Home Security The Money-Saving Survival Guide For The Every Day

Homeowner

Keeping False Alarms and Fines At Bay

Keep Your Family Safe We all sleep a little better at night knowing that our security system is armed and ready to catch any intruder that even thinks about stepping foot inside our home. You can’t put a price on the safety of your family, right? In fact, many people go a step beyond the basic security system and get extra devices installed like motion detectors, glass break sensors, and security cameras. And typically all the extras work great -- that is, when we are using them correctly.

Don’t Let This Be You!

John Moore Services Security Department Manager Ken Hrebec was recently servicing a new customer’s home, helping her make the transition from her previous security provider to John Moore Services. After the installation was complete, Hrebec began explaining how her system worked, something she thought she already knew, because a security system is a security system, right? Wrong. It turned out that she had been arming her system incorrectly for the past 5 years. Each time she left her home she thought she was properly activating her motion detectors but it turns out, she wasn’t and they had never turned on.

A Serious Issue “ This is an issue I have come across a lot recently at many different customers’ homes, and it’s really serious. People leave their home and believe they are turning their security system on the correct way and that they are good to go. But their system is not being activated the way it should, and their motion sensors are not turning on. Someone could easily break the glass of a window and come inside the home, and the alarm would never go

off. ” - Ken Hrebec, John Moore Services Security Manager

How They Work Most keypads for the majority of alarm systems have the same buttons: Stay, Away, and Instant.

¡  When most people leave their home or go to bed at night, they press the “away” mode to arm their system as well as their motion detectors.

¡  If someone breaks into the home while they are gone or asleep in bed, the alarm will sound due to the motion detectors and hopefully scare the intruder away.

¡  Security systems are designed to fully activate when we are not inside our home and the only way they can register when we leave is by sensing the entry/exit door being opened and closed.

¡  If you set the alarm and do not open and close your door right after, your alarm system will think you are still inside your house and will NOT turn on your motion detectors.

False Alarms If motion detectors are left on inside your house while you are inside, you could set off the alarm and cause false alarms.

§  False alarms are a serious issue around the United States.

§  Motion detectors act as interior traps for burglars but it’s easy to trap yourself in them instead, and many people do.

§  If you have three false alarms a year you will be fined, and fines range from $50- $150. That adds up!

§  Aside from the fine, false alarms are dangerous for the community. They cause police officers to come out to your home for no reason, which means that they are not on the streets going after the bad guys.

Key Fobs

Others at risk of motion detector ineffectiveness are those of us who use key fobs. A key fob is a hand-held device that is designed to set your alarm by the push of a button.

¡  Sure, it sounds easy enough, but there’s always a catch. If you shut you door and then press the button to set your alarm, your motion detectors will not turn on.

¡  They also have a safety feature for false alarms installed.

¡  The only way to set your alarm AND your motion detectors using your key fob is to press the button to arm your alarm and then open and close your door.

Take The Time To Do It Right!

So there you have it, more rules to follow that you may never have thought about! Just remember:

¡  For motion sensors to activate the “away” button on your key pad or the button on your key fob should be pressed immediately followed by the opening and closing of your door.

¡  Taking the time to remember this step could save the life of someone in your family, keep your home from being burglarized, and keep you from paying annoying fines for false alarms!