The past few years has seen an in the sale of alarm residential systems across America. Most home security systems involve installing a master control unit in the home. Various sensors placed throughout the house to detect door openings, glass breaking, motion or even smoke, are to this main unit via concealed wires.
When the system is turned on, and a specific sensor is tripped, an alarm (siren or loud tone) sounds. This is to deter any further violation of your home. If your alarm system is connected to a phone line, the master control automatically dials the security company and sends a signal identifying your home and the type of violation to a monitoring station -- not directly to the police.
At that time, the person at the station calls either your home, a pre-designated individual or the police or fire department. If you opt for a monitored system, you need to ask: Where are the calls being responded and by whom? Not all security companies are created equal. Experience has taught me that it is important for calls to go to a local monitoring point. Just because the security company has an office in your area does not mean that your calls are answered locally; they could be answered out of state.
With a local company, you'll most likely get a quicker response and there probably will be a better ratio of monitoring personnel to customers. And in times of peril, every second counts. Other questions to ask: Does the security company provide 24-hour-a-day repair service? What are its emergency procedures? How do you abort a false alarm? Prior to purchasing, make the salesperson give a full demo of how to fully arm and disarm the system . Today, most systems are designed to be user friendly -- but again, not all home alarm systems are created equal.
