American Alarm & Communications: Company Overview American Alarm is New England’s largest independent alarm company — a genuine rarity in an industry dominated by national chains and private equity rollups. Founded in 1971 by three MIT engineers in Arlington, Massachusetts, they’ve stayed independent for over 50 years while competitors got acquired, rebranded, or went bankrupt. […]

Searching for NorthStar Home Security? The company no longer exists. Brinks Home (formerly Monitronics/MONI) acquired NorthStar’s customer accounts in 2019, making it yet another name swallowed by the largest alarm dealer consolidation in history. If you’re a former NorthStar customer now stuck with Brinks, or just researching what happened, this guide covers the full story […]

The Monitoring Center (TMC) is a wholesale central station — they do not sell to homeowners. They provide 24/7 alarm dispatch infrastructure for security dealers and alarm companies across North America. When your alarm triggers and a monitoring agent picks up, that agent likely works for a station like TMC, not your security brand. This matters because monitoring quality depends on the station, not the logo on your panel. We explain how wholesale monitoring works, what response times look like (15-45 seconds average), and why DIY brands like Abode use Alarm.com stations that match or beat dealer-branded operations.

July 2026 update: Cox currently maintains official Homelife feature, support, alarm, camera, and touchscreen pages. That makes old blanket claims that Homelife is “dead” or fully shut down unsafe. Availability, equipment, support, pricing, and service terms can still vary by address and account, so current customers and shoppers should verify the exact offer directly with […]