Remote Monitoring Options

Posted on January 20, 2010 by admin

Home alarm systems can be very simple or very complex, and they offer many options you may not have considered—like remote monitoring.

What exactly is remote monitoring? It’s the ability to monitor your home alarm system from somewhere not your home. You can call in or get online and see what’s up. There are even advanced options that might allow you to make changes to the settings.

Make sure you understand the monitoring options on your home alarm system and if you are in the market for a system, include remote monitoring on the list of things you need to know. There are many options and many coming advances so get informed and then keep track of the advances in this technology.

Remote Options

Remote options can be a separate feature included as part of the home alarm equipment, or the remote monitoring can be done by an alarm monitoring service. There are a variety of things to monitor and ways of monitoring the systems. You need to understand what you need, and what your system or service abilities are.

Cell Phone and Pager Options

If you have remote abilities in your equipment, the system may be able to notify you of changes in status by calling your cell phone or paging you with a specific code. You can call in and check the settings and the status even when in a different state or halfway across the world. Systems with auto-dial can call several numbers and notify you with a pre-recorded message that something is wrong and if they have listen-in abilities, you can stay on the line after the message and listen to what’s happening in your home.

Internet Options

Even more exciting then listening to your home, is watching it. With a couple cameras and an internet connection, you can click in, take a look and go on about your business. Many equipment manufacturers have started making devices that can easily be connected to a wireless internet devise.

Service Company Options

One advantage to having a monitoring company is that you aren’t doing the monitoring, they are. You can go on vacation and well, sleep. And yet the system will still have someone watching over it. Some of the companies expand on the internet option by allowing you to check the status of your system, not just look through a camera, but see the settings and notice if all the windows and doors are secure.

Advanced systems will allow you to change security codes or deny a specific security codes. If you forgot to arm the system when you left home, you can go on the internet and turn it on. You can also go in and turn the system off if you have someone coming by for service or to visit and they are going to arrive before you get there.

Don’t Mix and Match

If you utilize a company to monitor your home alarm system, check with them to see what the remote monitoring options are. You don’t want to add equipment or change the options on your system without following their requirements; it might cause a problem with your monitoring or contract.

New Tricks and Features

Now Blackberries and Palm computing devices or even the new IPhone make logging into the internet easier than sending text. Many handheld phones and devices have applications and specific abilities to monitor your home alarm system. The phones will allow you to log in to the internet and access software or wireless cameras set up in your home through your home network.

Use this ability with the equipment you have, or as part of the service you have with your alarm monitoring company. There often is little or no charge to this service if you are already a customer. Many monitoring companies have websites that are specifically meant to be used by mobile devices and handheld personal computing devices.

Futures

Home alarm systems are quickly evolving. Feature lists are growing and many of these advances are in the realm of remote monitoring, remote notification and online (internet) monitoring. Today it is possible to network your home PCs and handheld browser phones with audio, video and security components. With integration you can integrate broadband Internet, security and entertainment to every room in the house.

One future option that I read about allows you to set up small cameras and connect them with the security system so that if something happened, you would get a text and pictures of what was happening in your home, and then be able to go online and see real-time pictures.

Technology changes quickly and the home alarm industry is no exception. Keep an eye on the options and if there is something you’d like to do that isn’t currently available it may be available soon.

Posted in Types | Leave a comment

Do it yourself?

Posted on January 20, 2010 by admin

Personal security is important and it’s time to make some positive steps in that direction, do you have the do-it-yourself skills to install a home alarm system?

You’ve decided you need a home alarm system and now you need to decide if this is a project you want to tackle on your own or with help from an equally skilled do-it-yourselfer. Or do you need to have a professional come in and do it for you? The manufacturers of home alarm equipment say this is a project that can be completed successfully if you have modest skills. What exactly does modest mean? And is this really worth your time?

Before you decide if you can or want to install a home alarm system on your own, there are things you need to consider.

Stand-Alone or Monitored

A stand alone system means that the alarm capabilities are solely contained within the house and any monitoring of the system is done by you and you alone. There is no company watching for alarms to go off in a monitoring center. It might autodial the fire department, but it has to initiate that call. Some home installed systems may allow you to monitor rooms that have cameras over the internet. You may be able to use your phone to check settings or alarms, but no one else has your back.

A monitored system on the other hand means that you have contracted with another company to monitor alarms at your house. What alarms they monitor depend on what you’ve contracted for. Are they monitoring break-ins only? Or are they watching for carbon monoxide levels and for fire? If you want a company to monitor your alarm system, check with them before you install a home alarm system. There may be specific requirements as to who can install and what equipment needs to be used.

Why Do It Yourself?

Why do we do anything ourselves? Really, would you spend all night putting together a bike for your kid for Christmas if you didn’t save $50 doing it? Home alarm systems can cost from about $100 to thousands of dollars. Labor costs to install a home alarm system can be the same or more than what the equipment costs to purchase. The biggest reason to do it yourself is to save about 50%.

Another reason to install it yourself is that once you’ve done it, you’ll know how it works, what the options are and how to use it. How many features does your cell phone have? How many do you use?

Intrusion Only or Intrusion with Fire Protection

The first option you need to decide on before you purchase a home alarm system is whether your system is focused only on intrusion protection or if you are going to install a combination home alarm that protects against fire.

Having a home alarm can possibly lower your home insurance premium. One website I read said that you had to have a combination alarm to do that. My recommendation is to call your insurance provider and find out what your policy requires. Are there different discounts for different types of alarms? Is the discount affected if you install it yourself? What proof does the insurance company require that you have a working system installed? Check before you buy, not after, and avoid any complications or missed discounts.

Wired or Wireless

Now decide if you want a hardwired or wireless home alarm system. Obviously a wireless system will be easier to install and less invasive on the house, but there are drawbacks. One of those drawbacks is getting false alarms that can be caused by other wireless signal sources. What other wireless sources? The interference could be as simple as a garage door opener or someone’s wireless internet connection.

On the other hand, a hardwired systems means you need to fish wire through floors and walls. This solution is more dependable, but is more labor intense and may not be possible. Especially if you don’t own the home but are renting.

Features

There are other considerations. Do you want a local alarm to sound if someone breaks in? Do you want the alarm and the system to dial the local fire department if the fire alarm goes off? If you want the authorities called, you need to make sure the system has some type of auto-dialer feature or you purchase the additional system for auto-dialing.

Some auto-dialers will call multiple numbers and allow you to program in different messages for different alarm reasons. The numbers will be called in order. Another great feature for the auto-dialer is a listen in function. This allows the receiver of the call to listen to what’s happening in your home after they’ve heard your programmed message.

There are all types of sensors to choose from. Motion sensors, hardwired sensors, glass-break monitors, ultrasound or infrared, there are even sensors that are pet friendly. This way if you have a pet, they won’t be tripping the alarms every time they jump up on the table.

You Can Do It

Last thoughts, do some reading. Make sure you research the equipment and think about your options and your circumstances. Many of you can probably install it yourself.

Posted in Types | Leave a comment

Five Pitfalls When Choosing A Home Alarm System

Posted on January 20, 2010 by admin

You want to protect your home and family so you’re considering a home alarm system, but make sure you don’t make the situation worse.

There are good home alarm products and bad, good monitoring companies and bad. There are situations and concerns to look out for when making your decision on what to use to protect your family and how to do it.

Hidden Charges

Check contracts, read everything. One of the ways you can incur hidden charges is that if the monitoring company actually has their facilities in a place that is a long distance phone call away. So they give you an 800 number to use, just make sure they don’t charge you a premium or per minute charge to use that 800 number.

Check Wireless Signal

Cordless home phones use 900mhz, 2.4mhz and 5.8mhz frequencies in order to work. If you don’t have a cordless phone, your neighbor might. If you are going to use a wireless home alarm, check the frequency and make sure you can try it out. You don’t want a system that sends so many false alarms you quit using it or it becomes a matter of ignoring it because its “cried wolf” so many times.

Hardwired systems are harder to install, but not impossible. And sometimes the equipment is actually cheaper than the wireless components.

All-In-One Is A Mistake

It might sound like a good deal and look sleek and sexy, but all-in-one home alarm equipment is a big mistake. If the control panel, keypad and siren are all in one place, in one device, how easy is it to rip it off the wall and stick it under a cushion? Problem solved. No alarm, no dial out, and no keypad. It is a lot safer to have the keypad at the door or doors, the control panel that dials out if an alarm goes off in another location and the siren in a third. This way if the keypad gets ripped off the wall, the system will still sound the alarm and dial for help.

Own Your Own Equipment

If you get your equipment from an alarm company and don’t like their service, chances are they’ve locked out other companies from being able to utilize the same equipment. Many companies can dial in and “kill” your system within minutes of a cancelation of service. This makes the equipment that you either bought, or met a term commitment for, useless. Don’t buy an alarm company’s equipment or install their “free” system unless you get something in writing that states that other companies aren’t locked out from using it. If you buy equipment or get it free for a specific term contract, you should be allowed to keep and utilize this equipment if you go somewhere else for service at the end of your agreed upon term.

UL Monitoring Services

The equipment has a UL rating, does that mean the monitoring company is UL rated? No. A UL rating means that the monitoring site has been tested and approved by Underwriters Laboratories.UL is a safety certification company. For a monitoring service to get a UL rating they have to meet a number of requirements. Some of those requirements are:

  • Agreeing to an on-site inspection of the monitoring station and the site.
  • Does the site have fire-proof walls and other physical requirements?
  • Battery backup for the power supply?
  • They have to have two employees on site at all times.
  • The monitoring station only monitors alarms and doesn’t handle answering services, etc.

And there are other requirements. A UL label on a piece of equipment means that equipment is approved; you need to see and check out the UL listing on the monitoring station. A very important reason for this is that many insurance companies will only reduce home insurance payments on home alarm companies that utilize UL listed equipment and monitoring. Since you can save up to about 20% a year on insurance, it makes no sense to utilize a company without a listing.

So there are five pitfalls to watch out for as you research home alarm monitoring systems. They aren’t the only things to watch for, but it’s a start. Talk to neighbors, friends and co-workers that have home alarms and services. Ask them about the company they are using and what specifically they like or dislike about it. Google the company’s name and see if there are any complaints. You want to protect your family, home, and contents. This is an important decision that needs just a bit of research so you can sleep easy.

Posted in Basics | Leave a comment