I am upgrading my home alarm system and I am going to install a hidden button (or several) in the house for use in case of home invasion.
What should pressing the button do? Fire up the sirens or just a silent alarm?
If it’s in your house for you to trigger while it’s occupied by both you and an intruder…I’d go with silent. No point in making the intruder panic.
I would say the louder the better, and install an exterior horn also, so that neighbors will investigate the racket (also, tell the neighbors that if they hear it, to call the cops). Intruders don’t like noise and the odds are that an intruder will choose the flight option rather than the fight option. The problem with alarm companies is that for anything other than a fire alarm they will call you first to verify that it’s not an accidental alert. By the time they call, you don’t answer, and they call the cops and the cops respond, you could be dead.
Having first-hand experience, here’s my $0.02. If you go the silent route, you better be prepared to defend yourself with a weapon that is more effective than that of the intruder. The loud siren can be effective depending on the motive of the intruder. If you opt for this I’d have an exterior siren as well.
Lastly, and in all seriousness, if home invasion is truly a concern get yourself a gun, get some instruction on how to use it and keep it in a convenient (and safe) location. However, if you have any doubt as to whether you’d use it for it designed purpose (to kill, not scare), stick with an alarm and hope for the best.
One last thing, in the event of a home invasion, an alarm, even if “monitored,” will not get someone to your home in time to solve the problem.
I know they do that if the perimeter is breached or a motion detector is tripped, but would they still do that if distress call is sent out. A ringing phone kind of defeats the purpose of having a silent alarm.
I’m not sure what would happen in the event of a “panic” alarm. I would hope that they would immediately call the cops. Most systems just have the panic alarm tied into the regular alarm system. Most systems can also be defeated just by cutting the phone wires. Our last home had the phone connection box near the gas meter and easily accessible by anybody. You can spend as little or as much as you want on these systems, and I’m sure that for enough money, one could have an alarm connect immediately to the cops. I know that you can pay more to have a resistor in line that senses if the line is cut and notifies the security company.
Once the intruder has breached your perimeter, it is unlikely that the alarm company will be able to dispatch the authorities in time to help you in an attack.
When seconds count, the police are just minutes away…
Hi there, Chefguy
The monitoring company is not constantly monitoring the phone connection to your security alarm. Most systems do a test call at twenty four hour intervals. If you have the usual dual line connection, cutting one of the two will immediately transmit a signal of phone line failure over the second line. Cutting both lines at once will only alert the monitoring company when the assigned time for your test signal passes with no communication.
There are contracts that will monitor the condition of the phone lines constantly, but that is a very expensive service.
In my case the police were indeed minutes, eleven to be exact, away. However, the incident was concluded in 3-4. To rely on the police to thwart a home invasion is unrealistic. This is not a rap on law enforcement. Unless they just happen to be in front of your home when they get the call, you’re on your own.
Had this in our house and I opted for the loud blaring alarm. I figure if someone is inside or trying to get inside the alarm would scare the bejesus out of them and they would run. But, the take no chances part of me keeps a 20ga pump shotgun in the closet. (Yes, it is trigger locked) I chose the shotgun over a pistol for a few reasons.
1: The pump action sound by itself is very very intimidating. If I am a burglar and I hear a shotgun being pumped on the other side of the door I am going to think twice, maybe three times before going any further.
2: Loaded with birdshot it makes a very effective close quarters weapon. The spread of the shot is almost guaranteed to hit what you are aiming at if you are pointed in the right direction. Also, the birdshot is less likely to travel through walls and injure someone you care about.
3: We have kids and they are young. Chances of them being able to load, pump and fire a shotgun are much lower than them being able to handle a pistol. Of course all of our children have been briefed on gun safety and they know never to touch or play with the gun. This part I can’t stress enough. Don’t shy away from talking about firearms with your kids. Curiosity will lead them to try to explore a gun, but if you take away the allure they are less likely to want to experiment and play with one.
There are now alarm systems that do no rely on telephone service; not everyone has landlines these days.
The monitoring service also sees what alarm was activated - fire, medical, bedroom window, motion sensor in living room, panic, etc. If the police in your area allow it the account can be set up to dispatch immediately rather than call you first. Do note that many jurisdictions start charging for false alarm calls after two or three…
I would have it do both.A friend has a system I’ve accidently set off a few times and the noise is so painful it drives you outside.The goal is to stop the threat one way or another,right?
Burglars are businessmen. They want to get in, get out with whatever they can get. that is why dogs are good. they don’t have to kill a thief, all they have to do is eliminate the stealth. The alarm should be loud.
I would seek an expert opinion on this. Ask your alarm company.
IMHO the purpose of the system is to discourage an intrusion. The first line of defense is making it known you have an alarm. The second line of defense is the alarm. The third line is when the cops show up. You and Smith and Wesson are in there someplace.
The only reason to have a silent alarm is to try and catch the intruder in the act, which seems to me to be highly risky. I would think that a confrontation is a last resort. I would much prefer to scare them out of the act.
I have an alarm system. The alarm sounds if the phone line is disconnected, but of course it can’t call the monitoring service. We had a very interesting day once when Verizon disconnected the line by accident.
I believe some banks have silent alarms, not sure what the rationale is there. Unlike a home burglary, a bank robbery by design will involve confrontation right away, so you may not want to scare someone who’s already desperate. Better to lose a few bucks than have a dead teller.