While many people are willing to spend money on the security of their home, and many even have hi-tech alarms installed, there are some areas of most homeowners’ properties that are all too often overlooked.
As the saying goes, it's often better to be safe than sorry. If your home is unprotected and does not have a security system, then it's only a matter of time before you'll be sorry that you never invested in keeping your home and your family safe.
Millions of homes are burglarized every year in the United States. This means that homeowners need to take security seriously. Here are a few things to consider when purchasing home security systems in Evanston.
Having a home is vitally dependent on the location of your house and the security system installed in your home. Without a doubt, the City of Glenview is an outstanding place to buy a home and raise a family. It is a prosperous suburban village in the state of Illinois, near Lake Michigan. Glenview has great schools for your children, beautiful homes for your family, excellent restaurants, well-known health care practices and many recreational areas.
Finding a flood in your basement is the last thing you want to find after coming home from a vacation. The phrase, “Needing a vacation from a vacation” takes on a whole different meaning.Enjoy the moment andlook into an alarm system that fits your needs. If you’re in Florida, you won’t need a water sensor in your basement, because of the aquifer and all, however, if you are in the mid-west, a flood in your basement is totally possible. It could even happen while you’re at work giving the biggest presentation of your life.
The security of your business relies heavily on choosing the right security camera and alarm system. Such systems can identify employee theft, shoplifters, and protect the business after hours if a break-in occurs. The camera aspect can identify a person who has committed a crime on the property, which is important for ensuring justice is served so the offending party doesn’t offend again.
Spend a few minutes on eBay and you’ll easily come across dozens of second-hand smart devices. Used smart locks, light bulbs, power outlets, video doorbells, thermostats and more are trading hands every day. This may seem like a great way to pick up some high tech gear at a discounted price, but what you might not realize is that when you are the second or third owner of a smart device, you are potentially inheriting some serious security risks.
There’s a post that has been going viral around Facebook recently. An investigative reporter with KGW news in Portland, Oregon was curious about what made burglars stay away from homes, or in the flip-side, what made a house an attractive target for a break-in.
It’s officially summer! Your kids are home from school playing with the dog on the lawn. Your neighbors invited you and your family for a BBQ. You’re grilling burgers in the backyard. Everyone is happy to walk out of the house in shorts, a t-shirt and enjoy the weather.
Unfortunately, these fun summer activities that we wait all winter to do often involve grills, backyard bonfires, candles, and sometimes fireworks which can all lead to an increased risk of fire. You should enjoy the summer, but enjoy it responsibly.
When it comes to home security these days, there’s a lot of focus on smart devices, connected gadgets, the cloud, and the Internet of Things. And to be sure, wireless cameras that transmit live video feeds to the cloud which you can access and view via your smartphone from anywhere in the world are absolutely impressive. But when it comes to the home security devices that can have the biggest impact on your family, it’s often a pair of less impressive-seeming tools that might be the ones most likely to save you and your family’s lives.
By this point, you’ve probably seen or heard about smart devices, sometimes referred to as IoT (Internet of Things) devices. These gadgets usually provide some automation features, an ability to be controlled via a smartphone app, and further remote access using a web-based portal and cloud technology, just for starters.
Internet-connected “smart” home security devices, sometimes referred to as part of the “Internet of Things,” have been rising in popularity in recent years. Gadget-makers clearly see an opportunity to combine new technologies with old, giving many of the utilitarian devices you’d typically find around the home with shiny new technology features. As a result, many people are eager to supplement their existing home security setup with devices like cameras, locks, lighting, and motion detectors which can be controlled and accessed from a smart phone or a remote portal over the internet.
One of the biggest growth areas in technology right now is in “smart” products for the home. These are products such as thermostats, refrigerators and light bulbs which connect to a home network (and therefore a smartphone) both for the purposes of monitoring and automation. Each of these products contains its own array of sensors and is programmed with the ability to perform certain tasks either remotely or on its own.
What sets home security companies apart from each other? When a consumer decides to hire a professional expert to install and maintain their home security system, why choose one over another?
Over the last several years, “smart” gadgets have begun to permeate through every part of our lives. First it was our phones, then our books. More recently smart wearable devices have increased in popularity, which has led to smart watches and fitness trackers. Now, the next wave of smart devices has come, and it can best be described as “smart home” gadgets.
On New Year’s Day, a fire broke out in a large, residential apartment building in the small city of Holyoke in western Massachusetts. The fire was devastating. The building was destroyed and three people were killed. But unlike the warehouse fire that recently caught national attention in Oakland, CA, the building in the Holyoke fire was a properly zoned apartment building and even had a fire alarm system that had been professionally installed in 2011. So what happened? Did the alarm system function, and if not, why?
"Smart locks," or connected locks, are exploding in popularity. They are one of the first gadgets to be in the pool of "smart home" gadgets, or the "internet of things." The idea behind any smart/internet of things device is that it will connect to your home network and other devices in your home, along with your smartphone. This creates additional functionality, convenience, and opportunities for automation.
With so many alarm systems on the market these days, it’s harder than ever to figure out which one is the best. Old, familiar companies and freshly minted startups are pushing technology and services forward to keep the home security industry competitive. So what should you look for in a great alarm system? What’s the must-have, “killer” feature that will ensure the safety of your home and your family?
Not all home security systems are created equally. Simply having one is not enough to keep your family and your belongings safe, especially if there are glaring flaws in the way your system is set up or being used that make it unreliable, easy to defeat, or completely ineffective. The good news is, many of the more common problems with home security systems can be fixed or prevented.
With the recent news of the warehouse fire which killed 36 people earlier this month in Oakland, California, we are all reminded of how dangerous, deadly and sudden a fire in the right conditions can be.
Now, in the thick of the holiday season as we decorate our homes and offices with fresh-smelling pine trees and bright, twinkling lights, it’s important to keep fire safety in mind, so as not to create dangerous conditions in our own lives.