Short answer
Find out what brand and model the panel is (inside the metal cabinet or on the back of a touchscreen), whether you can arm and disarm it, and whether it is still connected to anyone. Then call a monitoring company of your choice: most can take over a working wired panel by reprogramming it, if they can get into programming. Change every code, check smoke detector ages, and replace the backup battery.
On this page
1. Identify the system
- Wired panel: a metal cabinet in a closet, basement, or garage, with a circuit board inside. The brand and model are printed on the board (Honeywell VISTA, DSC PowerSeries, DMP, Interlogix and others). The wall keypad is not the panel.
- Touchscreen panel: a single wall-mounted screen is the whole system (2GIG, Qolsys IQ, Honeywell Lyric or Lynx). The model is on a label on the back.
- App-based system: a base station plus sensors (Ring, SimpliSafe, Abode, Arlo). Usually needs the previous owner to remove it from their account.
See where to find your model number.
2. Get control of the codes
- Ask the sellers for the master code and the alarm company's name. Many leave it with the house paperwork.
- Try the factory default installer code for your panel; if it works, you can set new user codes. See installer and master codes.
- If the installer code was changed or locked, a new monitoring company may still be able to take the system over, or may need to replace the main board.
3. Check who it calls
A system left connected may still report to the previous owner's monitoring company, or try to and fail. Signs: a communication-failure trouble or a keypad that shows an account-related message. Call the alarm company on the sticker, tell them you are the new owner, and ask them to cancel or transfer the account. Old cellular radios may have stopped working entirely after the 2G and 3G shutdowns.
4. Decide: reactivate, self-monitor, or replace
- Reactivate with monitoring. Most monitoring companies can take over common wired panels; they may need to add a cellular communicator.
- Self-monitor. Some panels can send alerts to your phone with an internet or cellular module and an app service, without a central station.
- Replace. If the panel is very old, locked, or app-based and still tied to the seller's account, replacing it can be simpler. Existing wired door contacts and motion detectors can often connect to a new panel.
5. Basic safety checks
- Replace the panel's backup battery. See how.
- Check the manufacture date on every smoke and CO detector and replace any over 10 years old. See smoke detector chirping.
- Walk through and open each door and window to make sure the panel sees it.
- Put the account on test before you test anything that is monitored.