Smart Home Reviews
December 20, 2022
Up with ADT is Brink’s Home Security. Brink’s Home Security is the sister company of Brink’s Inc. (who has armored trucks and other security forces). They have approximately 900,000 customers (a lot less than ADT), and have offices throughout the US. Although Brink’s Inc. was founded in 1859, Brink’s Home Security wasn’t founded until 1994.
Although they are a large company, Brink’s does not make their own equipment. Instead, they use equipment from alarm.com. This allows for a lot more compatibility between services and better equipment overall.
Brink’s has its own monitoring stations across the US. They boast faster response times than other large companies (30 seconds compared to ADT’s 45 seconds), which is a big plus for them.
Brink’s equipment is a huge step-up from other companies’ due to the fact that it is made by alarm.com. Alarm.com is a smart home/security equipment provider who does not directly offer security services. Instead, they focus on making the best equipment and selling it through dealers such as Brink’s. The equipment communicates with encrypted signals (making it nearly impossible to hack), and works with tons of other devices such as Amazon’s Alexa, Google Nest, and most security equipment as well.
On top of the compatibility and quality of the equipment, Alarm.com offers a wide variety of devices such as thermostats, cameras, smart locks, flood sensors, connected car, etc. Meaning you can build your own truly unique and inclusive smart home system. They also include geo-services, meaning you can configure your system to follow certain rules (or execute functions) when you are away, such as turning the AC off, arming the system, locking doors, etc.
The equipment, along with monitoring, are what make or break a security company.
Brink’s has decent monitoring and great equipment, but where they lack is their customer service. Negative reviews across the internet show the issues that customers have with Brink’s customer service. From being difficult to contact, to charging customers things they shouldn’t have been charged for, their customer service is the kink in Brink’s armor. This poor service keeps them from being one of the best.
Brink’s is fairly consistent with other providers when it comes to their prices. You get everything you need with the monthly price, and shouldn’t expect hidden fees. They include equipment costs in your monthly prices, meaning you don’t have to shell out money upfront for their service.
We give Brink’s Home Security a 7.5 / 10 as a smart home/security provider. Their prices aren’t unreasonable, and they include just about anything you need. They offer a large variety of equipment, allowing for a truly customizable smart home. The equipment also helps you to save money by making your home more energy efficient. Their monitoring is better than ADT, but is still a 30 second response time. And lastly, their customer service is not what you would expect from a reputable company like Brink’s.