News

Home Security Confidence For Holiday Time (21/6/2004)

Will you be worrying about the security of the possessions and property that you left behind, as you travel or laze on some sun drenched beach or patio this summer? Then install a comprehensive security system - and even keep personal watch on your laptop!

Almost daily, news reports demonstrate that you do not have to be especially wealthy, nor to live in a particularly remote location to be a target for burglars or car thieves. But the security industry has the fail-safe, home protection systems to meet the threat and give you the peace of mind you need, to enjoy your holiday.

Kent-based Brook Security has systems installed nationwide and provides tailor-made security to a wide range of vulnerable clients, from the single home-occupant, enthusiasts with a classic or supercar, through those who own firearms or valuable collections, to celebrities and other high net worth people.

Brook Security's owner and managing director, Terry Roffey (47) has many years of experience in the security industry and regards his Company's NACOSS Gold accreditation as a basic sign of dependability and sees the icing on the cake as the many testimonials from satisfied customers to whom Brook Security has supplied numerous vari-layered protection systems.

"The concept of layering is", says Roffey, "a key factor in providing clients with convenient but effective security. Systems need to be comprehensive if they are to be effective when the homeowner is away, but only layering can enable them, when they are at home, to have the benefit of overall protection without the fear of triggering alarms as they go about their normal living style".

The needs of many property owners are satisfied by a basic alarm system that is armed by PIN number or proximity token as they leave the premises. Others prefer equipment which, through BTs Redcare secure-line service, links them permanently to a 24-hour control room. The equipment linking with Redcare provides a constant 'heartbeat' signal that triggers a Control Room alarm if it should cease through interference with the system. A further fail-safe protection is a cell-net back up. Permanent Closed Circuit Television monitoring not only provides occupants with protection for their absences but also for their return. The knowledge that someone is able to keep a watchful eye on them before the front door closes behind them is very re-assuring, not only for the occupant but, in the case of the elderly living alone, for their guardian relatives.

High net worth customers are likely to have extensive grounds, probably with valuable statuary or furniture, possibly a pond with valuable Koy Carp or similar.. They may have several outbuildings and for them, monitored, electrically powered gates with perimeter protection provided by laser beams will be the first line of defence. Power operated, steel road blockers or the less unsightly rising bollards will resist attack from a two-tonne truck or four-by-four vehicle travelling at up to forty miles an hour. At outbuildings, garages and the house itself, further beams and fixed or remotely controllable cameras will monitor the exterior, while a range of equipment can be fitted internally. Miniature cameras, door and window contacts, more beams and selectable zones of the property will often be features of the system.

In the unlikely event of intruders penetrating such a ring of protection, the final resource is a smoke generating system that can fill a 400 cubic metre room with an impenetrable, but harmless, fog in twenty seconds. "This", says Roffey, "is intended to delay or frustrate thieves, so as to buy time before arrival of the police or private security company personnel."

Keep Watch While Away

The technology available to Brook Security clients is mind bogglingly comprehensive, not only in the levels of security it provides at the premises, but also the in the way in which the owners can themselves keep an eye on their home or business, from virtually anywhere in the world. Closed circuit television and broadband satellite links, accessed through laptop technology can make security as effective as if they were adjacent. Real time monitoring is one layer of remote viewing and a digital hard disc recorder at base can be commanded remotely to replay, showing historical events over a pre-selected length of time.

What does all this cost? As an indication only, Terry Roffey says that a medium sized commuter belt property can be equipped for around £ 2,000, but if you want rising bollards at the end of the drive, you need to budget for around £ 10,000. Protection for a twenty-acre estate with fully layered systems would probably cost up to £ 75,000, while the less intimidating figure of £ 4,000 would provide a modest country house with a suitable system.

Will all of this afford 100% security? "That depends on the owner / operator", says Roffey. "The best system in the world is only effective when it is active and some people simply forget to use its full potential. It is for this reason", he says that Brook Security provides systems that are both user friendly, and intruder proof."

www.brooksecurity.com