Should You make the Investment in Alarm Monitoring?

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Imagine the effectiveness of the following sign at your front door when a would-be intruder reads it:

WARNING: This house is protected by a remote monitoring service; if you break in while the homeowner is away, he’ll be instantly alerted and the police will be automatically dispatched. And if you break in while he’s home, well heck, you’re still screwed.

2WWhat exactly is a remote monitoring service?

  • It’s always ready for an intruder, 24/7, every single day.
  • A comprehensive service will also detect smoke, water heater problems and other issues like a carbon monoxide leak.
  • You will have a “safe” word that only you (and other trusted people) know.
  • If the alarm is tripped and the monitoring service can’t get the safe word from whomever answers the phone, or there is no answer, police will be on their way.
  • An advanced system will also allow you to remotely revise settings on your customer account.
  • Another feature of a high tech system is that it allows you to set silent alarms, so that the “intruder” won’t know they tripped the sensor, but you will get an alert to your phone indicating this. This feature is great for people who suspect a family member is snooping around where they shouldn’t.

The Technology

  • Joe Thug kicks down your back door (you kept putting off getting a top-flight strike plate).
  • The alarm is triggered.
  • This alerts the monitoring center.
  • They call you.
  • But you can’t answer because you’re not there.
  • The intruder answers, intending to convince the company that it was a false alarm. Instead he’s asked for the secret word. Startled, he hangs up and flees.
  • The police are dispatched.
  • After the dispatch, your secondary phone numbers are called (family, friends, etc.).
  • This same technology has a panic button for fire, police and EMT. Once pressed, help is on the way.

So should you make this investment? How worth it is your home, family and peace of mind? Invaluable.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

How Motion Detectors Work

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Ever wonder how a motion detector works? How can some inanimate object “know” you’re creeping nearby, even if you’re as quiet as a mouse? This amazing technology can be broken down into several types.

3HActive Ultrasonic

  • When an object moves, it can bounce back ultrasonic waves that are directed towards it. An active ultrasonic sensor does just this: sending out ultrasonic waves, that when converging upon the path of a moving object, will be reflected back. If enough reflection is measured, the alarm will sound.
  • The downside is that dogs and cats can hear in this very high frequency range, and if the alarm is on all the time, it can be unpleasant for them.

Passive Ultrasonic

  • This type is peeled for specific sounds, such as glass shattering.
  • The downside is they cost a pretty penny.
  • Another negative is that, due to their high sensitivity level, can send out false alarms.

Passive Infrared

  • Your body emits heat. A dog’s or cat’s body emits heat. That’s because of the warm blood flowing through mammals. This heat is in the infrared range of the light spectrum, invisible to the human eye. The “PIR” type of sensor has a special kind of material that detects this heat emission. Upon detection, the sensor triggers electrical activity. And of course, this is converted to the sound of an alarm.
  • Minimal energy is used by these inexpensive sensors, which have an indefinite lifespan.
  • If an intruder knows where your PIR unit is placed, he might be able to foil it by walking in a straight line smack towards it, as this linear path will not reflect body heat in an easily detectable way.
  • Another minus is that an animal can trigger it.

Tomographic

  • Tomography is when radio waves are emitted. A moving object will upset them.
  • This type of sensor can detect motion in the next room because it can penetrate walls.
  • The downside is that they cost an arm and a leg.

Microwave

  • Microwave pulses are sent out, and any moving object will reflect these.
  • The downside is that the detection might be outside the specified range, setting off a false alarm.
  • Another negative is that this type is a power guzzler. Because of this, it’s commonly set for on and off cycles. And what if a thief knows when these cycles are off?

Duo

  • Two of the aforementioned types are combined. This helps reduce false alarms.
  • Combining two types of sensors, though, can result in missing a real alarm.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

Myth: My gated Community is Secure

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How many times have you heard someone say, “I don’t have to worry about crime; I live in a gated community”? Yeah, the electronically-locked gate may stop criminals from driving in, but not from walking in!

5HThat stylish gate is more of an ornament than a crime deterrent. It may very well be a lure to thieves, since it suggests that there’s a lot of valuables in those houses. The gate may even suggest complacence with tougher security measures among the homeowners.

The big iron gate may even encourage residents to leave entries to their houses unlocked or windows to their child’s first floor bedroom open overnight. Any reason a pedophile can’t slip through the gate while it opens for a resident? And that assumes the perp isn’t bright enough to just walk into the premises.

The giant gate may as well have a neon sign overhead that says, “Welcome! We Have Lots of Valuables in Our Homes!”

Might a burglar assume that every home has an alarm system? No. He’ll avoid those that have signs of an alarm system, but he’ll continue poking around till he finds evidence of an unlocked house. An alarm system is worthless if it’s turned off and a door is unlocked. This risk-reward calculation is too juicy for a thief to pass up.

And here’s another formula to consider:

Gated community = more money = more empty homes while residents are on yet another vacation.

Still think that gate protects your community? How often have you forgotten your code or the keypad malfunctioned, and you waited for the next resident to open the gates, and you slipped in right after them? How easy was that?

How often has the gate mechanically been broken and you zipped right on through? Even a gateman who buzzes people in may not be on the ball. And even if he is, you should assume that many service technicians are given entry codes. It’s not an issue of how or if a thief can get in, but who.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

Early Detection Will Save Your Life

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Early detection. What do these two words bring to your mind? A grain-sized speck on a mammogram? A colonoscopy?

6HHow about a house fire? Without early detection of THIS killer…you could, well…DIE.

House fires can be detected early with an advanced, well-designed fire alarm system. This will help save not only lives, but valuables, which sometimes cannot be replaced (there’s only one photo of you and Great Grandpa on your third birthday a month before he passed away).

Furthermore, losing “everything” in a fire can mean taking up to two years to resettle. Why wait for this to happen when you can have a fire alarm that will trigger a call to a dispatcher ASAP?

Seconds count for the escape, because you have less than one minute to get your entire family and pets outside to safety once that fire erupts. A smoke detector can double your chances of survival.

Have you taken precautions to prevent, or to detect early, a life-threatening actual disease that kills less than 3,000 Americans a year? Why not also take measures to prevent dying from a house fire—which kills 3,000 Americans every year? Of these fatalities, 40 percent involve homes without a working smoke alarm.

Most fire fatalities are from smoke inhalation rather than being engulfed in flames. Your view to the exit can be blocked by furiously thick, choking smoke. How often do you hear a report that says, “So-and-so died of smoke inhalation?” vs. “So-and-so died from third-degree burns over 90 percent of his body”?

Though people DO get trapped and their bodies burn, autopsy reports usually show that they were dead from smoke inhalation before their bodies became consumed by flames. Awful. Drowning in smoke.

Preparation

  • Safety begins by getting a smoke detector that always stays activated, even when you’re cooking. The device is designed to detect smoke first, not fire, for a reason. If the alarm goes off, get out of the house/apartment before your lungs get poisoned. And stay out.
  • Call 9-1-1 from outside.
  • For the hearing impaired and heavy sleepers, smoke detectors are available that flash lights and set off a vibration beneath a pillow.
  • What about retrieving family members and pets? You won’t need to if you’ve previously run fire drills for the entire family.

Fire Drills

  • For every room, establish two ways to escape (e.g., window and door). Then have all household members physically practice as fast as possible these escapes—which all lead to a single, predetermined meeting place outdoors.
  • Run the drills in the middle of the night, during heavy rain, frigid cold, sweltering heat, because a fire doesn’t care how comfortable or awake you are.
  • The escape plan should take into consideration babies, children, the disabled and elderly, and of course, Prince and Cupcake.
  • Make sure that everyone knows how to get out of a second story window. Have a collapsible ladder on hand.
  • Don’t forget about your smoke alarm. No fewer than two times a year, clean it and push its test button. To remember to change the batteries, coincide this with changing your clocks. If you’ve had an alarm all along, replace it if it’s more than 10 years old or you’re not sure of its age.
  • The National Fire Protection Association says that pets can start a fire. A cat might start playing with an electrical cord, knocking down its lamp, which is already turned on…need you read more to figure out how this ends?
  • A dog, cat, even a bird can knock over a burning candle. It’s hard to keep a candle out of reach from a cat unless it’s in storage. So either don’t use your candles or get rid of them.
  • Cats also jump onto stoves. Of course, you can’t get rid of your stove. But you don’t want to get rid of Cupcake, either. There are several devices on the market that can train cats to stop jumping on things. A stove knob can be accidentally turned by a cat. See if you can remove these knobs.

Heaters can be knocked down by dogs and cats, though this won’t be a problem if the unit has an automatic switch-off that’s triggered when the device is knocked down. If your heaters lack this sensor, replace them with units that have it.

Home Security Has Never Been Easier

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Home is where you look forward to towards the end of a vacation. Home is where you rush to at the end of a work day. Home is where you’d rather be when you are somewhere else. After all, as Dorothy said tapping her ruby red slippers, “there’s no place like home”.

Our homes become a place of comfort unlike any other worldly possession. It’s where all our stuff is, in all the places we put it, in the order (or disorder) we create. It’s where our kids sleep, dog naps and where we eat.

Most people take for granted the feeling of safety and security in their home. They expect it as a given. Like a sense of entitlement.

I’ve always believed this is a mistake.  Because when one takes security for granted, they completely have their guard down. This means they are vulnerable to any whacko who jiggles a doorknob looking for the path of least resistance.

If a person’s home is invaded or burglarized, they quickly lose that sense of security and never feel the same way again. Some people even quickly sell below market value just to get out from what has become a perceived black cloud over their property.

Simply locking your doors is a start and taking control like this doesn’t mean you are “paranoid”. Then taking the next steps and installing a home security system is the smartest thing you can do.

Your home is your castle. And it should be treated as such.

Be proactive with the help of ADT Pulse, a new interactive smart home solution that goes beyond traditional home security to provide a new level of control, accessibility and connection with the home.

Connectivity and interactivity are driving the way people live and manage their homes. ADT Pulse provides customers with anywhere, anytime access to their home via smart phones or personal computers, including an iPhone application to:

• Arm and disarm their home security system.

• Get notified of alarms and selected events via email and text messages as well as video clips.

• View their home through cameras and watch secure real-time video or stored video clips of events from monitored areas of the home.

• Access lights and appliances or set schedules to automate them.

Robert Siciliano personal security expert to Home Security Source discussing Home Security on NBC Boston. Disclosures.