Owning a Home Security System offers peace of mind in knowing your home is being monitored by a trained professional 24 hours a day.  In the even of an emergency, the local authorities are dispatched to respond to the signals being sent from the panel.  Depending on the department, a police district can receive up to a 92% false alarm rate on calls actually dispatched.  This number is astounding!

To encourage false alarm prevention many departments are fining customers for every occurrence.  Sometimes fines work on a three strikes and you are out policy, others allow one occurrence per year before they begin to charge.  However your department encourages false alarm prevention, the best option is to never have to find out, right?

Here are a few tips that will help you avoid the big pay out when it comes to false alarm charges.

1. Know how to use your Security System.
   • The best way to avoid mistakes is knowing how to use your alarm system thoroughly.  The installing technician should have left you with an owner’s manual or DVD.  You can also find these for free online and you should be able to obtain one by calling your service provider.
   • Call your security provider and ask questions.  Many of these companies have staff available who are trained in answering the questions you may have regarding your system.  No question is unimportant; no question is silly.
2. Test your alarm system frequently.
   • It’s always a good idea to test your Home Alarm System on a frequent basis.  About once a month is the recommended timeframe between tests.
   • REMEMBER to call your monitoring station to place your account on test BEFORE you begin to send signals.  This tip alone would be a major help in the fight against false alarms.
3. If you change your contact info, tell your service provider and Monitoring Station.
   • Security panels are innovative in many ways, But no matter how cool your panel is, it will not report a change in your contact information. Your monitoring station understands that people change their home and cell phones all of the time.  They will be more than happy to receive your call to update your contact information.
   • Remember if they can’t contact you, it’s a possible false alarm.
4. Keep your pets out of the areas covered by Motion Detectors.
   • Many motion detectors have what is called “Pet Immunity”.  This means, for the most part, the motion detector can ignore the movements of animals close to the ground provided they don’t jump on the furniture.
   • If your animal has a habit of climbing on the furniture, it’s always best to keep them out of the areas covered by the Motion detector.
5. Make sure all of your Door and Window Locks are secure when you arm your panel.
   • Whether you are arming your panel for the night or you are taking a night on the town it’s best to leave your home in the most secure setting as possible.  Locking the doors and windows add another layer of perimeter protection very useful in the protection of your home.  If it’s really hard to get in, your intruder will most likely look somewhere else.
   • Another practical application is protecting your home for the night.  Help avoid a false alarm by locking your doors at night.  Many false alarms are caused by people trying to accomplish a simple task like taking the trash out.  If you train yourself to disarm your panel every time you unlock your door, it will become a very good, and useful habit.

By following these simple suggestions you can help keep your local police where they need to be; that is responding to actual emergencies.  Not to mention when it comes time for your own home’s protection, you won’t be known as the customer who cried “ALARM!”

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Bodyguards have helped to protect others from harm for ages. They have been proven to provide great personal and home security to clients throughout the World’s history. Here are a few well known bodyguard organizations that have played an important role in history.

Body Guard Protection

Praetorian Guard: Some of the oldest bodyguards in history, the Praetorian guard served as personal bodyguards to Rome’s Emperors. They eventually became ruthless and corrupt a few centuries after they were created. Emperor Constantine put an end to their role as bodyguards in 300 AD.

United States Secret Service

Schutzstaffel: The SS were members that protected Adolf Hitler during his reign. It started as an 8 man bodyguard team sworn to protect the fuhrer, and at the height of Nazi Germany expanded to nearly 1 million members. This “Shield Squadron” were responsible for almost all the heinous crimes that occurred by Germans during World War II.

National Security Guard (NSG): Known as the bodyguards of India. These guards protect the VIPS from potential harm, but also rescue hostages and handle other threats. They are often referred to as the “Black Cats” because of their black uniforms they wear.

Special Republican Guard (SRG): The SRG were Saddam Husein’s personal bodyguards. These guard members were responsible for crushing any form of rebellion that rose against the President of Saudi Arabia. The bodyguards were hand picked and usually came from clans that were loyal to Hussein’s regime, and were disbanded in May 2003.

Swiss Guard: Created in 1480, the Swiss Guard were used as bodyguards to King Louis XI. They have continued to guard European courts since then. At the present the Swiss Guard are personal body guards to the Pope and other important Vatican officials.

Royalty, Specialist, and Diplomatic Protection Departments: Guards who specialize in protecting diplomats, royalty, and other high ranking officials in the United Kingdom. Each department has specific people that they are designed to protect, including the Prime Ministers and other political families. Royalty protection includes guarding royal buildings for added home protection, as well as guarding the personal members of the Royal family.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Many people pay a lot of money for a professional bodyguard to help add to their family and home security. You cannot replace the feeling that safety and security brings. A bodyguard or security guard is meant to add another level of protection for the person they are protecting.

A bodyguard is usually used to protect high profiled people who are more likely to have threats on their safety or life. The bodyguard is hired to keep their client safe from assassination attempts, assault, kidnapping, stalking, etc. Most people who have to fear from these types of threats are those who are famous, wealthy, or politically connected.

Home Security

Important public figures usually require more than one bodyguards. They can find these individuals from bodyguard agencies, security agencies, or even police forces. Political leaders may also have bodyguards chosen from their Country’s military.

When we think about bodyguards we usually think of the dramatic films we have seen. Most bodyguards will see some form of action during their job, but on the day to day basis most bodyguards aren’t assaulted with anything too exciting. Their normal daily routines consist of planning safety routes, searching rooms before bringing their client inside, doing background checks, and being a personal escort when their client needs to be out and about.

Bodyguards can work alone, but more often than not they work together as a team. Each team member in a team will usually have a specific role in the team to keep their client properly secure.

Bodyguards may or may not be armed, depending on what the State laws are regarding safeguarding measures. If a bodyguard isn’t allowed to carry a lethal weapon, other forms of protection can be used. Some popular choices are pepper spray and a taser.

Bodyguards are trained depending on the agency they come from. A lot of bodyguards are specifically trained, while others receive their training in a more round about fashion. Agency bodyguards are usually trained in firearm tactics, combat, first aid, and their specified field.

Just like outdoor lighting adds an extra level to outdoor home security, a bodyguard is an extra measure of protection for personal and family security. Bodyguards work best when they are added with other security measures. This is why most public officials also are protected with bullet-proof cars and other security measures.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

It is easily understood why a security alarm system for your home is so important. But what what other security measures should be used? What are other things you can do to make your home less appealing to burglars?

Having a yard with a clear view from the street is a great place to start. A home with a clear view is harder to break in to than one that is covered with bushes and trees. Here are some ideas of ways to keep security in mind in regards to the landscape of your home.

Try to keep trees away from your home, especially if you have more than one story. When trees are close to your home thieves can use them as make-shift ladders. If you already have trees near your home, keep it well trimmed so burglars would be able to be spotted if they do try to hide or use the tree.

Be sure that your lawn is mowed regularly. A lawn that is not kept up will be a red flag to others that you may not be home. Keep your home from catching people’s eyes by having your lawn mowed regularly, especially when you are away on business trips or vacation.

Trim all your brushes and shrubs. You shouldn’t let your shrubs grow taller than 2 to 3 feet. Larger bushes may be beautiful to look at, but they also provide hiding spots for thieves.

If you are determined to have bushes consider planting thorny bushes near the entrances of your home. Thorny bushes may be a helpful deterrent against thieves choosing to hide there. No thief wants rose shrubs stuck in their sides.

Keep your home easily viewed by neighbors and those passing by. Don’t close off your home with a line of trees. This may be a beautiful way of gaining privacy, but thieves often take advantages of homes like this because neighbors can’t see them breaking in to your home.

Outdoor lighting is also a great security measure. Motion lighting, in particular, is a good choice for security. It allows you to know the instant something moves near your home, and also saves you money on your electricity bills.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Walk into a call center anywhere and you will notice similarities and differences. Rows of computers, phone conversations, cubicles, and the usual hustle and bustle that comes with the demanding, fast-paced environment. But Platinum Protection, a Utah-based home security company wants you to notice the differences as well.

Platinum Protection employees work in a home security industry that provides alarm systems for residential homes across the United States. Because home burglaries, fires, and medical emergency are time sensitive issues and sensitive issues in general, the customer service team must possess an extra measure of care and support to provide the home protection their customers are looking for.

Customer service, for Platinum Protection, begins with the customer in a very real way. Once a customer purchases a home security system from Platinum Protection, he/she is connected immediately to an organizational system of customer support specialists who verify whether each customer is satisfied with his/her alarm, whether the security system’s components were each installed properly, and whether each customer feels safer from burglaries as well as fire and medical emergencies.

Providing customers with the service they need so they feel like their home security system is providing the protection and safety they want gives customer service employees at Platinum Protection a lot of satisfaction.

Dealing with customers in an industry where emergency response to home invasions combined with medical and fire responses actually involve life and death situations gives the customer service team at Platinum Protection a different approach to the way communicate with their customers. From handling billing issues, to responding to alarm situations, Platinum Protection employees learn very quickly that a lot could be at stake every time the phone rings so they learn to respond appropriately and treat each customer the way they should be treated—with the care their company’s product provides.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites