Security Articles

Home Alarm Monitoring Service Keeps Families Safe

Home alarm monitoring service, a centrally-monitored alarm system will give you peace of mind because you will know that someone is watching over your home at all times and protecting it from a variety of different problems. There are a number of reasons to add home alarm monitoring service to your current security system. In the event that your alarm system sounds, a central monitoring station can immediately contact the appropriate authorities and have them dispatched right away. This added protection will allow you to leave your home for long periods of time without worrying about what may be happening on your property. You will always feel protected and safe with home alarm monitoring service.

Home Alarm Monitoring & Video Surveillance

A monitored alarm system can be made even more powerful with the addition of monitored security cameras. Monitoring your security cameras allows for video verified alarm response. This prevents the central monitoring station from sending authorities to unnecessary or false alarms. Unfortunately, false alarms do happen and excessive false alarms can cause authorities to stop responding entirely. However, if your security cameras are being watched by a 24-hour monitoring station, the station will be able to immediately verify what is taking place in your home.

In the event of an alarm condition, the home alarm monitoring station is able to access recorded and live video from your security cameras. The station can then determine exactly what it going on at your location. This allows them to provide all necessary details to the authorities who can then respond much more quickly and effectively.

Home Alarm Monitoring: How it works

When your home is protected by a monitored alarm system, you are connected to a professional alarm monitoring station 24 hours a day, seven days a week. These remote monitoring stations have the ability to access real time audio (and video, where applicable) communication with the property that they are monitoring. Station operators are able to assist the authorities before and after the arrive by providing them with important details about the situation inside and around the property.

Home alarm monitoring service means that your property is never alone. You are always protected by a real person who has the experience and skill necessary to keep your home safe.

How Fire Alarm Monitoring System Can Save Your Life

Having a fire alarm monitoring system is very important to protect your life. Fires can be incredibly devastating. A fire can quickly go from small and relatively unnoticed to raging and incredibly dangerous very quickly. Fire is unpredictable and fires can break out in almost any location or at any time as long as the conditions are right. The fire may not even start in your home. It could start in a neighbour’s home or in another nearby location. The situation could very quickly escalate and you must act quickly to save your family and to contact the fire department. However, since a fire can break out at any time, this means that you could potentially be asleep or away from home when a fire starts.

Time is precious in a fire. Smaller fires can sometimes be controlled before the damage becomes too severe; however, you must act quickly in those situations. If you do not notice the fire almost immediately, it can quickly spread. If you are asleep when a fire starts, the faster you can wake up, realize what is going on and exit the house, the better.

Thankfully fire alarm monitoring system can save your life.

The Benefits of Having a Fire Alarm Monitoring System

A fire alarm monitoring system save you precious seconds when a fire breaks out. Home fire alarm monitoring system can alert you immediately if there is a fire in your home. However, unlike a traditional fire alarm, the monitored fire alarm will immediately alert a central monitoring station who will also be able to directly contact the fire department and any other authorities right away. This will ensure that they are on their way as quickly as possible. You won’t need to worry about wasting precious time attempting to contact the fire department yourself. Your 24-hour fire alarm monitoring service will handle that for you. This will also reduce the feelings of panic and disorganization that you may experience during a fire. It’s one less thing to worry about.

However, a situation like the one listed above is not the only time where fire alarm monitoring can save you. If you are away from home and a fire breaks out, it could burn for a very long time before someone else notices and contacts the fire department. In that time, serious damage could be done to your home. However, if your home is being watched by a 24-hour home fire alarm monitoring system station, the fire department can be dispatched right away.

Trust Fire Alarm Monitoring

A fire can be both dangerous and deadly. In order to get some peace of mind and to protect yourself, your family and your property, consider installing a fire alarm monitoring system in your home. For more information, please visit our fire alarm monitoring page or contact us directly. SafeTech Alarm Systems has been protecting people and property for more than 20 years. We understand what it takes to keep you safe. Speak with one of our loss prevention experts today!

SafeTech Surveillance Cameras Using for Business

It’s physically impossible for one person to watch absolutely everything that takes place in a business. Even if you have a relatively small business, you can’t be everywhere and you can’t be watching at all times. Unless you have SafeTech surveillance cameras installed that is.

SafeTech surveillance cameras allow you to see areas of your business that it would be impractical to see at all times, regardless of what other tasks you have to perform that day or how many employees you have.

Business Security Cameras Tips

For example, placing a security camera in your company’s stock room will allow you to monitor who enters the room at any time. Even if you do not have a monitored security camera and you are not watching at the time, you can always look back at the footage should something happen. If several supplies go missing from your company on Thursday afternoon, you can always look back at your camera footage from Thursday afternoon and see exactly what happened. You’ll know who entered the room, at what time they entered and what actions were taken inside the room. It would be impossible for you do to this in any practical way without a security camera.

There are many other ways that you can use security cameras to protect and watch your business. Security cameras can be installed outside your building to keep an eye on the exterior of your property 24-hours a day. Not only will this protect your company from being attacked by burglars, but outdoor security cameras also allow you to monitor your company parking lot and building entrances and exits. If you have staff working late or working a night shift, having security cameras in the parking lot can provide a lot of peace of mind for everyone in your business.

SafeTech surveillance cameras act as a crime deterrent. Criminals will avoid attempting anything in an area that is protected by security cameras for fear of being recorded during their crimes. Footage from security cameras provides powerful evidence that can be used to arrest and prosecute criminals.

Security Cameras at Its Finest

These cameras can be used to protect your business in a number of different ways. They can keep an eye on areas that you could not otherwise watch. They can be a 24-hour presence inside or outside your company to deter criminals and catch crimes if they happen. They can provide powerful evidence that would otherwise be impossible. For more information on business security cameras and how they can be used to keep your company safe, please contact us today.

A fire can be terrifying and incredibly deadly. Fires can go from small and unnoticed to large and uncontrollable incredibly quickly. They can destroy a home or business and all of its contents within a very short period of time. A fire can easily harm you and your family… or worse. This is why it is so important to protect yourself, your property and your family from a fire with the best fire protection available. Here are few fire monitoring facts that can greatly help keep you safe.

Fire Monitoring Facts

Here are three important fire monitoring facts that could save your home and perhaps even your life. SafeTech Alarm Systems understands why fire monitoring is so critical.

Fire Monitoring Works 24/7

This seems like an incredibly basic point, but it’s also incredibly important. If a fire breaks out while you are at home, you may be able to spot the fire and do something about it before it causes significant damage. You might be able to hear a smoke alarm or other fire detection device and act immediately if you are nearby. You can call 911 and report the fire quickly, possibly saving your home. All of these factors disappear when you are away from home. Even if your smoke alarm goes off, if it’s not being monitored, your home could burn for a very long time before anyone notices and calls the fire department. A fire monitoring service will watch over your house no matter where you are and contact the appropriate authorities immediately. This will greatly reduce the amount of damage that a fire can do.

Fire Monitoring Saves You Money

You may think that a fire monitoring service will be too expensive for you. However, insurance companies understand the incredible value that fire monitoring services add to a property and they will give you a discount on your insurance. You will save money and keep your home secure. In addition, knowing some fire monitoring facts will lead to much less damage should a fire actually occur. This saves you money as well and keeps your property safe. Firing monitoring services more than pay for themselves.

Fire Monitoring Is Efficient & Fast

When your home is protected and watched over by a central monitoring station, you are protecting your property in the best way possible. Only 24-hour fire monitoring can immediately detect a trouble condition and contact the authorities right away. A central monitoring station can quickly send the fire department to your home, at any time of day. Monitoring services, when combined with the right technology, will detect and report a fire much faster than any other method of fire protection. A good photoelectric smoke detector will even detect smoke particles caused by a slow smoldering fire right away. This means the authorities can be contacted even sooner. A monitored smoke detector at your home or office ensures that the fire department will be contacted right away if you have a fire emergency. There’s no need to wait around while your property burns. Even if you are at home when a fire starts, you won’t have to spend time worrying about contacting 911. This will be taken care of for you.

The Importance of Fire Monitoring

Your home or office will be much safer and much more secure with a fire monitoring service than without. You won’t have to worry about a fire burning undetected while no one is aware. Proper fire protection saves lives. For more information on fire protection please visit our residential fire protection page or our commercial fire protection page.

Smartphone Monitoring Tools: Home Security & Smartphones

Smartphone monitoring – monitoring your home security system with your smart phone! In today’s hectic world it’s easy to feel stressed out by all of tasks you have to take on each day. It’s also quite common to worry about what is going on at your home while you are out. When you combine a hectic life with security concerns, you can start to feel helpless. It’s hard to leave your home and your family for long periods of time without knowing what is happening in your house while you’re away. The same is true when you’re on vacation. It’s difficult to relax when you’re worried about home security.

What’s the solution? Your smartphone is likely the one device that you take with you everywhere. While you likely leave your laptop, tablet or other Internet-enabled device at home or at the office from time-to-time, you likely have your smart phone nearby 24/7. This means you can always check in on your home by your smartphone monitoring, no matter where you are. By using smartphone monitoring tools, it gives you the peace of mind that everything is safe.

Smartphone Monitoring by Smart Phone

There are a number of different ways to keep your home safe by smartphone monitoring tools. You can monitor your home alarm system with a smartphone monitoring to keep tabs on your house. If you have video surveillance cameras installed in your home and they are Internet-enabled, you can monitor your security cameras from anywhere using your smart phone. You’ll know exactly what is taking place inside your home at any point in time. Your smartphone monitoring tools will allow you to watch everything that is unfolding at home in real time, from wherever you are in the world. This will give you a great sense of security and peace of mind.

However, this isn’t the only way that your smart phone and your home security cameras can give you peace of mind. using the smartphone monitoring, you’ll be able to know exactly when your loved ones get home safely each night, even if you’re not around to greet them. By using your smartphone monitoring, you can see if your contractor or housekeeper is working the right hours, to check on your pets or elderly relatives or for a variety of other reasons.

Smartphone Monitoring Plays An Important Role

SafeTech Alarm Systems understands that technology plays an important role in life. We also recognize that everyone is busy and is looking for the ways to make home security more convenient, easy and reliable. This is why we have embraced the latest home security technology – smartphone monitoring, and why we offer this technology to our clients. We know that your peace of mind, your safety and your security are incredibly important to you and therefore, they’re also important to us.

Contact us today to discuss home security solutions that suit your particular situation and lifestyle.

When you live in a condominium, you may not pay the same attention to security as you would if you were living in a house. This is especially true if you are in a high-rise condominium.

However, condo security is important. The fact that you may have a security desk or an entry phone system – combined with the fact that your unit may be located on a high floor – might be enough to make you feel as though you don’t need to be concerned with security at all. Unfortunately, that’s not true.

You can still be a victim of crime when you live in a condominium. The threats are different than in a standard house and so the precautions that you take will also need to be different. Here are a few tips for condo security.

What to Look for in Condo Security

One of the best things you can do is to investigate the condo security features that are in place before you move in. You do not want to move into a condo – either new or resale – that has weak security. Some buildings feel that security is less important in a condo than in a house, but this is certainly not true. If you already live in a condominium, you may wish to speak with your building’s superintendent, property management office or security team. Knowing which security features your building has and finding out exactly how your condo keeps you safe is incredibly important.

The main entry point to a condominium is obviously the front door. However, your building could also have alternate entry points such as side and rear doors or garage doors. All of these doors should be secured, not just the front door. It should be impossible to get into your building without being noticed. If your building has a security guard or concierge at the front door, find out how he or she monitors the building’s other entrances as well. Many buildings have surveillance cameras that are monitored by building security. This is necessary to keep you safe in a condominium and a big part of condo security.

Many condominiums use high security keys or fobs to enter the building. These are definitely important for condo security and safety as they are difficult to copy. Criminals will have a hard time gaining access to a key fob and even if a criminal steals or finds your key fob, you can report it to your building and have the fob deactivated immediately. A standard key does not offer  the same type of security.

Protecting Residents: A Key to Condo Security

You will also want to look into the kind of condo security technology that your building uses on its doors. Investigate the security on the door to your suite and on all other doors in the building. Pay special attention storage room doors and exterior doors. Doors should lock with a strong deadbolt and suite doors can have doorknob covers installed to prevent smashing and tampering. You may also want to find a condominium that has a “full-length astragal” installed on exterior doors. This is a security plate that makes it more difficult for burglars to pry open your door and is a key condo security tool.

Lighting is also very important, both inside the building and around the exterior of the building. Criminals like to work in the dark where they can avoid being seen and where they can use the element of surprise to attack. A well-lit building will keep you safe. Think of this when you are analyzing the condo security at condominium building.

Unfortunately, burglaries and break-ins happen quite regularly in homes across North America. In 2010, a burglary took place every 15 seconds in the United States. The best way to prevent burglaries and to protect yourself is to understand where and when they take place and to secure your home with the appropriate security technology. Understanding burglary statistics is key.

Renter’s Insurance recently published burglary statistics on break ins in the United States. The information can help you understand how burglar’s think so that you are able to better protect your home, your valuables and your family.

In Depth Info on Burglary Statistics

Burglaries of residential properties accounted for 73.9% of all burglary offenses in 2010. Contrary to what some may believe, the majority of residential burglaries take place during the day, not at night. Most burglaries take place between 10am and 3pm, since most people are away from their homes during these times. Break ins take place most often during the summer months (July and August) while February has the fewest number of break ins. Weather is certainly a factor in these cases and the fact that many people take long vacations during the summer makes their homes tempting targets for burglars.

Single-family homes in the middle of a block are more common targets for burglars than homes on corner lots. This is likely because a house on the corner is more easily spotted than a house in the middle of a block. Burglars do not want to be caught committing crimes and thus they target homes where they are less likely to be noticed.

How do burglars get into your home?

According to burglar statistics, in most cases, criminals enter your home in the same way that you do, through the front door. This was the entry point of choice in 34% of burglaries. A first floor window was chosen in 23% of cases and the back door was used in 22%. Garages are used to enter a home 9% of the time.

From looking at burglary statistics, we see that most criminals head to the master bedroom first when breaking into a home. This is usually where jewelry, safes, cash and other valuables are held. The most common places for burglars to look for items in your bedroom are in dresser drawers, desks and in closets. Home offices are also a major target for burglars, as these rooms usually include electronics and other valuable items.

Money, jewelry and electronics are by far the most frequently stolen items in home burglaries.

You can protect yourself from a burglary with strong home security tools. For more information on burglary statistics or to speak with one of our loss prevention professionals about protecting your home and your valuables, please contact us today. We have been protecting people and property for more than 20 years and understand how to use burglary statistics to protect a property.

Ways to Increase Crime Prevention

There are a number of ways to prevent criminals from breaking into your home or business. Alarm systems, security cameras, window bars and gates and other security technology are vital to keeping your property safe from criminals. However, it has also been proven that proper design can improve crime prevention efforts by reducing crime and the fear of crime in a neighbourhood or property.

A combination of security technology and natural surveillance, access control and other techniques can make an area safer and drastically reduce crime. Crime prevention through environmental design is a multi-disciplinary approach to deterring criminal behaviour through design techniques.

The ideas of crime prevention through environmental design have been practised and refined for quite some time. Today these tactics are used in both residential and commercial environments to limit the opportunity for crime and to also reduce the fear of crime in a given area. Urban planners and those designing neighbourhoods and commercial areas such as office parks or shopping centres often take safety and security into account when creating a design.

Crime Prevention Tactics

There are several ways that you can use these tactics to protect your home or office. For example, a key aspect of crime prevention through environmental design is the idea of “natural surveillance”. This means creating an environment that maximizes visibility and increases the ability to spot suspicious people or activities. This technique can be used in your home quite effectively. For example, you should ensure that your home’s main entrance is clearly visible from the street and that there are no bushes or shrubs located nearby where criminals could hide. Installing motion-activated security lighting over all entrances will increase visibility at night and make it more difficult for criminals to act without being caught.

“Natural Access Control” is another crime prevention method that can be used to protect your home. Having a clearly defined point of entry will force criminals to attempt to enter your home through an entrance that is easily visible. Use waist-level, picket-type fencing and low, thorny bushes to steer criminals towards this main entrance while also giving them no hiding places. A criminal is much less likely to break in through a front door when he or she will easily be spotted. This is just one example of a crime prevention technique.

Property maintenance is also a key to preventing crime through environmental design. For example, a broken window could encourage a criminal to attempt to break into a property, or at the very least, cause the criminal to scout out this property for additional weaknesses.  If broken windows, damaged bushes and clutter are quickly cleaned up or fixed, criminals understand that the property is under frequent watch. They will be less likely to strike for fear of being caught.

Visible security cameras can also be used to deter criminals. Anything that you can do that will cause a criminal to feel that he or she is likely to be caught committing a crime is a smart move. Criminals like to strike in dark, hidden areas whenever possible. Removing these areas from your home will keep you safer and reduce break-ins. This is what good crime prevention is all about.