Peace of Mind From A Monitored Home
Alarm
A monitored home alarm system can give you the assurance
you need for peace of mind.
Have there been burglaries in your neighborhood? Perhaps you've been a
victim yourself. The feeling of vulnerability and violation after a burglary
is hard to describe to someone who has not been through the experience. It's
not just the fact you've lost valuables, but knowing a stranger was in your
house where you thought you were safe.
Your thoughts jump immediately to an alarm system. Signs have been going up
in yards all over your neighborhood for various companies' monitored home
alarms.
What is a Monitored Home Alarm System?
If you have monitored home alarm systems installed, when a home
intruder enters a protected zone and activates a sensor, an audible alarm
will go off. This lets the intruder know he's been noticed. The alarm noise
also lets you and your neighbors know there is a problem. But there's more
than that. You and your neighbors may not be home to hear the audible alarm,
so the sensors also alert the people on duty at the alarm company's 24 hour
monitoring center and they swing into action on your behalf. They first call
your home to see if you've accidentally tripped the alarm yourself. In the
case of a real emergency, they notify the police on your behalf.
Monitored home alarms contain some or all of the following basic components:
* Control Box - The control panel is where all the wiring terminates and it
usually has the backup battery in case of power failure.
* Keypad - When you enter or exit the house, or open a window or door,
you'll need to activate or deactivate the sensors from the keypad, so an
alarm will not go off and the monitoring company won't believe you have a
home intruder. There can be additional keypads, for example next to the home
owner's bed.
* Sensors - Every window or glass door panel in the house will have a sensor
to detect if the glass has been broken.
* Contacts - Every door and window has magnetic contacts installed to alert
the system when they are open or closed.
* Siren - When sensors or contacts are activated, a loud audible siren goes
off, alerting people nearby of a problem and letting the intruder know he's
been detected.
* Motion Detectors - Infrared, microwave, or photoelectric motion detectors
alert when there is an intruder. There are special motion detector
installations for people with pets.
Other items can be included such as smoke detectors, heat detectors, and
carbon monoxide detectors which can be wired to the security panel. The
monitored home alarm can then notify the central monitoring station if
smoke, heat or carbon monoxide is detected.
Panic Buttons are usually wireless and hand-held; just punching the button
will send a message to the central monitoring station for help. Such units
are useful for medical alerts as well as notification of other home
emergencies.
Closed circuit TV (CCTV) allows monitoring and/or recording inside or
outside a home either by the homeowner or by the monitoring center or both.
These are familiar to internet "web cam" users.
You want to do something to protect your family and your possessions. It's
important to remember there's more to home security than a monitored home
alarm, no matter how good it is.
Get the family together and go outside to play the security game: pretend to
be a burglar and look at your house, noticing vulnerabilities and
invitations. The patio door standing wide open, the flimsy exterior door to
the garage with glass in the top, the ladder leaning against the side of the
house waiting to give easy access to upstairs unlocked windows.
Spend a little time cleaning up these security risks and retraining
yourselves to lock doors and windows even before you start research on a
burglar alarm system. There are several good companies out there, take time
to check them out and compare before you ask for a dollar quote. You need to
know what questions to ask.
Be sure you contact the monitored home alarm company to get a quote. Only
after doing your homework on features and company reputation and getting a
detailed quote can you make a reasoned decision. |
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