DESIGN IS IMPORTANT
Home security is personal, only you know what is to be accomplished when designing a system. I am not saying you should not seek out advice from friends and family members familiar with and have their own system, what I am saying is the design is personal to you.
When considering a home security system you should sit down and outline what is to be accomplished with the system, what are your expectations, and what the outcome will be. A home security system is not used to catch a burglar and it will not, it is a deterrent. All systems sound some audible alarm with the intent of scaring off the burglar.
When designing a system you should be aware of the types of coverage available. There is perimeter and interior coverage. Perimeter coverage takes into account every opening in the home(windows and doors), interior is a trap if the design does not have full perimeter. The interior trap is accomplished using a motion detector.
When designing a system it is better to have each device on a zone by itself, think of a zone as a location. Door contacts, window contacts, smoke detector, motion detector and possible glass break sensors should have an individual zone for each. Having separate zones is easier to identify exactly where the incident occurred in the home.
Example: 2 story home, 4 bedrooms, 4 doors, 15 windows
In this example if you do the math you see there are 19 zones needed. The Panel out of the box includes 8 hard wired zones, 11 additional hard wired or wireless zones are needed. You can purchase a zone expander or group several locations on a zone. If they are grouped(up stairs windows on 1 zone) and an alarm signal occurs in that area of the home you will not know specifically which bedroom window had the incident.
This is crucial when designing your system, make sure you have an understanding of this and you make your sales Rep aware. If you want separate and specific zone identification make sure you stress the importance of this to your Rep, he/she may try to talk you out of this because it drives up the cost of the system, be firm and negotiate.
Keep in mind this is your system, your intent, your personal protection. This is important, what you design is what is seen on the screen by the agent at the Central Monitoring Station, this is the information they will have to relay to authorities.
Imagine yourself in a Central Monitoring Station reacting to an alarm event by watching a screen, what you see as far as zones and devices is what and how the system was set up and reporting.
MONITORING IS CRUCIAL
Why use a monitored home security system?
There are two types of alarm systems, monitored and non monitored. A non monitored system will sound an alarm but it does not communicate this alarm to a Central Monitoring Station.
A monitored system is exactly what it says, the system sounds an alarm and also communicates a signal to the Central Monitoring Station for authorities to be notified, non monitored is for you or a neighbor to notify authorities. Both types are good deterrents in a burglary situation although, a monitored system is the best solution.
Every monitored alarm system needs some type of communication in the home connected to the system to allow for signals to be transmitted to the Central Monitoring Station. In today's world most homes do not have hard land lines, this is why companies allow and offer alternative cellular devices in place of hard land lines.
Cellular communicators are used to send signals via the system and a cell tower, some people consider this to be a wireless system, it is actually wireless communication. An alarm system can consist of hard wired components as well as wireless components or a combination of the two, this is also considered wireless.
There are several advantages that come to mind with cellular communication, it eliminates the threat of having the hard land line cut to disable the transmitting of signals, it prevents the system from taking a lightning hit if lightning should strike and come through the phone line, also cell towers rarely go down.
Common mistakes made with a monitored system.
Cellular communicators are used to send signals via the system and a cell tower, some people consider this to be a wireless system, it is actually wireless communication. An alarm system can consist of hard wired components as well as wireless components or a combination of the two, this is also considered wireless.
There are several advantages that come to mind with cellular communication, it eliminates the threat of having the hard land line cut to disable the transmitting of signals, it prevents the system from taking a lightning hit if lightning should strike and come through the phone line, also cell towers rarely go down.
Common mistakes made with a monitored system.
- Changing the communication provided without checking with the Central Station.
- Failing to do system tests on a regular basis, system should be tested monthly.
