The Evolution of Security Alarm Systems

Security alarm systems today are far more capable, functional and useful than they were 20 years ago. In the past 5 or so years they’ve evolved more rapidly than ever before. Let’s take a look at some of the awesome new features available with modern security systems and what you should expect from a system that will be protecting your property in 2014.

Interactive Remote Control

There’s an app for that. Modern security systems have an app that let’s you control them and receive notifications from them on your smart phone or tablet from anywhere in the world.

A security alarm is only protecting your property from break-ins when it’s armed. With remote control you can arm your system from your phone after you’ve already left and forgot to arm it on your way out. suretyCAM’s Alarm.com systems will even detect when everyone has left home and the system isn’t armed, notify you, and let you arm your system remotely. They will notify you when it’s after hours at your business and the last employee out forgot to arm the alarm. You can check in any time you want and verify that the system is armed and all is well.

When you have security systems in multiple locations, a modern security management system will allow you to link all of your systems together into a single login so you don’t have to keep logging in and out to switch from one system to the next.

Awareness & Activity Monitoring

It’s not just about detecting break-ins anymore. Traditional security systems only provided value to you when they were armed. Modern security systems keep you informed about what’s going on at your home or business at all times, even when they’re not armed.

suretyCAM’s Alarm.com systems detect when you’ve accidentally left your garage door up, send you a notification, and allow you to remotely close the garage door with your smart phone or web browser. They’ll detect when your kids, the babysitter, or anyone else are getting into a room or cabinet they’re not supposed to and send you an instant notification. They’ll record data tracking when you’re home and active around the house and intelligently program your thermostats to keep your home comfortable while saving energy. They’ll even notice when your kids didn’t come home from school when they were supposed to and notify you so you can find out what’s going on.

The possibilities for awareness & activity monitoring are endless so use your imagination. If you can put a sensor on or near it then you can keep tabs on it and be notified when it opens, when it was left open, when it moves, gets too hot, gets too cold, makes noise, etc… You can receive a smart phone push notification, a text message, an email, or just record the event in your event history where you can look for it later at your own convenience. Awareness & activity monitoring is used to monitor kids, guests, employees, the environment, the elderly and disabled, and more.

Affordable Home Automation

Smart home automation, the connected home, the Internet of things, call it what you will. Modern security systems have evolved into whole home control systems. Yes, they do security better than they ever have before, but they also serve as the brain or control center for all your connected smart home devices.

From thermostats to door locks to garage doors to lights to appliances to energy usage meters, the security alarm system has become the maestro that conducts a symphony of affordable intelligent devices in your home. In the past, home automation was only for the wealthy using high-end expensive control panels, screens and devices that were installed by high-priced professionals. Connected home security systems like Alarm.com have brought that high-end lifestyle to the masses using affordable devices, smart phones and tablets.

It’s not a question of IF you need an intelligent home of connected devices, it’s a question of WHEN you’re ready to start benefiting from an affordable connected smart home and embrace the Internet of things. When you do accept that it’s time for the devices around your home to be intelligent and interconnected, consider who you’d like to help make that happen. suretyCAM is a leading force in the connected home revolution with the brightest minds, a common sense approach and a reputation for security, ease of use and reliability.

Audio & Video Camera Verification

Cameras have become an integral part of security systems. People want to look in and see what’s happening on their property. They want to see what’s happening right now. They want to look back and see what happened the other day. They want to know if that alarm that just occurred was really caused by a burglary in progress before they give the go ahead to dispatch the police.

Modern security systems incorporate live video cameras or lower cost still snapshot cameras to give you a clear picture of what’s happening on your property. suretyCAM’s Alarm.com cameras are integrated with your security alarm sensors and will immediately send you a video clip or snapshot when an alarm occurs, showing you exactly what happened to trigger the alarm.

False alarms have always been a problem when using security systems. suretyCAM’s Alarm.com systems include 2-way voice technology that let’s our central monitoring station operators listen in when an alarm has just occurred to hear whether a burglary is in progress. When we dispatch the police we’ll inform them that a verified burglary is in progress based on 2-way voice and/or the video clip that was sent to your phone. Police are accustomed to the majority of security alarm dispatches being false alarms so when they hear it’s a verified alarm, they’ll treat it as the real thing. In a growing number of cities the police won’t even dispatch unless it’s a verified alarm.

Energy Management

Smart thermostats are a hot topic right now, in part because of Google recently purchasing Nest. Smart thermostats are interesting but they’re only one piece of the puzzle.

Modern security systems provide whole home energy management capabilities that go way beyond just the thermostat. suretyCAM’s Alarm.com security systems provide smarter thermostat management as well as light and appliance control for all your energy hogging devices, and they incorporate energy usage meters to measure the energy you consume and keep track of how much energy you’re actually saving!

Elderly & Disabled Wellness Monitoring

Traditional security alarms offered a simple emergency response button that an elderly or disabled person could push for help – the classic “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” button. The reality is that when someone truly needs emergency medical attention there’s a good chance that they’re unconscious or that they’re not able to press the button.

Modern security systems take home health care and wellness monitoring to a whole new level. suretyCAM’s Alarm.com systems utilize the security alarm sensors around the house to monitor the activity of your elderly and disabled loved ones. You can easily see on the mobile app or website that they’re up and around the house when they should be. We will send you instant notifications when the system detects a lack of activity when they should be up and around – indicating they might be unconscious or need emergency medical attention. We can even detect when they’ve forgotten to take their daily medication and notify you to remind them.

Cellular Alarm Reporting Reliability

Reporting alarms and dispatching the police or fire department is at the core of why we use security alarms. The alarm hardware in your home has to send a signal to a central monitoring station.

Traditionally, security alarms sent these alarm signals by placing phone call over your land line telephone. The problems with reporting alarms over land line telephones are:

1. Land lines can easily be cut by an intruder before they break in.
2. Land lines are unreliable because they don’t send test signals frequently enough.
3. Land line telephones are a thing of the past, very few people have them anymore.

It’s also possible to send alarm signals via your broadband (cable or DSL) Internet connection. The problems with relying on a broadband Internet connection are:

1. Cable or DSL lines can easily be cut by an intruder before they break in.
2. Broadband connections are a lot less reliable than cellular connections – they suffer from far more down time.

Reporting alarm signals over a cellular phone connection is the most reliable way to do it. suretyCAM’s Alarm.com security systems use cellular as the primary method of reporting alarm signals. The higher reliability of cellular communication also means that when you’re controlling your system remotely it will respond more reliably than a broadband Internet based system.

In addition to reporting alarms with a cellular connection, modern security alarms also incorporate a technology called crash & smash protection. With crash & smash protection the system will still report an alarm and dispatch the police, even if the intruder destroys the alarm hardware before the entry delay countdown finishes and the alarms sounds.

Do It Yourself Installation

Modern security systems can be much easier to install than straditional security systems. For the most part, they utilize wireless technology which reduces or sometimes even eliminates the need to fish wires through the wall. This enables tech savvy do-it-yourself’ers who have some extra time on their hands to design their own system, and install it themselves. Doing it yourself can save you a boat load of money and doesn’t require signing a lengthy multi-year contract with a particular security monitoring company.

Written by Ryan Boder