Home security systems provide protection and security for the family and home and there are several ways to prevent false alarms being triggered. When the ADT alarm system is triggered it will contact the monitoring center and unless the family calls to say that it was a false alarm the police and other personnel will be sent to the home. This can be embarrassing and if it occurs often the home owner can be financially responsible for these authorities traveling to their residence.
The first thing that should be done is to speak to the installer to learn about the ADT home security system, they will be able to answer questions that can help to ensure there will not be false alarms. The second thing that can be done is to educate the family how to properly use the system, which will make them knowledgeable and comfortable using the alarm system. In order to avoid false alarms when the family is in the home the ADT security system should be armed so that only the exterior of the home is protected and not the interior. This means that the family is able to move freely about the home with no fear of triggering the alarm system, but they are protected from burglars breaking into the house.
There is duel technology that can be used to prevent false alarms, which is a combination of infrared devices and microwave devices. The infrared measures the temperature changes and will detect movement. The microwave devices are sensitive to objects moving in their field of view. Incorporating both can help to prevent false alarms, because both devices must be activated before the alarm is triggered.
Another part of ADT home security technology is the keychain remote, which can help the family to avoid false alarms. This is a remote that is small enough to be carried and it can arm and disarm the ADT alarm, but it can also turn on lights. This makes it easy to go out the door and then arm the system, plus it is easier for younger members of the family to use instead of the keypad on the wall. This can make certain that when no one is home the ADT home security system is armed against break-ins, smoke, fire and high levels of carbon monoxide. It also means there is no rush to the wall keypad to disarm the alarm system before it is triggered when entering the house.
Using these tips can help to avoid false alarms that will result in the police and other authorities arriving at the home when there is actually no emergency. That can be embarrassing and it can also deter families from using the ADT home security system and that can result in being burglarized. Families and houses need the protection of a security system and when everyone in the family understands how it works and how to use it, then there will be few or no false alarms.
There are a lot of good options available to prevent false alarms, the setting it so the outside only is protected when you are home makes a lot of sense, I was wondering if they had that capability because if you are single and you are home alone you still want the house to be secure while you are inside, so that is great to know. I also like the idea of the keychain remote and being able to arm the alarm from outside the house and turn on the lights, that way you can turn them on before you go in the house and hopefully scare off anyone that might have gotten pass the alarm in some way. What happens though if you put the keychain in your pocket and it unarms the system and you don’t even realize it, that would kind of suck. The dual system you talked about sounds like a great way to protect the house but are there ways to get past one or the other, there by not setting of the system? Thanks for the information, I am going to look into this further and do some comparison shopping before making this big of a decision.
Very apt post. We’ve had two false alarms over the years. How embarrassing! At least we know our police and firefighters have very fast response times in case the alarm ever actually went off.
But still, having to waste their time and potentially take them away from some much more important work is a bad feeling and then you have to explain to all your neighbors nothing bad happened, you were just careless with your alarm.
Cheers,
Pat
This article is right in trying to educate home owners on how to prevent false alarms, because a glut of false alarms may result in a real emergency being ignored. This may be kind of a far fetched scenario (or maybe beyond the purview of this article), but the sequence of events that were written in the motion picture, Trespass, is not so far fetched when you consider that it actually happened to a home owner in South Florida this year. It seems to me that this home invasion incident was life imitating art as the perpetrators seem to have been inspired by this movie. The home invasion was made possible because it was an inside job involving a home security guard who set It up so his accomplices could breech the home’s perimeter and then the house before the home owners knew what hit them and before they could call or press a button on the wall to alert other security company guards.
This was very interesting because I was just wondering about what you do if you have latch key kids that come home before you do, unless they are super responsible for kids there are going to be days that they forget to turn it off when they go in the house, so the key chain dis-arming ability is a great idea instead of having them remember a code. I would imagine that there are quite a few false alarms because kids come home and forget to turn it off. Is there a remote devise that you can use from your computer or something that you can turn it off and on from work or maybe your cell phone? That would be convenient for those of us that might forget to arm it when we leave the house and remember when we are ten miles down the road. Thank you for the information I will have to look into getting some of those key chain devices for my family.
For some reason, I had the impression of home security systems as being difficult to install and requiring some internal wall wiring. But from the looks of the unit displayed in the header of this page, it looks relatively simple. I suppose I have been thinking of those over priced systems that come built in during the construction of an expensive house. An ADT home monitoring system seems very affordable and it certainly is more than worth the cost if you live in an open non gated community that is more susceptible to a home invasion.
I think it is terrible that police and fire departments can charge a person now for a false alarm, if you have a false alarm I am sure it was not on purpose. I do like the idea of the key chain to arm and disarm the system because that would be something simple for the whole family to learn to use. And the Idea, as a single woman, of being able to pull up to my house and before I even get out of the car I can turn the lights on in my house is just absolutely great. I am not so sure that it would cut down on the false alarms though because what happens if you hit the button while it is in your pocket and you arm the system while your family is inside and the alarm goes off because it picks up movement in the house? Does the buttons on the keychain lock so you can butt dial it?
These are good pointers for families which have youngsters, but teenagers in particular, since the reality is that there are many occasions when a teenager will try to sneak in or out of the house for any number of reasons. The key chain feature is good for instances like this; That is as long as the parents are ok with relinquishing such control over their teenager. As long as the parents are not strict disciplinarians or compulsive obsessive about maintaining control, the key chain feature will probably save them penalty fees down the line.
Elizabeth is right these are very easy to install, but what concerns me is the radio frequency that contacts the monitoring company, doesn’t this leave you open to false alarms all the time? I have always thought that something like a microwave or a garage door opener could throw off the radio frequency that the alarm system is set at. Is that not true? I do not want to incur a bunch of charges from police and fire departments because my microwave set of the alarm. The more information that you can give us the better off we will be. I will continue to research this subject so that when I finally decide to go get a security system I have my ducks in a row and can make an educated decision.
This was very interesting because I was just wondering about what you do if you have kids that come home from school before you get home from work , unless they are very responsible kids there will be days that they forget to turn it off when they go in the house which will cause a false alarm, so the key chain dis-arming ability is a great idea instead of having them remember a code. I would imagine that there are quite a few false alarms because kids come home and forget to turn it off. Is there a remote devise that you can use from your computer or something that you can turn it off and on from work or maybe your cell phone? Then you could do it from there and they kids wouldn’t have to worry about it at all. Thank you for the information I will have to look into getting that particular alarm so that I can get some of those key chain devices for my family
I can not believe that police and fire departments can charge a person for a false alarm, a false alarm is an accident not something done on purpose just to see if they would come. How many false alarms do you get before they start charging you anyway? I do admit that I like the idea of the key chain to arm and disarm the system because that would be something simple for the whole family to learn to use. And the Idea of being able to turn the alarm on and off from the outside of the house is awesome, that way if someone is in the house already you’ve got them. And the thought of being able to pull up to my house and before I even get out of the car I can turn the lights on in my house is just absolutely great. Would it really cut down on the false alarms though, what happens if you hit the button while it is in your pocket and you arm the system while your family is inside and the alarm goes off because it picks up movement in the house? How do you prevent those accidents?
I don’t know if their is a set number of false alarms for someone to have to start getting finned, I have never known anyone to ever get a fine but i have heard that people do. When someone has an alarm signal that calls the monitoring station it will also send the information on what zone was triggered. So if it was a window or motion detector you would know. If it tuns out to be a false alarm, then you would know their is a problem with that zone and you would need to call the installation company to come and see why it was triggered and fix the problem. Really its that simple, but if you ignore that their is a problem and shrug your shoulders and have a bunch of false alarms im sure you would get a fine sooner or later. You could also get an alarm if you dont have enough time to turn the alarm off when entering your home, in that case the remote would be great and the delay can be set to what evr time you need from the door to the keypad and the time it takes to enter your code. Really their isn’t any reason to have continuous false alarms. I hope this helps.
How much can the police and fire departments charge for false alarms? I think that is terrible because that is an accident and they can charge you for it now, are they going to start charging the people in car accidents too? I do like the idea of the key chain to arm and disarm the system because that would be something simple for the whole family to learn to use can it be locked so you don’t accidently set it off while it is in your pocket or something? And the Idea of being able to pull up to my house and before I even get out of the car I can turn the lights on in my house is just absolutely great because I hate going in to a dark house but I sometimes forget to turn on the lights before I leave. Maybe I should invest in one of those motion detectors that turns them on when you walk in the door. Thank you for sharing your advice with us.