Throughout the years after home security systems were introduced into the residential market many changes have taken place which pertain to what the systems actually look like, however the actual systems have really never changed, just the cosmetics have changed. In other words, home security systems have remained throughout the years to simply provide security against intruders and that has never really changed. Whether its control panels, keypads, motion sensors or door and window contacts, nothing has really changed except for the way the products look. Keypads look fancier and more modern but they have always basically done the same thing , nothing has changed, that is up to now! With ADT,s new Pulse service, home security systems are now not just something you turn on to keep intruders out, no, now it is something that makes your life much easier and becomes part of your lifestyle rather than just a security system.

Imagine that your child comes home from school everyday between 3pm and 3;30pm and you get an email sent to you when your child arrives at home just to let you know he just got there safely. Or even better imagine that your home security system alerts you via email if it senses that your child has not come home during the hours he or she is expected to come home. Now imagine that you left to work for the day and you cant remember if you turned the alarm on or not, well by simply logging into ADT Pulses website you can access your system via the web and have total control just as if you were home.Whether you are five minutes from home or half way across the world you can now access your home security system at just a click of a mouse.

And to make your home security system even more accessible to meet your particular lifestyle, ADT Pulse is now available through an App for use on any smart phone. So whether you have an i-phone or a Blackberry or an android phone you will be able to access your system at any time. This is especially convenient in cases where someone needs to access your home when you cant be there. In the past you would have to give them your personal access code so that they could simply shut off the alarm and hope that they would remember to turn it back on again. With ADT Pulse now you have complete control of your home security system. You can simply log in and turn it on at any time you so desire.

As technology becomes more and more advanced ADT goes right along with it and with ADT,s new ADT Pulse service home security is now not just a burglar alarm system but a home lifestyle system, From controlling when anyone comes in our out of the house to knowing if anyone is in your yard at any time, how about even knowing whenever anyone opens a gun or liquor cabinet in your home when you are not there.

If ADT Pulse is something you want to know more about simply call us (305) 424-9219 and we would be happy to send someone out and tell you more about this exciting service.

When I started as an apprentice installer in the home burglar alarm industry more than twenty five years ago the systems that I learned to install were made with an extremely simple arrangement of lights and relays, yet were very difficult to install and service. Installations were done by running one or at the most two pairs of wires throughout the house and along the attic and wherever a window or door was present, a loop would be brought down to install a door or window sensor. This procedure was all that was necessary at the time because the only control panels that existed were single zone panels. The work was very tedious and most installations would take two men approximately one week to complete. The enormous amount of time to install the job was due to the fact that the only way at that time that anyone would protect any glass door or window was using what was referred to as window foil. Window foil was an aluminum tape that had to be attached to each and every piece of glass and a perfect square would be made with the tape around the glass to be used as the actual protection for the glass. The tape would serve as a piece of wire which would complete the circuit back to the zone. If anyone would break the glass from outside the home while the burglar alarm system was armed the tape on the glass would in turn break and cause the circuit or zone to open and that in turn would activate a relay which would trigger a siren to sound for an indefinite amount of time. The problem with installing this foil is that if it was a rainy or cold day outside the tape would not adhere to the glass. Also, the tape would very easily break if you were not careful and if that happened it would be necessary for you to start all over again. All of this was the cause of excessively long installation duration as well as difficult service issues.

For the past ten years or so we have seen the disappearing of this method of protecting homes and gone to smarter and installer friendly systems. The use of foil on windows is non existent and has been replaced with audio frequency discriminators. These sensors are audio sensors that pick up the sound and vibration that breaking glass makes and only one per room is necessary. Systems now have multiple zones and make it much easier to perform a service call in case of  a faulty zone. Wireless sensors have practically made it unnecessary to have to run wiring to doors and windows for protection, Motion sensors are made today with the ability to be used in your home even if you have pets that weigh as much as 100 pounds. Control panels are made with the ability to be integrated with lighting control or video. Keypads which control the operation of your burglar alarm system are now even available in color touchscreen models.

Wherever you fall into this category it would be wise to have your system upgraded at least every ten years. A system that is more than ten years old is a problem waiting to happen and should be upgraded to a more recent model.

According to FBI statistics and research gathered by the FBI we can now have a better idea of what area in our home is more likely to be an entry point for an intruder.

The following statistics / percentages show the areas of entry

34% front door  23% first floor window  22% back door   9% garage   4% basement 4% unlocked entrance 2% second floor 2% storage area.

Educating ourselves on statistics relating to certain aspects of the behavior patterns relating to burglars and break in attempts helps us to have an advantage in determining if we are or aren’t a possible target for a break-in.

The following is a list of facts about burglars/ burglaries

Most homes are not robbed by professional thieves. Most robberies are committed by male teenage burglars.

The average burglar lives only a mile or two from the homes which he chooses to burglarize.

In the U.S. a burglary occurs once every 14.6 seconds.

Most burglaries occur during the day when home owners are at work.

The average burglar does not spend more than 8 to 12 minutes in any home during a burglary.

34% of the time intruders walk right in through the front door. The next most popular points of entry include/ first floor windows, back doors, garage

More than 65% of burglaries occur in residential neighborhoods.

Not having an ADT monitored home security system triples your chances of being a burglary victim.

The first place an intruder will go to after entering a home is the master bedroom.

Ladders and tools should not be left outside the house, a burglar can use these to break in.

Burglars will almost always prefer to attempt a break in when a residence is unoccupied. Take care to make sure that your home looks lived in, even if it means installing timers which turn on light as well as possibly a television set or radio at regular intervals. Make sure newspapers are picked up by a neighbor and always try and leave a car in the driveway if possible. Install motion sensor flood lights on the exterior of your home to deter anyone from approaching the residence. Never ever leave jewelry or cash at home where it is easily accessible.

Do everything you can to make it more appealing for a burglar to pass your house by without even attempting to break in.

Even though it seems as though prices in those days were excessively high, it was primarily due to the high cost of the equipment as well as the labor time involved in protecting a home. The average installation in those days took two men several days to complete. Glass break sensors did not exist thirty years ago so the normal way to protect window panes or glass on sliding doors was using an aluminum strip of tape which was referred to as “foil”. Also, wireless systems for the most part did not exist, and the ones that may have existed were not very good. So in order to wire a two or three story house, or a house which did not have an attic, you would have to glue wires around the entire house at each level placed directly over the baseboards. The old saying “you’ve come a long way baby” truly fits the burglar alarm industry because with today’s modern advances in technology equipment cost is at an all time low and labor times are a fraction of what they used to be. However, one thing still does remain true about the industry as a whole in those long gone days, the protection chosen for a home was not left up to the homeowner to decide, no in those days the alarm contractor was considered an expert in the field of security and nothing less than total protection of your home was even suggested. Homes security systems would be designed in a way where if any door or window were opened, or if any piece of glass anywhere in the home were shattered by an intruder an instant sounding alarm would activate inside as well as outside the home creating as much attention as possible. Motion sensors were installed as a back up device, in case a crafty intruder found a way to enter the premise without being detected. Protecting a home was either done completely or not at all.

Today however, we see a very different picture than we used to. Most security providers today have one objective in mind, and that objective is to gain a monitoring contract even if it means providing a sub-standard security system. Homeowners are persuaded to install a basic system with only 2 or three door sensors and 1 motion sensor which leaves all of their windows in the house unprotected, making it easy for a burglar to enter through any window and exit through the same window completely undetected. Salespersons in today’s market are reluctant to explain the need for such devices as glass break sensors, back-up cellular radio, exterior sirens and window contacts for fear of losing the opportunity to gain a new monitoring contract. This creates a great false sense of security for uninformed customers.

So do you have a false sense of security? Take the appropriate steps to make sure that you and your loved ones can confidently rely on your security system if an intrusion occurs. Ask your security provider to go step by step around the house showing you what devices have been or will be installed to assure you have full perimeter and interior protection. Make sure if the system goes off that the siren loudness is adequate inside and out. Also, ask if a cellular back-up radio is installed to ensure communication to the central monitoring station in the event of a cut or down phone line. Prevention is the key; don’t wait to be a victim to find out if all along you had a false sense of security.