It's Not Too Late to Do Your Holiday Shopping With Alarm Grid!

We know that 2020 has been a crazy year for all. And now we're right in the thick of the holiday buying season. We wanted to take a brief moment to collect our thoughts and make things a bit more organized so you can decide which route to take for your security and automation shopping.

First of all, if you haven't checked out our 2020 holiday buying guides, then that's a great place to start! We put together five (5) guides this year.

• 2020 Alarm Panel Buying Guide - Find out which alarm panels are worth building around. Your alarm panel serves as the central hub for all your security and automation needs, and it represents your most important buying decision.
• 2020 Security Sensor Buying Guide - Protect your home or office with top-of-the-line security sensors. These devices alert your system whenever there is possible intrusion activity, such as a door being opened, or a window being broken.
• 2020 Environmental Sensor Buying Guide - Safety is the name of the game with environmental sensors. Unlock the true potential of your alarm system by monitoring for conditions like unusual temperatures, fires and flooding.
• 2020 Smart Home Automation Buying Guide - Your security system is also the center of your smart home! Make your life more convenient with devices like smart lights, door locks, and programmable thermostats.
• 2020 System Accessories Buying Guide - All the other goodies and gadgets that you need for your complete home or business security system! We cover cellular communicators, desk mounts, surveillance cameras, and more!

But before we close out this post, we want to stop and make some special notes. If you are still left wondering what to buy this holiday season, then we have two (2) recommendations. First, we've been stressing all year about the importance of upgrading to an LTE cellular communicator if you are still using an older 3G or CDMA module.

If you still have any doubts, then yes, now is the best time to upgrade. Older cellular modules are going to stop working. There is going to be a big rush for users to keep their systems connected at the very last minute. Make things easier on yourself (and us) by upgrading early. And if you're still running an IP-only panel, then getting started with cellular monitoring is a huge upgrade in itself. This is the best way to keep your system online in the event of an internet or power outage. That's our first recommendation - UPGRADE YOUR SYSTEM TO LTE IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY.

Second, we want to close out our holiday recommendations with a bang. We understand that getting a new communication path for your system might not be the most exciting thing in the world. But here's something that is. If you are looking for the single, sexiest, new product that we have the capacity to promote at this time, then we have your answer. Right here, right now. Alarm.com ADC-VDB770 Video Doorbell Camera.

We've been promoting doorbell cameras for quite a while now. But the ADC-VDB770 is different. We've never seen a doorbell camera output video at quite this level before. To see a doorbell camera with 1440x1920 resolution and High Dynamic Range is pretty insane. This nifty gadget outputs video nearly as well as what a state-of-the-art 4K TV can even display! And it backs up its talk further with its crazy 150° Field of View, astounding 15 foot night vision range, and its ability to utilize the full suite of Alarm.com Video Analytics features. This doorbell camera has taken what you would expect out of a top-of-the-line security camera and turned it into an ultra-convenient front-of-home monitoring device! Wow!

There are some drawbacks. One is that it's for Alarm.com only. Unfortunately, this means that TC2 users can't play with this fun new toy. Second, at this time, we can only support it on a Platinum Level Monitoring Plan. But we are exploring our options, and there may soon be a way that we can support a single ADC-VDB770 device on a non-video account, much like what we have been able to do with SkyBell Video Doorbell devices. It's too early for us to make any promises, but we hope to expand the reach of this doorbell camera so that more of the world may appreciate its glory. But if you want our second recommendation - ALL ALARM.COM USERS SHOULD GET THE ADC-VDB770 DOORBELL CAMERA.

For now, that concludes our post-buying guide holiday thoughts. Get on LTE! And if you're on ADC, then get that doorbell camera! You'll be thrilled that you did! And as always, don't hesitate to reach out to us with any questions. The best way to contact us is to email support@alarmgrid.com. Our team responds to emails from 9am to 8pm ET M-F. We look forward to hearing from you!