Burglar Alarms and Home Security

A burglar alarm system that emits a loud siren at the slightest sign of intrusion may appear to give adequate protection against burglaries and provides peace of mind. The thought that the intruder will flee once the alarm is set off certainly gives the homeowner a sense of security. But there are instances where an alarm being set off creates a situation that may place the safety of the homeowner at risk.

Imagine a scenario where an alarm sounding off panics an intruder who is already inside the house. Instead of fleeing, the disoriented burglar may just decide to dig in and stay put, creating a situation where the owner will be trapped inside the house with a dangerous and possibly armed intruder. This situation is further exacerbated in cases when neighbors ignore, or fail to hear the alarm, or when the homeowner himself has no way of sending out a call for help. Burglar alarm monitoring systems were developed to avoid the many pitfalls brought about by this kind of a scenario.

Once activated by a break-in, a burglar alarm monitoring system typically sounds off a loud siren and automatically sends out a distress call for police assistance using the household telephone line. The distress call is normally received by the call center of the burglar alarm monitoring system provider, which immediately calls the homeowner to confirm that the alarm has not been accidentally set off. Once it has been determined that a break-in did occur and that a robbery is in progress, the call center quickly notifies the nearest police station and gives the location of the house where the intrusion occurred. While these private call centers act as the central reporting unit, there are places where the local police department maintains its own monitoring center where distress calls are directly channeled instead.

Since the burglar alarm monitoring system is an electric device, what happens in case of a power failure, or when the intruder cuts off the telephone line? In cases of a power outage, the alarm system’s internal battery automatically takes over and provides critical power source for the burglar alarm monitoring system. The alarm system’s battery can operate up to several hours until the local power utility is able to restore service. To prevent alarm system failure, the call center monitors battery charge levels and informs the homeowner of drastic changes in battery charge. Regular battery maintenance or the purchase of new batteries, when needed, is to the account of the homeowner.

There are also burglar alarm systems that make use of an internal cellular phone to send out distress calls. This feature is desirable particularly in cases when telephone lines are down due to hurricanes, or when the intruder intentionally cuts the telephone line of the house that he is breaking into. While these are a bit more expensive, burglar alarm monitoring systems that have effectively evolved from product to service, are well worth the price of the property and privacy that they are supposed to protect.

Tags: Burglaries, Home Security, Home Protection, Burglar Alarms, Alarm, Alarms