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Rogers launches “Smart Home Monitoring” system
Last November Nadir Mohamed, President and CEO of Rogers, took the podium at the Canadian Club and said that in the coming months they will launch a service called Rogers Smart Home Monitoring. Mohamed said that “Rogers is re-defining the notion of home security and taking it several steps further. Levering our strength of our networks in an all-IP-based environment; this new service will start as a real-time home monitoring system with energy management and home automation tools. It will allow you to access the news, sports, or local traffic via your home security panel as you walk out the door… It will allow you to use your mobile device to turn your lights on and off, to adjust your thermostat, and to receive alerts telling you when your kids arrive home safely.”
Now, nine months later the service has launched. According to the Rogers website the official description states that “The ultimate in security, reliability, and accessibility, together with state-of-the-art home automation, puts Smart Home Monitoring head and shoulders above traditional home security solutions”. So what does this mean? Well, Rogers will give you 24/7 monitoring from certified security professionals and in several ways will make sure your home is safe.
You’ll be able to control your home in a couple ways. Rogers Cable Hi-Speed Internet required but one of the ways is via the “Touchpad” that lets you program the lights, security, thermostat and also get news, weather, traffic and sports apps. The device looks like a small tablet and also has a built-in speaker and microphone. Now where the mobile aspect comes in is that you can control and get text alerts via the iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4. In addition, a free iPhone app has been created but Rogers notes in the FAQ that other customers can go “through the mobile web interface which is compatible with most smartphone browsers”.
A quick search in iTunes brings up the iPhone app and it looks intuitive. You can control your home from your iPhone, turn the lights on/off, control your small appliances, enable/disable your home security system and change the temperature. Now for the price points. Apparently the Touchpad will cost $149 on a three-year term, or $749 with no term. I thought this would be included in the monthly price plans. In addition, the installation will cost a one-time fee of $99. The 3 monthly price plans are as follows: Home Basics for $39.99 per month, Home Essentials for $48.99 per month and Ultimate Home for $57.99 per month. Each give you different levels of monitoring from “Full System Status Checks”, “Secure Mobile Access” to “Instant Customizable Alerts”.
You can check out more details here at Rogers
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56 comments for “Rogers launches “Smart Home Monitoring” system”
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Could I say RIP OFF? lets sign 3 YEAR CONTRACTS with everything we need these days! I wish I could buy groceries on 3 year contacts..
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The RIP off is that you need to pay the $39.99 – $57.99 on top of the required Rogers Cable (w/the cap in place) and they encourage you to have Cell phone service through them and only provide a native app for Iphone’s. (which gives them the highest yield to all their other offerings).
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This is too funny: Security system from Robbers. Keeping you safe while stealing your money.
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You obviously have never had a Security Alarm installed at your home, do yourself a favour and do a search and you will see alot of Security Alarm companies that do 3 year terms.
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Well technically when you get a home monitoring package those guys make you sign a 3 year contract as well.
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Although a neat concept, this is really only for people who have more money than they know what to do with.
I seriously could never imagine paying yet another monthly bill in order to remotely control things in my house. The security aspect has merit though.
Either way, I wouldn’t give my business to Rogers for home security. Though just wait and see, they’ll come up with with bundled pricing in order to make this look more attractive.
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Yawn!!!! Cool idea ruined by an apple only dedicated app. Yeah I know other smartphones can control from the site on mobile browser but it wouldn’t have been hard to make apps for the other various platforms.
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The Android app will be available in mid-September. For those on BlackBerry, we expect to have an app available in the next quarter – in the mean time, consumers can access the Smart Home Monitoring web portal from any browser.
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God help us all if their ‘certified security professionals’ is their call centre!
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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no one likes Public Mobile…..or you now.
go trollololol
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Actually, as hard as I am on Rogers and robelus, I have to actually say I like this. I currently pay $36 / month for a basic alarm system with cellular back up. For an extra $13/month ($5 extra if they give me my 15% vip discount), I get home automation, leak detection, fire, carbon monoxide, lighting control, temperature control, web access, etc. I know there are some installation costs involved but this is a competitive offering. On contracts, I have used the same alarm company for the past 10 years, so 3 years isn’t that bad. Quite innovative Rogers, time to apply that to your other divisions.
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can i monitor my neighbour’s a*s?
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Rogers, you can sit on it and give it good twist!!!
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EDIT TO MY COMMENT ABOVE:
I called Rogers this morning to inquire about this. Installation costs associated with the mid-tier plan will run you around $1,000 to $2,000! Also, this system is not compatible with existing home alarm wired systems so you cannot use your existing hardware. Finally, Rogers does not offer a VIP discount on this for existing customers. So in fact you are getting some minor additional tech benefits for a lot more money and a contract.
I was initially surprised and excited to finally see what appeared to be a ROBELUS competitive offering. After further investigation, just more of the same old: Rip off, gouging approach. I will not be fooled again ROBELUS!
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Hi David,
This is Chris at Rogers. I looked into your comments and had a few things worth sharing:
-Considering the functionality and features of this system, we believe that customers receive a value for the price. This is much more than a traditional home security system – we are enabling a truly connected experience for customers to monitor, automate and manage their home from anywhere.
-All consumers pay a one-time installation fee of $99.00, regardless of the size of your home
-As of today a fresh installation is required, however we are improving the customer experience and will have a seamless installation available later this year
-Rogers has subsidized the hardware for this system and on a three-year plan, the start kit is $149.99 – if customers don’t wish to sign a contract, the starter kit is $749.99
Monthly plans for Smart Home Monitoring are as follows:
o Home Basics Package: $39.99/month
o Home Essentials Package: $48.99/month
o Ultimate Home Package: $57.99/month
-Unless you’re adding several pieces of hardware, it doesn’t cost anywhere near the numbers you mentioned for installation.
Hope this helps!
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Yes this is expensive but aside from the startup costs, this offering is pretty competitive. Most companies like adt charge at least 25-30 dollars a month for a basic security system, plus about 15-20 a month for the cellular backup.
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Control 4 and others do this for no monthly fees.
I could build out my own for about a $500 one time fee that would include full home automation.
I can see Torontonians being all over this though.
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this is a great idea but i wouldn’t trust Rogers, a telecommunictions company, with security. Leave the security services to security companies. Unless Rogers contracts this out, I don’t think that it is a very safe idea…and what happens if someone steals your phone?
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plus..anyone is bucket loads of money to spend on security will pay for a real security company.
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Okay, how is this news? Comcast and Verizon in the states started offering this a month or two ago. Bell offered this back when they also offered home VoIP and mobile movie rentals. And now, because the States are offering this service, Rogers now offers security solutions. Anyway, let’s check out what it will cost…
If you want one, just ONE, standard definition video surveillance camera stream, that will be 1 GB per hour. Or 24 GB per day. Or 720 GB per month. That’s not even HD, that’s just regular quality. Can you imagine the expensive overage fees?
Then they want to make incremental upgrades. “Pay $9 more and get this and that!” Just like Windows, you either pay less for the version with less features, or pay more for the version with more features. “Home Basics” and “Ultimate” are even names of Windows versions! That’s just annoying!
So no thanks, Rogers, i’m not spending over $150 for Internet, Home Security and Usage Based Billing.
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Your question: How is this news?
Your answer: Because this is a service that Rogers didn’t have yesterday, but now has today.
Hope that helps
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Alex Perrier,
Video cameras in the Smart Home Monitoring system can run on your home network/LAN system when used locally through the touchpad in the home, so they do not contribute to your data usage. The only time that viewing video contributes to data usage is when you do so through your smart phone (application or email with video or photo) or PC once logged into the customer’s Web Control Centre. The videos are typically event driven (15-20 seconds), triggered by things, for example, such as a door sensor being tripped or a break in while the system is armed. The data usage in cases such as these is fairly small. This system’s cameras also support still photos on supported events, also delivered via triggered emails or through the customer’s Web Control Centre.
Hope this helps.
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An old fashioned alarm monitoring is 13.99/mo at themonitoringcentre.com. they answer the phone quickly too
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i’d like to see one of your much loved new entrants such as Wind or Mobilicity offer this same service. lmffffffffao!!!
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benry, STFU and stop posting the same thing twice, you annoying t**t. Do you work for Rogers by any chance?
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Why should anyone trust security services from the same company that delivers poor mobile performance, rationed Internet usage, and humorous movie rental options, all at an expensive price?
That doesn’t necessarily mean that Rogers SHM is bad, or even worse that competitors, but it just feels like Rogers wants its customers to get “quintuple play” packages. One company, but a monthly bill of over a hundred dollars a month, not including taxes yet.
It just seems like AlarmForce (independant) and Protectron (once, but no longer related to Vidéotron) would be more specialized in regards to security solutions. They are Canadian businesses around for over 20 years. i’ve never tried their products, but maybe they sell one excellent product instead of five “meh” products.
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i hope the inside of your a*****e catches fire…..now go away, no one likes a TROLLOLOLLOOOLOOOLLLL
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How will this work? Are they going to replace every light switch and outlet in your house?
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How will this work? I can’t believe no one is asking this…. how does it control the lights and thermostat, for example? Z-Wave? Zigbee? Wi-Fi? A proprietary RF signal? Wired system? I imagine that anything that is to be controlled has to have Rogers special hardware for it.
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Many of the people complaing probaly don’t even have homes. It’s simple if you want an ok security do this, if you want excellent find someone else. Home security shouldn’t be a bargain price. I like that it’s wireless connected incase of cut phone or cable. If you want security money shouldn’t be an issue. What are you gonna install a $10 security system that only monitors from 9am -8 pm. All security systems that are good are expensive. The cheap people here amaze me.
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It is also because it has the name ROGERS attached to it, that is why people attack it. You are right, I agree with you 100%, you get what you pay for. The way I look at it is simple, if you don’t have the need for one then no need to comment about it but because it is a Rogers product, it’s another oppurtunity to bash them.
Regardless of the price point, this is a very nice product, and for people comparing it with a $13.99 package, this is a HOME AUTOMATION package, not a basic alarm monitoring package.
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Now whats remaining , rogers in airline business ..?
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Well, in the UK, Virgin has phone, TV, broadband, mobile, Limobikes (think Telus bikes), a hotel, drinks like cola and alcohol, health clubs, airplanes, balloon flights, books like comics and novels, cars, storage of stem cells from a baby’s umbilical cord, renewable energy, financial services, trains, and the list goes on and on…
So Rogers still has a long way to go before being even close to Virgin.
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haha keep lauging you big 3 fanboys just wait til your 7 million customers come off contract we will see who they go with…and wow rogers has another service over the small 3 and charges a crazy amount of money on a 3 yr term…wow this sounds so unlike rogers haha right GO PUBLIC!!!!!
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“Surely Mr. Simpson you can’t put a price on the safety and security of your family?!?
I would have thought so too, but… here we are..”
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ADT also makes you sign a contract!!
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MARS: And ADT has scare tactics commercials! So that discourages me from subscribing to their security solutions.
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@Alex Perrier. You are A complete DUMMY!
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You have to pay for the equipment up front
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WOW charge for camera monitoring when its free? its just over the web? charge for any extra monitoring (smoke..etc) 48.99$ a month that is outrageous.
Why is it not ULC certified? is the monitoring station ULC?
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Chris,
I was wondering, what will be the initial cost to get it installed the lowest plan from rogers home monitoring service. as u mentioned 149 for touchpad and $99.00 for installation, is there any hidden charges ?
i really like the system but wants to know the how much it costs..
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There are existing home automation options that will cost you a lot less and you can control from an iPad or your phone. It’s funny how many people get sucked into garbage like this and don’t look around first. I don’t care what any rogers rep will tell me – Their prices are staggering. I can automate my house completely and have it monitored for a fraction of what rogers is going for.
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Ok Rogers Chris.How much would it cost me to install 20 window contacts, 4 door contacts, 3 motion detectors,1 smoke detector and 2 keypads? And how much would the monitoring cost be.
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First off lets all remember that this is a home security system FIRST, then a home automation system second. While everyone is looking into the features that come with the system like the thermostat control, cameras, small appliances etc., almost all of the major alarm companies offer these features (Counterforce, ADT, Protectron etc) the main thing that needs to be looked at are the devices that come with the alarm that will SECURE your home. My best guess is that this comes with 2-3 door contacts(nothing for the windows in the basement) , a motion sensor (which wont be active while you are home, or can cause problems with pets), and a keypad all for 149. VERY EXPENSIVE. I just recently called a Counterforce dealer, bought my alarm with 3 doors, 5 basement windows, a smoke detector, a flood sensor, a glassbreak sensor(which is pet friendly and can be armed while im home) a keypad and the gsm unit which gives me all of the same automation features as this alarm for only 42.50/mth with no money down on a 3 yr term. This same system would cost a small fortune with Rogers. And you are not forced to keep their internet service for as long as you have the alarm. All in all, rogers could offer a much better deal than they do and wipe out all of their competition, but instead, they choose to charge a fortune. Wait until they find out how expensive it is to service these alarms (if they come with a warranty). Prices will only go up.
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Hi Chris from Rogers….
I’ve called in the service line several times and I get different answers each time.
A few questions:
-Where can I find a list of the hardware prices? I currently have a system with Alarm force. I have 3 doors contacts and three motion sensors, a smoke detector and a carbon monoxide detector. I want to find out how much that’s going to cost me since I can’t use my existing hardware that I’ve purchased.
-Do I have to have Rogers cell or cable service?
-Is there any type of trade in special where I can trade in my old equipment for a discount? I want to move to Rogers, but I don’t see a major advantage considering the upfront cost if substantial and the monthly fee is double.
Thanks
Grant
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I called in today to book an appointment for someone to come out… I was shocked at the prices! I’m not too cheap of a person but for a decent system on my house, it’ll cost about $1000+ for hardware (I’m sure more once he comes out) PLUS, you have to spend another $750 or so for the control panel AND THEN on top of that hardware purchase, you have to pay monthly about $40 to $60.
I’m guessing I’ll be quoted $2000 hardware and $60/mo.
You can get the panel for $150 IF you sign 3 years…
Rogers is known to GOUGE people when they can get away with it – why not lower pricing and get more customers… why? they probably couldn’t handle the load so high prices will be paid by the rich and they know it. This is NOT a poor mans security system. You can buy an IPAD2 for less than their control panel… sad.
I already pay nearly $400/mo. to Rogers… I wish I had a choice :/ (don’t comment on that last part if you have no clue how to compare services – I get 75Mbps download speeds for eg. + 2 cell, home phone and tv)
I want to turn up my thermostat 1hr before getting home using my cell phone – damn you rogers for pulling at my heart strings.
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not all alarm companies sign 3 years I’m currently with securo there across canada and only work on yearly contract and they offer the same system like rogers for over 2 years now.
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The Ideal is exactly what im looking for, but i don’t know what tihe monthly feee is for after all I pay for my connection, so I called about it only to find it’s not offered in my area i only have Rocket hub So if your in an area that doesn’t offer cable don’t even think about it, not sure why and niether was the salesman on the phone ?
nice try Rogers lol
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Guys, I agree with most of the comments regarding hardware pricing. It’s high. We all know the business model. Car companies do the same thing. Buy the car…but it’s the cost of ownership that adds the cost over the life of the vehicle. So it is with this offering. The prices are inline, but the cost of replacement batteries for each of these discrete devices is the true wallet abuser. I would say batteries will run you at least $7 to $8 each (I can assure you they are not your standard double A or rechargeable type). Multiply this over the number of devices you utilize and you will quickly realize that for a house with 12 devices (some take more than one battery), you may as well add another $7 a month for one battery dying over the course of the year and every year thereafter. There lies (pun intended) the true rub and Rogers sneaky omission.
With that said…I am on the verge of getting one of these crappy half azzed systems, because I am a techy and at that sweet spot age that had a commodore 64 when I was 11 so grew up with technology and fortunately am able to afford spending a bit more for what I want. Which is what this decision comes down to. Do I want to pay extra for the service and features or do I want to get a system dedicated to do what is supposed to do and which has not undergone any major fundamental changes in technology over the past 10 years? If I had a system today..I wouldn’t consider throwing my money away on the upgrade IMO, but without one…hmmm…hmmm..hmmm…I just may.
At least when it comes to groceries…I choose No Frills over Longo’s.
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I have had system for a couple of months and nothing but issues! My touch tablet now swapped out for 3rd time as it just locks up and becomes unuseable! Everytime this occurs all sensors have batteries drained completely! Each time tech has to replace sensors and all batteeries expect them their for 4 or 5 hours! Bought 3 cameras quality is just terrible contract ends 2012 switching to alarmforce with their video relay system! I am really surprised rogers launched such a cheap poor product! As for home automation that’s a joke no garage sensor and they only offer plugin wall devices that control lamps? How about your hard wired lights in home with proper IP single switch like control 4! Very misleading from sales and rogers and the speaker on the touch pad is so muffled can’t hear a think when monitoring station calls! Even tech calls via cell as sound is so muffled! Rogers go back to the drawing board before you launch a product!
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I just installed the system and to my surprise I cant access system using my smartphone between 2 and 4 am. I complained about and rogers said is because their servers are down at that time.
What kind of service is this?
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Want a free system just go out and steal a alarm company’s sign and put on your house what dumb a$$ will break in “move along nothing to steal here” lol
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For about $1000 you can buy and self install a similar (likely better) system, save the monitoring fee and call 911 yourself if your smart phone alerts you of an intrusion. Besides B and E’s have declined by 40% over the last decade in Ontario, your safer than ever and to spend 40-60 month to save money on energy costs by adjusting your thermostat from your 40+ a month smart phone is stooopid. If you like the techno aspect of it like me automate but skip the locked in monthly and tell Rogers to suck it.
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There are other home automation systems out there that offer much more and have NO monthly access fees and you can shop around the Internet for the devices you want. The controller is less than $300 and has life time free upgrades and remote access. There is one in particular that interfaced directly with my DSC alarm system.
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The pricing is pretty steep for this service and there are lots of alternatives out there. Here’s a feature and price comparison of Rogers with a webcam-based monitoring system.
http://www.camcloud.com/blog/item/review-rogers-smart-home
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