Installing an alarm system in your home is a great initial step to providing better security for your family, but there’s another step that should be taken in order to get the most out of that alarm system. It’s the difference between an activated system and a monitored system. An activated system is one that can be armed and disarmed and will sound when an intruder attempts to break-in. This alarm, however, isn’t connected to anything. A monitored system acts in the same manner, but notifies authorities and brings help to your location. There are a number of benefits to having a monitored alarm system installed in your home beyond having police report when your alarm goes off.
Family Safety
The primary goal of an alarm system is to keep your family safe, but an alarm that isn’t being monitored is limited in that capacity. For example, if an intruder breaks into a home without a monitored alarm, they may still be in the home when other residents return. If that alarm system were being monitored, authorities would be on the scene or on their way when residents returned. In many cases, they would have contacted the residents to let them know there was a problem. This keeps family members from walking into a dangerous situation, but this precaution isn’t possible if your alarm system isn’t being monitored.
Insurance Savings
Having an alarm installed generally grants you some discounts on your home insurance. Adding monitoring to your alarm system will increase those discounts in most cases and can even be enough to offset any costs for monitoring. In effect, this allows you to get all the benefits of a monitored alarm system for free.
Deter Criminals
An alarm system on its own is not an active protector of your home. It’s more of a passive tool. But, advertising that your home is protected by a monitored alarm with signage in your yard or on windows has been shown to deter thieves. The main goal in home security is to make your home seem like more work to break into than other properties. Most burglars are looking for something quick and easy. Invading a home with a monitored security system doesn’t fit the bill and convinces most to move on.
Additional Features
When your alarm system is being monitored, it opens the door for additional features to be added to make your home even safer. Smoke detectors can be tied into the system and alert the fire department when your home is in danger. Similarly, other environmental warnings like alarms for flooding from broken pipes or sprinkler systems can be added. This way, any time there’s a problem in your home, help is on the way as soon as possible.
At BSG Security, we offer local monitoring for all of our alarm systems, which provides fast response times for alarms. CALL TODAY 855-MYSMARTHOME to learn more about how we help to keep your home and family safe.
