Protect Your Assets
Give the unwanted visitors of our world some credit. The reason they are still in business is because many home owners do not take security seriously. They have all the expensive toys but do not want to spend the money on security. I personally prefer to rely on my own destiny. The last thing I want is to have someone violate my property, and then let the insurance company mop up the mess. And what happens 4 weeks later when you replace all of the items stolen with new ones. Along they come again because they know how the process works.
Most people think that because they have an alarm system then their property is secure. How many people do not activate them during the day, or rush off to work or school and forget to set the alarm? And in their mind, they think the visual look of the external siren will be enough to keep the unwanted visitor away anyway. Wrong! Some people like to have monitored systems. But by the time the monitoring company has checked out the activation and gone to site the unwanted visitor is well gone.
And remember when a person hears their neighbours alarm go off the first thing that they think of is that it is a false activation. So, they turn the TV up louder to drown out the noise of the external siren going off. Most people are too scared to go and check out the noise, especially if it is at night, so another win for the unwanted visitor.
While we all think of PIR’s as the motion sensors of choice we should not forget about using Reed Switches as well. They are not only a simple, low cost way of protecting key doors and windows, but they can act as a reminder that a door or window is still open when you go to arm your system before you leave home. That is, if a key door or window is still open then this will not allow you to arm the system until they are closed and locked.
Now the good alarm systems out there also have an APP for your smartphone. If you do forget to turn your alarm on, then you can go on line and turn it on remotely. The APP also allows you to set up push notifications. That is, if one of your sensors is activated while the alarm is set, then you will receive a notification on your smartphone via the APP. Now if this happened, and you also had a CCTV system, then you could have a look to see why an activation happened.
While this article is about alarm systems, the reality is that real security around your home is about using three key products together. That is an alarm system, a CCTV system, and sensor lights. The latter two of these products have been covered off in a previous article.
In summary security is something you either do properly, or not at all. All of the items mentioned are a one-off cost with no additional costs associated with their ongoing operation. We are now coming into summer, which to most of us means the holiday season is upon us again. So, protect yourself. And remember with any security alarm products you get what you pay for, so get some good advice from your local Powerbase branch.
P.S. The question gets asked from time to time about the need for electrical contractors to have a security license. If people want to know about these please visit the Ministry of Justice web site for more information – www.justice.govt.nz