Preventing False Alarms

Your home security system is a great tool for keeping your family safe. But when the alarm goes off, it can be pretty terrifying. Fortunately, most of the time they’re false alarms and not real emergencies. This is good news for you and your family, but can pose a problem for others if it happens often.

Whether you forgot to turn off the alarm when you let the dog out, or your toddler hit the panic button on your key fob, false alarms can pull resources such as police and firefighters away from actual emergencies. Learning how to prevent them from happening means making sure everyone in your household has proper training on how to use your home security system.

• Know how to use the keypad. False alarms are not uncommon, and there’s no need to panic, as long as you know how to enter your code into the keypad. Make sure everyone in your home knows how to arm and disarm the system using the keypad code.
• Establish routines and practices that work for your household and are easy to follow. For example, all doors and windows should be locked and secured when the system is activated. If you have pets, talk to your home security company about installing pet-sensitive motion detectors.
• Understand the sensitivity of your home security system. Keep objects from hanging near a motion detector, because the slightest movement might be enough to trigger a false alarm. Even blowing dust from a home remodeling project can sometimes cause a false alarm if it interferes with a smoke detector’s sensing mechanism.
• Use good practices to get the best response from your home security system. Test your system monthly to make sure it’s communicating properly with our Alarm Response Center. Update your emergency contact list, so that you or a friend can be reached to determine whether it’s a false alarm or a true emergency.

At One-Stop Communications, we offer home security systems to fit every family’s needs and budget, and we make it easy to keep your information up to date and prevent false alarms.

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