mobile app on your phone. Without this service, the only possible functions for your system are as a local noisemaker and as a local automation controller. Any customer who signs up for Alarm Grid monitoring service is billed monthly. The charge on the user's credit card or debit card will occur on the same date each month. No charge occurs until after the user's activation is complete. A user can cancel their monitoring service before a bill and not expect any additional charges to occur. Alarm Grid will never charge a user activation fees, cancellation fees, or added service fees. Complete the following steps to activate a system with Alarm Grid: 1. Choose a monitoring plan. The first thing you will want to do when activating a system is choosing a monitoring plan. Depending on the system you are using, you may be restricted to certain plans. Monitoring plans can be central station plans or self plans. A central station plan means that the system will be connected with a central station, and a trained operator will respond to any incoming alarm. This is opposed to our self plans, which means that the system is not connected with a central station. Instead the end user will get direct immediate alerts regarding system activity via text and/or email. It will then be up to them to contact the necessary help. Please note that most central station plans also include text and email alerts so that they can essentially be used as self plans in their own right. We have our levels of monitoring plans outlined below: Bronze Level Plans - IP or phone line monitoring. On the Central Station Bronze Plan, the user will not be able to access a mobile app or web browser to control their system. For the Self Bronze Plan, the user can only access a web browser to arm and disarm their system, check current system status, and set up notifications. Silver Level Plans - Add smart home automation capabilities. The user can access Total Connect 2.0 to control their system remotely. They can arm and disarm, check current status, and control automation devices and execute entire smart scenes. Gold Level Plans - Include everything in the Silver Plans, with the addition of cellular communication. Any security system that connects with Alarm.com must be on a Gold Level Plan or higher to be monitored, as Alarm.com requires a registered cellular communicator. A Honeywell System using Total Connect 2.0 can also use a Gold Plan if a cellular communicator has been added. Our Gold Level Plans represent our most popular monitoring plans. Platinum Level Plans - Include everything in the Gold Plans, with the addition of video surveillance. The user will be able to access Total Connect 2.0 or Alarm.com through a mobile app or web browser to view the live feed. Alarm Grid also offers two other monitoring plans. These are our $25 Cell Only Plan and our $15 Video Only Plan. Our Cell Only Plan will have your system communicate with a central station across a cellular connection. You will not be able to control your system remotely through a web browser or mobile app, and you will not be able to perform remote automation commands through your system. Our Video Only Plan is for customers who don't actually have a security system monitored through Alarm Grid, but want an affordable option for setting up video cameras. They will be able to view their cameras remotely through either Alarm.com or Total Connect 2.0. We wrote a comprehensive guide to all of our monitoring plans, which can be found here. 2. Schedule your activation. After choosing your monitoring plan, you must schedule your activation slot. Available time slots will be displayed on the screen. Alarm Grid offers hour long activation slots that go from 9am to 8pm ET M-F. We recommend choosing an activation slot a day or two after you are set to receive your security system in the mail. You will want to set up the security system prior to your activation. Remember that you or another designated individual must be on-site and with the system at your scheduled activation time. If you already have your system up and running, just select the best time that works for you to spend at least 30 minutes on the phone.If none of the available times work for you, then contact support@alarmgrid.com for further help, and we will do our best to accommodate you. 3. Prepare for your activation. Before you activate your system, you should have it powered on and have your sensors installed and programmed. See our guide for mounting different types of sensors and for programming various systems. Test all of the sensors used with your system. You will also want to obtain the MAC and CRC codes if activating a system for IP service, and the IMEI number if activating for cell service. 4. Complete your activation. Your activator will complete most of the process for activating the system. Just stay on the line with them and provide any information they need. Remember that you or an individual designated by you must be on site to activate the system. We may need to you enter programming and make changes to the system. This can only be done while a user is on-site. For more tips on making sure your activation goes smoothly, please see this blog post.