Alternative billing modes for security and automation applications

A method and system facilitate the one or more operating modes for monitoring of an intelligent home system. The method and system facilitate the detection of an adverse condition in a building, the generation of an alert based on the detection of adverse condition, sending a notification to a user about the alert, asking the user how to respond to the alert via a message sent to a mobile device, and determining whether to send the alert to a central monitoring system to facilitate notification of an appropriate responder for the adverse condition. Determining whether to send the alert to the central monitoring system may be based on an affirmative command from the user or a failure to receive any command from the user. The user may be notified via at least one of a telephone call, text message, email, or application notification. The user may provide instructions to the method and system via at least one of a telephone call, text message, email, application command, or web script. The user may be billed for the service of notifying an appropriate responder provided by central monitoring system regularly, intermittently when the user is away from the building, or on a per-alert basis.