Choosing the Best Security System for Your Home

Home burglaries and invasions aren’t just hypothetical issues — unfortunately, they are an all too prevalent reality. If you’re “lucky,” the criminals will just grab everything they can that they think is of value and then leave. Otherwise, the criminals could catch you at home and decide to bring harm to you and your family.

Getting a home security system with alarm monitoring is essential to protecting your family and your property. Here are a few things you can do to ensure you are getting the best security system for your home:

Take Inventory of All Entrances and Exits

It may not seem like a difficult task to make a list of all your entrances and exits, but it is easy to overlook some if you always go through the same door. For example, you may go through your front door so often that you forget there is an outer door leading into the garage, which provides access to the garage door leading into the house.

All of those doors and all of your windows need to be monitored. Criminals will look for any opportunity into your house, and they know that most people only put alarms on the primary entrances.

You’ll also want to put alarms on small windows, cat doors, and other small openings. These openings may not be big enough for an adult to come through, but they are big enough to reach an arm or a wire through to unlock a nearby door or window.

Determine the Connection

Many home security systems are connected through a traditional phone line. The trouble is that not too many people have a traditional phone line in their homes these days.

When you are evaluating your home security options, make sure you understand how the system connects. Many companies offer the option of connecting through your cell phone, but you may have to pay an extra fee.

Ask about other connection options, as well. The more connection options you have, the more security you will have against a lost power or phone connection. It also means that your home will be protected even if burglars cut cords.

Ensure Video and Live Monitoring

We have alarms on cars, homes, businesses and more. Most of us are so used to hearing alarms going off that we just ignore them when we hear them.

That’s bad news for you if someone breaks into your home.

Adding video and live monitoring will ensure that you have additional protections. Video monitoring can help the police capture someone who breaks into your home, and live monitoring involves someone calling you to check in if your alarm goes off. You can let the person know if it was a false alarm, or ask that the police be sent to your home. If you have live monitoring and the representative can’t reach you, police will automatically be sent to your home.

This additional monitoring means that even if your neighbors don’t respond to the alarm, you can count on the police arriving and on having video evidence to catch the assailants if they get away before the police arrive.

Ask about Additional Features

Technical advancements are being made all the time that can make your home alarm system smarter and better able to protect your family. For example, smart sensors are being introduced that recognize when someone in your family is entering the home vs. a stranger.

Other advancements include voice identification, real-time two-way communication over the alarm speakers, eye or fingerprint identification, and more.

Not all of these features are widely available, and it may be a few years before some of them make it to where you live. However, you should ask any security company you are considering about what additional features are included to make your home security package more effective and your home safer.

Whether you are moving into a new home or you are building an addition on your home, you need to find a good security system that will protect all the entrances of your home. Make sure you consider all these issues to guarantee that you are getting the best system to protect your home.