Most security pricing you will find online is one monthly number, and most of it was written for houses. A business owner usually needs two figures: what it takes to get equipment on the walls, and what the system costs every month after that. They behave differently, and a quote that blends them into one payment is hard to compare with anything.
Below are the rates we publish, what a commercial quote is built from, and the questions that show whether two quotes are pricing the same system.
These are the current rates on our standard plans. Each sits on a 36-month monitoring agreement.
Those figures describe a straightforward system. A building with more doors, more cameras or card-controlled entry is quoted after we have walked it, and most of this post is about what moves that number.
Over a 36-month agreement, $34.99 a month comes to $1,259.64. At $65 a month it comes to $2,340. The gap, $1,080.36, is roughly what you pay over three years for not buying the equipment up front.
Cash flow usually decides it. A business opening a second location may rather keep the capital for fit-out. One that expects to stay in its building for a decade tends to come out ahead by buying. Whichever you choose, ask what happens to the equipment when the term ends, and whether it is yours to keep.
Monthly rates are the easy part to compare. The upfront side of a commercial job moves with the building.
Openings. Every exterior door, roll-up door and reachable window that needs a sensor is a device and a zone on the panel. A retail suite with a front entrance and one rear service door is a very different job from a warehouse with six dock doors.
Cameras. Count matters, and so does placement. An outdoor camera covering a parking lot needs a different lens and a longer cable run than an indoor one watching a register. Cloud storage is billed monthly. A recorder on site is a one-time cost with a drive that fills and starts overwriting the oldest footage.
Cable runs. Much of a commercial install is the labor of getting cable from each device back to the panel or the network. Open warehouse ceilings and drop-tile offices go quickly. Finished drywall, block walls and long runs out to a lot take longer.
Access control. A door that unlocks with a card or a phone needs a lock, a reader, a controller and power at that door. It carries more hardware per opening than anything else in the system, which is why we price it door by door.
The network. Cameras and access control both run over the building’s network. If that network is a consumer router in a back closet, it may need work before anything is added to it. Our page on security network infrastructure covers what that involves.
What is already there. Cameras, sensors and wiring left by a previous provider are often reusable, and we do not charge to take over an existing system. We test that equipment during the free on-site assessment, so the quote says what stays and what has to be replaced. The alarm system takeover page explains how that works.
Two costs come from the city rather than from any security company, and both belong in the budget.
The alarm permit. Colorado Springs requires a permit for every monitored alarm, applied for within ten days of the system going in or monitoring starting. The city sets the fee, so check the current amount with the CSPD Alarms Unit.
False alarms. The city charges for false alarms within a permit year, and a fourth one suspends police response to your intrusion alarms. A badly placed motion detector can cost more over three years than the sensor did. Getting zones, entry delays and placement right at install is the cheapest way to avoid it.
When quotes land side by side, check they are describing the same system:
Our on-site assessment is free, and the quote that comes out of it answers each of those questions in writing. Commercial security systems covers how we design a system around a building. To book a walk-through, request a quote or call 719-888-7180, Monday to Friday, 8am to 5:30pm.
Our standard monitoring is $34.99 a month when you own the equipment, or $65 a month with nothing down, on a 36-month agreement. A system with more devices or added services is quoted after a site survey.
Yes. With a qualifying 36-month commercial monitoring agreement, we install four commercial-grade cameras and a recorder at no cost. A site survey comes first, and additional cameras are priced at our standard rates.
Often. Cameras, sensors and wiring from a previous provider can frequently be reused, and we do not charge to take over an existing system. We test what is there before quoting, so you know what stays and what has to go.
Camera service with cloud storage is $45 a month on a 36-month agreement.
Yes. The city requires an alarm permit for every monitored system, applied for within ten days of installation or the start of monitoring. The city sets the fee, so confirm the current amount with the CSPD Alarms Unit.
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