I had teletrac decades ago, if I had the money I would get a new system. Its was a satellite system, and back then in 2000ish after installing, the way it worked was the car is tracked GPS 24/7 and locations recorded but only accessible to the owner of the account. The system could roll up/down the windows, lock/unlock car doors, tell me if the car was running or not and also the location of the vehicle. You would call their client phone number, log in via password and someone would get on the phone immediately.
My favorite part of the system was how they would handle the situation if your car was stolen or missing. You could call them, report it stolen or missing and have the OPTION to get the police involved. IF you decided to get them involved they would call 3 way the PD and wait on the phone while giving the cops the exact location of the vehicle in real time. THIS IS THE KEY, if you didn't want to get the cops involved you could be on the phone in real time and go get your car yourself, teletrac at the time was the only company that offered this. Lowjack back then sucked because only a police car outfitted with the lowjack system could respond to your stolen car report, and if that cop was busy your fawked. AND with lowjack you HAVE TO file a police report then back off and let the cop who has the system installed respond. Teletrac allowed ME to make the choice. And I would rather go get my car back with some 'friends' who could use a good therapy session if you get what I mean.
This was decades ago but I would check out teletrac, I bet what the can offer now is incredible. At the time 2000ish this satellite system cost me $1000 and included 2 years of service, after that $100 a year for service, for me that entire system and way I could interact with the agents via phone was top notch and worth every penny for my peace of mind.
SoCal is perfect for a satellite alarm. Hardly cloudy or rainy so 99% of the time during the year you have a clear signal. Thought I would share my experience because your last sentence "I Always keep a watchful eye but in these perilous times I'd like to give myself an edge and a fighting chance at recovery." Sat alarm doesn't matter the company really but a sat alarm IS the fighting chance for recovery.