First a couple of statistics. In 2007 according to the FBI, 17.5 million property crimes took place in the United States. That breaks down to one burglary every 14 seconds. Though the majority of burglaries take place during the day, 60% to 65% of burglaries take place between 6am and 6pm, close to 40% happen … Read More
Author: patrick
What’s The Deal With False Alarms
Through the years, people have mentioned to me that they are reluctant to get an alarm system because they are afraid of false alarms. With today’s modern alarm systems, for the most part those fears are a thing of the past. There are two main categories of false alarms: equipment failure and user error. Progress … Read More
What Are The Differences In Arming Modes In Alarm Systems
What are the differences in arming modes of alarm systems. Most modern alarm systems have three arming modes: away, stay (or home), and instant. Each mode should be used in the regular operation of your system. Before we go into the arming modes, let’s discuss the three most used ways various zones can respond to … Read More
Battery Back Up
When you have an alarm system installed, you should make sure that it has 24 hour battery backup. Simply put, if the power goes out for any reason, your system will continue to operate without interruption for 24 hours. The control panel needs a battery. The biggest determining factor on the size of battery required … Read More
What Kind Of Alarm Sensors Are There?
An alarm system is comprised of three basic parts – the control panel (the brains of the operation including the communicator), the siren (the mouth of the system) and the detection devices. Today we are going to talk about the detection devices, commonly referred to in the industry as sensors. Many times these names are … Read More
What Every Snowbird Should Know To Protect Their Home And Property
If you are lucky enough to leave your home up here in the Northeast for extended periods of time and stay in warmer climes, there are some things that you should do to make sure you don’t return to a disaster. First and foremost you should have a burglar alarm installed to protect your home … Read More
Adding Cameras To A Security System
Video surveillance cameras are now easier than ever to add to your overall home security package. You can simply add a camera to your interactive service such as alarm.com. The camera is learned into your account and then you can use the camera either via Wi-Fi or with an Ethernet cable. Indoor and outdoor cameras … Read More
What really are interactive services and what do they do?
Why should my security system be interactive and oh yea, what does it mean? Until very recently the only way you could access your alarm system was through the keypad, and typically in very limited ways. You could arm and disarm the system, the keypad would tell you if a zone was open, and if … Read More
Monitoring Your Alarm System and Interactive Services
Central Station Monitoring, Interactive Service, Cellular Back Up – What Are They and How Much? In the dark ages, the early 70’s, most alarm systems, when tripped, rang a bell outside the house. That was it. The hope was that the noise would scare away the intruder and your neighbors would call the police. Then … Read More
How Much Do Security Systems Really Cost?
At face value, it’s a pretty simple question. The problem is, no two homes and no two needs are exactly the same. You see it all the time, systems being advertised for $99, or even free. Understand this: These systems, though possibly offering modern bells and whistles like control over the internet, offer limited security … Read More