Burglar Alarm Tips

Today’s burglar alarm systems are more sophisticated than ever. In fact, the sky’s the limit when it comes to capabilities. Want to be able to watch you’re your art collection from another continental? No problem. Wish you could arm your alarm from your smart phone? It’s possible.

Unless you have irreplaceable or valuable objects, you probably won’t need to take advantage of all the latest technology. A basic burglar alarm will probably be enough to protect your home and worldly goods. Here are the components you’ll want if you decide to get a home security system.

The control panel is the brain of the system and directs all the other components. It can be programmed from a keypad, or — with more sophisticated systems — using a wireless remote or cell phone ap. If your alarm is triggered, a two-way speaker that lets you talk directly with the monitoring service is a nice feature.

Protecting your home

The first aspect of protecting your home is making sure that you have a secure perimeter. The conventional way to do that is to use electrical sensors on all the ground-floor doors and windows. These sensors create an electrical circuit that sounds the alarm when broken. If you have upstairs windows that a thief could access by climbing a tree or using a ladder, you should install sensors there too.

The second prong of home protection is detecting motion within the home. Once the system is armed, motion detectors trigger the alarm if there’s unwanted activity. Radar-based, photo, and Passive Infrared sensors are all used. If you have pets, just make sure that they won’t set them off.

The system has a power supply that ordinarily runs on household current. But many have backup batteries so the system will continue to function during a black out. Some systems can also call the monitoring service via a cell network when the phone lines aren’t working.

Although you don’t have to have a monitoring service, the peace of mind it provides is usually worth the price – which starts around $30 a month. If the alarm is triggered, the monitoring service will take steps to make sure there’s a legitimate problem, and not a false alarm, and then they’ll notify first responders.

ADT Sign

Although it seems like an afterthought, the home security service yard sign is one of the most critical parts of your set up. It tells thieves that your home would be a hassle to rob and not worth the trouble.

Once you have all these elements in place, your possessions will likely be safe. But you should consider adding monitors designed to detect smoke, heat, or carbon monoxide. These can save lives and prevent the destruction of a full-blown fire. If you live in an area with extreme temperatures, there are also monitors that help prevent flooding, water damage, or broken pipes.

Video surveillance cameras that let you watch over your home, kids, or elderly relatives are becoming very popular additions.

Protecting your home Image Flickr: tom.arthur
ADT Sign Image Flickr: cogdogblog

A burglar alarm is an effective way to protect your home and property.  But false alarms are a tremendous problem that can waste the time of first responders and keep them from reacting quickly to real emergencies.  In fact, the Salt Lake City Police Department estimates that 99% of their burglar alarm calls are false.

The City of Oakland, California gets over 20,000 false alarms a year at a cost of more than $2 million.  To combat the problem, Oakland — and many other cities — have passed burglar alarm ordinances.  If your city has one, and you’re not in compliance, you could be fined.  And if you cause a false alarm, it could really be expensive.

Does your city have a burglar alarm ordinance?

Most burglar alarm ordinances require consumers to obtain a permit from the city before they install a burglar alarm or home security system.  Fees generated by the permits are used to offset the cost of responding to the alarms.  And information provided with the permit application enables the police department to contact the homeowner before dispatching a response team.

As a rule, fees are greater if the homeowner doesn’t have a valid permit, or if the permit has expired. For example, the City of Oakland charges valid permit holders $84 for a general false alarm and non-permit holders $154.   What’s more, Oakland charges those without valid permits $70 to respond to a genuine burglar alarm call.  Those with valid permits are not charged.

Because robbery calls require two officers to respond, they are even more expensive.

Many cities have an escalating scale in which each subsequent call is assessed a greater fine.  Some also offer false alarm prevention classes.  People who attend often receive a break on fines or fees.

In order to make sure that home security monitoring services also take responsibility for making sure their customers comply with the ordinance, they are also billed for unregistered alarm systems.

In Oakland, the permit fee is $25 for homes and $35 for businesses.  In other places, such as Salt Lake City, no fee is required for the permit.  There, private security guards are employed to respond to burglar alarm calls.  Police are only dispatched if the security guard finds that a crime has occurred.

Before you have a burglar alarm or home security system installed, find out what permits your city requires and what other steps you should take to help reduce the burden on your local police department.  The company you purchase your burglar alarm from should be able to provide you with applications and information.

Read more home security tips here.

Does your city have a burglar alarm ordinance Image Flickr: jondoeforty1

Video surveillance cameras used to be used in banks, secure areas, and occasionally in the compounds of the rich and famous. These old cameras were usually part of a closed circuit television (CCTV) system that was expensive and difficult to install and costly to maintain. The cost of CCTV systems made them prohibitive for most home owners.

Advances in information and digital technology have made CCTV systems a thing of the past, and today’s video surveillance systems are much more affordable, reliable, and easy to use.

The mere presence of video cameras can do a lot to deter intrusions. Most would-be thieves will decide that a place with security cameras is not worth the trouble. So if you want an extra measure of protection for your home and property, a video surveillance system can be a worthwhile investment.

IP video surveillance camera

Most security systems today use Internet Protocol (IP) cameras which are pretty simple to install and maintain. They deliver digital information via an IP network, unlike CCTV cameras which required a complicated system of coaxial cables. And that information can be monitored live.

You can buy IP surveillance cameras individually or bundled with surveillance software. You’ll need the software to record, retrieve, view, and broadcast your feed.

You can place the cameras wherever there’s a connection to an IP network. The most logical places are near entrances to your home, on any outbuildings you have, and on the perimeter if your property is large. If you have valuables displayed inside your home, you should probably put one there too.

Each camera has its own IP address and unlike webcams, they don’t need to be connected to a PC. The quality of the digital images is vastly superior to analog. And sophisticated IP cameras will also pan, tilt, and zoom.

One of the biggest advantages of IP video surveillance systems is that with a network video recorder you can monitor the feed in real time from any computer with Internet access. In most cases, you can even access it with a smart phone. Being able to check up on your house when you’re away can provide a lot of peace of mind.

CCTV systems store their recorded images on VHS tapes, which were then dated and stored. Because the images captured by IP surveillance cameras are digital, the information is archived on servers where it can be accessed instantly via search.

IP systems are more expensive than CCTV systems, but the price is dropping rapidly. Most of the major home security system providers now offer it, so ask for a quote. You may be pleasantly surprised by how affordable video surveillance turns out to be.

Read about other kinds of home security systems here.

IP video surveillance camera Image Flickr: Matti Mattila