All security systems are fundamentally the same in their basic operation so the commonly asked questions are always similar. The following is a list of the most asked questions about home security systems.
There are three modes of operation of any home alarm system. They are disarmed, armed away and armed in stay mode. In the disarmed mode the only functions Gegensprechanlage that work will be panic alarms, medical alarms and the fire alarms. These functions will work the same in any of the typical modes of operation. These are termed as 24 hour type of alarms. They can always be triggered manually from the control panel or from a remote location such as a key fob if your system has been setup to have one. If your home alarm system is disarmed then you will still see the announcement of doors or windows that are opened. This may be by an audible announcement at the control panel or a zone light that will also light at the alarm panel.
When your home alarm is in the stay mode of operation it means exactly how it sounds. You are staying home and this means that any of your inside devices such as motion detectors are shut off. They will still detect movement but they will not trigger your alarm. This way you can move about your home and still have the perimeter protected.
You must be careful when you use this mode because it is assumed by many that they are safe and secure at night when they retire to bed and this is not the case. In many systems the home owner has been convinced when they purchased the system that all they needed was the free system that has a front door, back door and an inside motion sensor. If this is the type of coverage that your system has then you are not protected when your system is in stay mode. You see in order for you to be able to move around your own home the inside
motion in most cases has been disabled by being armed in stay mode. If you go to bed when the system is still in stay mode then you no longer have the protection of the motion sensor. The only way to overcome this is to have the control panel located somewhere in your home where you will not trip the system when you get up in the morning to disarm it. When using the system in this way you can arm the system in away mode while you are still at home and keep the inside motion sensor on while you are asleep.
When you have set your alarm in away mode it means that all of your zones are armed and if any of them are violated your alarm will trigger. The entry/exit door is usually set with a delay so that you are able to enter the home and disarm the system before it transmits an alarm to the central station monitoring company.
If your alarm is triggered a signal is transmitted to the central monitoring station. This signal is received and the monitoring station knows exactly where the alarm was transmitted from and what zone is in alarm. The monitoring station will call you at the number that you provided to confirm an actual alarm. You will have the opportunity at that point if they reach you to cancel the alarm or the police will be dispatched.
These are the basic three modes of operation. There are many other functions that you can perform with your alarm system such as disarming individual alarms. Your alarm installer has a variety of choices that can be made when they are programming your system. Many of these installers will program the system without consulting with you about the operation. Your system will still operate but depending on your particular lifestyle there may be some fine tuning that will better suit you.
Since the introduction in 1995 of Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) phones, traditional phone lines are now being replaced slowly as people are using the benefits of VOIP.
With standard phone lines, also known as, Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) there are charges per call, and additional fees for long distance calls. As for VOIP phones, it is usually a flat fee from $5 – $30 monthly. So VOIP helps phone communication to be more affordable.
Finally, due to some extraordinary technological changes, we are seeing this same processes in Security alarm Systems Over IP (Internet Protocols). With Monitoring costs equaling that of the standard phone line alarms, offering true savings to the Home Alarm and Business Alarm owner.
Standard burglar alarm systems require a standard phone line (PSTN) with dial tone, each time the alarm activates, arms, disarms or tests it makes a call back to the Alarm Monitoring Centre (Each call can cost up to $0. 30 from your telephone company).
IP Alarms on the other hand require only your existing internet connection (1 port on the back of your modem) to transmit the same data back to the Alarm Monitoring Centre (No call costs) as you can see, cost saving are a lot, just in calls alone.
Standard Security Alarms use a standard phone line to communicate, the norm is for the alarm to send a test report once per day to let the Security alarm Monitoring Centre know it could still communicate. If the alarm phone line was cut by a criminal or damaged in some way, no-one would know about it until the next test signal wasn’t received (anywhere up to 24 hours), meaning if a Break-in occurred no-one would know because there would be no communication path.
However, with the IP burglar alarms comes a higher level of security. IP security alarms on a Standard IP Alarm Monitoring Package, do this test report function every 2 hours (No call costs). An average price at Chameleon Security Services for this type of package IP Alarm Monitoring is approximately $33 per month.
A concern when VOIP was in its early days, was that it wouldn’t work during a power outage because the internet modem would turn off. This issue was the same for IP Alarms, it can be addressed by adding an uninterruptable power supply to your modem, or Chameleon Security can add your standard phone line to your IP Alarm system to transmit any alarm signals, should you lose internet access due to site power or if your ADSL breaks down. The IP Burglar alarm System itself has a backup battery which is included in all Chameleon Security Services IP Alarm system Packages.