For around ten euros per month, SFR offers its customers a self-monitoring service in partnership with Europ Assistance. Its announcement comes a few weeks after that of Free which, with Qiara, aims to make alarms more affordable.
There is a new war among operators: surveillance at home. Orange has its Protected Home service, Free has just joined forces with Qiara and SFR is banking on Secure Home, a new paid service launched on April 9, to protect its customers’ homes. Its idea is the same as Free: the customer buys equipment and pays a subscription in exchange for security.
With a displayed price of 9.99 euros per month, SFR’s offer seems extremely competitive. What is it really ?
SFR does not talk about remote surveillance
First remark: SFR never mentions the term “remote surveillance”, which is nevertheless the crux of this industry. Instead, the operator uses the words “self-monitoring” and “accompaniment”. The first echoes the possibilities offered by its application SFR Home, which provides access to the feed from a surveillance camera and the history of sensor use. The second is explained with the following words:
“With our partner Europ Assistance you have, at no additional cost, a resolution of doubts, or even, if necessary, a security service by a CNAPS approved agent, until your home is secure again (in the limit of 24 consecutive hours). »
What should we understand? A priori, in the event of an intrusion, Europ Assistance does not automatically secure the homes of SFR subscribers. You have to request help manually for the operator’s agents to take action. This is a sort of hybrid offer between self-monitoring and real remote monitoring, which allows SFR to lower costs.
On its site, SFR also indicates that it provides its subscribers with a team in charge of Secure Home customers. It is accessible from Monday to Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., which excludes any intervention in the event of a nighttime burglary.
An alarm without an alarm
Without remote monitoring, SFR’s Secure Home offer could be compared to connected alarms from Ring or Somfy… except that it does not include an alarm.
For 121 euros (this is a one-time purchase), SFR offers:
- A security center: it gives orders and has a 4G antenna in the event of a power outage, but it does not include a siren.
- A Wi-Fi camera: it films in 1080p and records each passage for 30 days.
- A motion detector: able to know when someone is walking past.
- Two opening detectors: to know when a door or window was last opened/closed.
Compared to the Free offer, the SFR offer offers fewer accessories. To have similar equipment, you must add options:
- An inner siren : for 39 euros, which will scream in the event of an intrusion.
- A keyboard to deactivate the alarm, with badges: for 49 euros.
In total, equipment similar to that offered by Free or Orange costs 201 euros. At this price, the security center can switch to SFR’s 4G network in the event of a Wi-Fi outage (it has a 10-hour battery). Before equipping yourself, you must therefore ensure that you receive 4G from SFR at home.
The SFR offer is not very expensive, but there are better elsewhere
In addition to these 121/201 euros (we will retain the 201 euros in our calculations, to have an alarm and a digital code), you must add 9.99 euros per month of subscription to benefit from the offer (14.99 euros for non-SFR customers, who have no interest in subscribing to it).
Over one year, this amounts to 328.88 euros. An extremely reasonable sum, compared to the more than 1,000 euros of the dominant players, like Verisure, but not so advantageous compared to the Amazon Ring, which allows you to create your own modern configuration with an interface more up to date, what’s more entirely customizable.
And the offers from Orange and Free? Both cost a little more per year (400 euros), but can defend themselves thanks to their included remote monitoring. SFR offers a decent offer for most users, but those looking for peace of mind will undoubtedly turn to an offer with agents capable of intervening remotely.
| SFR | Free | Orange | Ring | Somfy | Verisure | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Equipment price | 209 euros | 199 euros | Included in rental | 179 euros | 938.80 euros | From 499 to 999 euros |
| Cost of installation | 0 euros | 0 euros | 0 euros | 0 euros | Optional | From 200 to 300 euros |
| Paid subscription | 9.99 euros | 15.99 euros | 34.99 euros | 10 euros | 9.99 euros | 49.90 euros |
| 24/7 remote monitoring | ❌ (intervention in case of problem) | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Cellular connectivity | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | Optional (2.99 euros) | ✅ |
| Commitment | ❌ | ❌ | 12 months | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Total cost over 1 year | 328.88 euros | 390.88 euros | 419.88 euros | 299 euros | 1,058.68 euros | From 1297 to 1900 euros |
Who is the SFR Secure Home offer intended for? The greatest likelihood is that SFR will target its oldest customers, who are not sufficiently informed on the subject to install Ring themselves. It is undoubtedly this market that the three operators are targeting, while burglaries are becoming more and more frightening.
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