Best Security Products blog

After a Kansas City mother left for work, an intruder attempted to break into her house where her two daughters, ages 12 and 14 were home alone.¹

The full story is reported here.

According to the report, the burglar began by beating on the doors and then attempted to enter through a bedroom window. The mother told the terrified girls to call the police, but their screams scared the intruder off before the police arrived.

This frightening situation could happen to anyone. What can you do to protect yourself? One of the smartest ways is to install a home security system. If a burglar suspects there is an alarm system installed in a home, he is much less likely to attempt a break in in the first place. You can let a burglar know you have an alarm system by placing yard signs in both the front and back yards.

If an alarm system in installed in the home, a siren could have been triggered that would have alerted not only the neighbors that a burglary was taking place, but it would have also been a strong warning to the burglar himself.

Further, the monitoring company would have gotten the alert and could have contacted the police.

Setting up outdoor security cameras is another deterrent. Burglars do not like the idea of being on camera and may leave if they think they are being recorded. Just make sure the cameras are in plain sight.

Finally, have a plan. No matter how well you think you have protected yourself against intruders, it can happen to anyone. If you do not have a plan, it will be hard to decide what to do in a moment of panic. Talk through with your family what would be the best course of action in such a situation and practice the drills frequently.

^{1 http://fox4kc.com/2016/06/23/family-on-edge-after-intruder-attempts-burglary-in-south-kansas-city-while-girls-were-home-alone/}

There are few better investments you can make into the safety of your family than in a robust home security system. And just like every family is different, so are there different security solutions for you to choose from. There are no one-size-fits-all solutions. Honeywell makes it possible for you to have a customized security system that is just right for your family’s unique needs.

Here are a few considerations for you as you think through what would make the best system for your family:

1. Outdoor Protection. Security really does start outside. If you can detect the presence of a would-be intruder before he makes his way into your house, you have a better chance of escaping the actual intrusion.

One way to detect his presence is with an outdoor motion detector. With Honeywell’s Total Connect Services, you can receive a notification when someone enters an area you have protected with a motion detector. You can receive this notification via email, text message or even receive a video clip of the activity.

2. Perimeter Protection. Another way to protect your family and home is with Honeywell’s FlexGuard glass break detectors. These detectors are specially designed to recognize the sound that breaking glass makes. But they are also equipped to avoid false alarms as well. These special sensors can send an alarm when the glass breaks, giving you an extra layer of protection in your home.

3. Indoor Protection. Protecting the interior of your house is important too, and Honeywell’s interior motion sensors will do just that. These sensors can protect you from those who would break into your home. But their protection does not stop there. They can also let you know if the temperature in your house changes in the extreme – for example if a burner malfunctions – giving you peace of mind as well as protection.

We would love to schedule a consultation with you, to help you determine what is best for your home security needs. Give us a call at 1-800–988–2378 or send us an email at sales@bestsecurityproducts.com

Welcome to our three part series on how to cut through the B.S. about home security companies & choices!

In part one, we’ll be discussing choosing a company, equipment and services.

In part two, we discuss the differences between hard wired and wireless system, whether you should have your system monitored or not and what you need to know about system connections. Click here to read part 2.

Part three of this series focuses on what areas of your house you want protection for, whether you should install the system yourself or have it professionally installed and we’ll discuss cable companies and phone companies.

Part three will wrap up with a discussion on how one chooses between the many options. Click here to read part 3.

So, let’s get started!

There are many choices regarding home security options:

1) The company (National, Large or local)
2) The equipment
3) Services ( standard alarm monitoring, home automation features)
4) Hard wired vs. wireless
5) Monitored or non monitored
6) Phone line connection or cellular or radio connection (system connections)
7) What coverage to consider, all the doors and windows or some partial system? 
8) Self installed or professionally installed? 
9) Cable Companies, Phone Companies

So how does one choose the options and company?

Well it depends who you ask, but usually it depends on the agenda of the company you ask. They will all have one and they obviously will tell you a story that will benefit their product and/or service. This makes sense since they want you to go with their product or service. 

But what is the real story?

Some Answers:

1) The Company: The national companies will tell you of their vast resources and strength and how the smaller “local companies may go out to business.

There are not too many advantages to go with the large companies. If you want to have to work to get service done or even talk to someone, then the larger companies may be for you. If you want to be treated as just another number and not shown any respect, then go with the big national companies. They always talk about how big they are but will rarely boast of their ongoing service records.

And what’s the advantage of going with some large company? Think of your bank, or cable company or cell phone provider; is that a pleasant experience when you need to get something done? Probably not! Most of the larger security companies have dealers that sell their accounts to these larger companies. Once they get paid, they are not “invested” in the account and their willingness to keep you happy is not that great. Then you will have to work with these larger operations to get service, and in most instances it is a hassle.

Do your homework and check the BBB in your area and try to go with a local company that has been in business at least 10 years. As long as these companies DO NOT sell their contracts off (some will, so ask!) to someone else then these companies are “invested” in your continued happiness and depend on you because you are their greatest asset.

2) Equipment: There are only 3 major manufactures’ of security equipment which is: Honeywell, DSC, GE, and there are a few peripheral players such as Napco, DMP, Visonic, and few others. One of the top 3 should suffice, and no matter where you buy the product from, make sure you know the warranty and what and where the support will be coming from.

3) Services: This is where you need to ask yourself, “What are my real needs? Not what someone else is getting, but what will work for me and my family?” If it’s just standard monitoring or something you can control with your smart phone, decide if the features will be used on a consistent basis. Sometimes something sounds like it’s “cool,” but after a few months it’s never used again. Remember you can always add these features later if you can’t do without them.

Continued in part two. To read part two, click here.

Give us a call for a consultation; we can design a custom system to meet your unique needs and budget.

We are looking forward to talking with you! 1-800–988–2378 or sales@bestsecurityproducts.com