Alarm systems

[vvviola]

We need to replace the alarm in our house - the old one was set up when an elderly man lived here - and seems to have been done in a very haphazard way. There's wires all over the place, panic buttons in 3 room, the control box is huge and connected to the outside of one of the kitchen cabinets, and there is a wired smoke alarm beside the cooker that sets the whole thing off if you toast bread for more than 30 seconds.

So, we're looking at a new system. Ideally as wireless as possible and with some sort of app/text based alerting system.

But DH and I are both quite prone to suffering from a case of "ooh! Pretty!" and might be distracted by what seems like a good system but is really just flashy apps and touchpad sans not actually a decent alarm system.

Any advice before we go looking?
(Not in the UK, so don't need company recommendations, more details of features that work/don't work)

[johnd2]

We looked online and went for a system that companies use, but fitted it ourselves. I know companies need more than just a visual deterrent, so I knew the system would be good.
The only down side is it's for professional installers so it was a massive pain to set up the first time.
I think the unit with 1 sounder, 3 sensors and 1 contact for a door was about 250, and the actual fitting was a doddle. Just the setting up was intense!