BEFORE you put money into a system, and I am sorry if I am telling you something that you have already considered (but many folks omit this step), you need to beef up your home hardware first.
With or without a monitoring company, if they call or you call, the higher the overall level of police service calls in your community, the less likely you'll get quick enough response to catch the burglar. What most security systems do is get the police promptly to the crime scene, after the burglar is gone. Contrary to the ads, such systems don't always cause burglars to flee at the audible alarm, and in some cases alarm systems help the burglars narrow down their targets to the folks with the money and the concern to have a system. Some jurisdictions have policies or even laws prohibiting the police from going lights and siren to empty residences..., so your system will notify you when you are away, and the police will be called, and get there when they can.
You need to reenforce the metal plate where the deadbolt inserts from the door into the home, in each and every door jamb on the exterior of your home. I have seen many doors kicked in by burglars, but very few deadbolt locks that have failed. What does fail is the cheap arsed metal plate in the door frame, which is secured with short screws that don't actually reach the frame. Million dollar homes or double-wides, it makes no dif, the contractors will put in cheap cheap strike plates. :banghead: You need a steel plate, four steel wood screws, and the screws need to be at least 4" long to reach the frames (as a minimum).
Traditional window locks suck. Get good window locks, and lock the second floor windows too if you have them. Get photos and serial numbers on all of your valuable stuff, for insurance, AND for apprehension. It's no surprize that the cops often catch a burglar and convict him for one or two burglaries, but caught the guy with lots and lots of probably stolen stuff that nobody can connect to a victim 'cause the victim didn't have model number and serial number information.
THEN get the wireless system. It's much better if your system notified you of a break-in, you called the police, they got there and found you only had an attempted break in, cause your hardware upgrades slowed the guy down long enough to make him go looking for an easier target. Sure, somebody really wants in, they will get in, but most of the yahoos are simple opportunists. They can be deflected by good hardware.
LD