Articles and whitepapers

Security Systems for the Home (4/7/2005)

By Gill Hallett, Cooper Security Systems

In today's busy lifestyle, an intruder alarm system is a suitable way of providing peace of mind, protecting your premises and looking after what is important to you. Whether it be your home, your family or your possessions, you can rest assured that in the event of an unwanted visitor, a security system is the ideal way of alerting you, or a designated contact via a pre-programmed telephone number, to take action. Residential security is the foundation to safety.

Those of us who move into premises with an alarm consider it to be a bonus rather than it adding value. For most of us without an alarm in our home, it is not on our list of priorities to have one installed. It is perceived to be expensive, difficult to operate, intrusive and disruptive to the decor, and quite often a nuisance in the event of a false alarm. In the unfortunate event of a burglary however, a security system becomes a high priority, even if a grudge purchase.

Modern alarm systems

Imagine an alarm system that did not disrupt your interior décor that blended with your fixtures and fittings, was pet tolerant, and monitored not just your home, but also certain possessions within your home such as your aquarium, central heating or expensive hobby equipment. Think how useful it would be to have a security system that helped you keep in touch with an elderly relative offering two-way speech, or let you know when the children have returned home from school, or monitored the temperature in your home.

The Scantronic Homelink 75 wirefree security system

How many times have you heard a home alarm sound and taken no action? Residential security systems have long moved on from nuisance alarms sounding with no action being taken.

Current residential alarms systems are being designed with the homeowner in mind and to cater for all types of needs and lifestyles. Technology has advanced at a great rate over recent years, so that residential systems can now be integrated with smoke detectors and speech diallers, to name a few.

Scantronic speech dialler kit

The principles behind alarm systems

A residential alarm system is designed to detect an intruder at the point of break-in to the property. The system makes a loud noise to draw attention to the disturbance, and although people in the surrounding area may choose to ignore the alarm, the burglar cannot take the risk and will flee the premises.

More sophisticated alarm systems, such as the Scantronic 9751 and Menvier TS690, can be connected to an alarm-receiving centre (ARC) for a small monthly fee. Then, in the event of the alarm sounding, the ARC will verify the alarm and call for police response.

The Menvier TS690 wire-free security system for large domestic and commercial use

Residential alarms are either wired or wire-free (radio). With a wired system, the peripherals are connected to a control panel via thin wires. With a radio system, tiny transmitters replace the thin wires. Most systems comprise a control panel and a mixture of peripherals such as magnetic door contacts, shock sensors, passive infra red (PIR) detectors and smoke detectors.

An alarm system can be set according to your lifestyle and needs. Your premises can be divided into zones, allowing only part of the system to be set while other areas remain active. For example, you may choose to alarm only the downstairs of your home at night while you sleep upstairs. The control panel can be set and unset by keying in a pre-programmed combination of four- or six-digit numbers, or via a proximity tag clipped onto your key ring. It is as simple as holding the tag to the keypad, which is particularly useful for visually-impaired people, or when returning home with shopping bags and no free hand to press the keypad keys.

Integration

Security systems in the home will commonly integrate with close circuit television (CCTV) cameras, whereby the PIR will activate the CCTV camera to record the activity when it detects movement. This can then be relayed to a monitoring centre or even to a 3G mobile telephone. Advanced alarms can send a message to an ARC or to a user via global system for mobiles (GSM), broadband or a public switched telephone network (PSTN).

Should your home insurance company insist on an alarm system being fitted to give police response, the system must be fitted and maintained by an accredited National Security Inspectorate (NSI) or Security System and Alarms Inspection Board (SSAIB) installer.

Conclusion

An alarm system is an inexpensive way of protecting your home and possessions and provides peace of mind that your premises are secure. The myths and preconceived ideas of nuisance false alarms are a thing of the past when you invest in quality products that are installed by reliable, accredited installers. Residential security systems of the twenty-first century have been designed and manufactured to fit your lifestyle and provide you with reassurance.

Gill Hallett is the Marketing Communications Controller for Cooper Security - designer and manufacturer of intruder alarm systems for domestic, commercial and industrial premises.

www.coopersecurity.co.uk