Friends often ask us about security options for their homes.
– “What about cameras? I’d like to be able to see who walks up to my front porch.”
– “Or what about your patented audio detectors? You say they’re way better than motion detectors.”
The truth is, yes, our camera solutions offer some of the best theft security in the business. And of course we’d encourage you to look into those options for that purpose.
First, though, before we get into any of these other options, the #1 priority for security should be your fire system. If you don’t already have an adequate fire security system – namely, monitored fire security – you’re starting in the wrong place with cameras and audio detectors and virtually any other security measure you investigate.
Here’s why.
What happens when you’re not home?
In a burglary, an intruder will take assets that are easy to remove from the premise and sell. According to a report by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the items most likely to be taken fall in this order:
1. Jewelry
2. Cash
3. TVs, stereo equipment
4. Office supplies including computers, printers, etc.
In a fire, everything burns up if no one calls the fire department. Traditionally, most fires start in the kitchen, but if you’re away from home when a fire starts, it can easily spread to any point in the house. A fire doesn’t discriminate based on what’s easy to carry or readily accessible.
Which could take more, a thief or a fire?
The simple answer is that a fire takes more. Even if a thief stays in your place for hours while you’re away, they still couldn’t take everything, and the place would still be standing. That’s not necessarily the case with a fire.
So what to do?
Right now, you probably have smoke detectors in your home (You do, right?). When they detect enough smoke inside, what do they do? They beep.
If you’re home, that will alert you to get outside before the fire gets worse.
What about when you’re not home?
If you’re like me, you go to work. Your children go to school. You all go out on the weekends. You enjoy a vacation or two each year. What happens in a fire when you’re not home?
Your smoke detectors beep. They beep until they burn up. Your entire home could burn to the ground before you even knew about it.
The solution we provide and encourage you to use is monitored fire security.
How monitored fire security works
Monitored fire security means that when those smoke detectors go off, they call our Central Station. Our Central Station then calls the appropriate fire department. The fire department rushes to your home. And all of this can happen while you’re away without any further help from you.
Our Central Station will call you. They’ll let you know that the fire department is on its way. But you won’t have to worry that everything you own could go up in smoke without anyone calling the fire department.
A home burglary probably won’t ruin you financially. The average loss is around a couple thousand dollars. A home fire has a much greater chance of taking everything. Even the average house fire results in damages costing over $18,000. That number doesn’t even calculate the loss of personal items that don’t have much monetary value but can’t be replaced.
A burglar won’t take your family photo…a fire will.
The short of it is that if you’re trying to secure your home, the first place to start is with an adequate fire system, a monitored fire security system. You need a fire system that will call the fire department for you when there’s a fire, not just beep.
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