VMS Alarms Official Home Security Blog

This news story is very helpful and informative. The only thing I would disagree on is having contacts on every window. That what window locks are for! Window contacts detect when someone opens the window, so they’re really a false sense of security. The only way for a burglar to break in through a locked window is by breaking it, which won’t set off the window contact. Motion detectors or glass break sensors are much better protection, and more cost effective, too.

Experience always puts things into perspective. Yesterday, I was locked out of my second floor. The only other house key was an hour away. It was cold out. The solution? Breaking and entering (into my own house, of course). I had a couple of things to consider. (1) Point of entry: the best thing I could think of was through the window. (2) With what tools? How would I pry open a window? (3) How do I get up to the second floor to begin with? The second floor balcony.

I had to start by looking for something to pry open a window. A crowbar would have been ideal, but I didn’t have on of those laying around the yard, so I had to get creative. I went with a metal barbeque spatula. Makes you think about the things you have laying around your house, right? It was surprisingly easy to climb up to the second floor balcony. The first floor porch has a railing about 3-4 ft high, so once I got up on that, it was easy to pull myself up to the second level. Now for the window. I lock my windows (what kind of home security professional would I be if I didn’t), but because the way my window locks are, they don’t always latch properly. Think about it – usually you can pull the latch to the side to lock it, but if the window wasn’t pulled down enough for it to latch, you might not know the difference. I didn’t. The window was, however, closed completely and tightly. As you would imagine, windows aren’t designed to be opened from the outside, quite the opposite, in fact. There was nothing to grip to pull it up with my fingers, which is where the spatula came in handy. I was able to pry it between the window and the frame and use the leverage to lift the window open and just like that I was in the house.

Are you wondering the obvious? How did no one see me doing this in broad daylight on a busy street in the city? Plenty of people did. No one cared.

The lesson here:

• Don’t leave tools around your house that could be used to break into your home.
• Make sure you lock your windows on all floors of your home.
• Think about possible points of entry and try to make them more difficult to access.
• Don’t count on your neighbors to call someone. It’s just not reliable.
• If all else fails, you can count on your monitored home security system to deter the burglar.

Stay Safe Security Blog by VMS Alarms offers information for homeowners on home safety tips, home security news, burglary prevention tips and home security offers. VMS Alarms offers a promotional alarm package including free alarm installation and equipment for any qualified homeowner.

When researching home security companies, you have a variety of options as to the type of company. Do you want an independent, local company or would you rather go with a big-name national company? Do you want an all-in-one monitoring and installation company, or an authorized dealer program? Well, throughout my research I’ve found a few articles on why you shouldn’t go with an authorized dealer program and I would like to address some misconceptions I’ve found. The truth is that going with a Monitronics authorized dealer such as VMS Alarms, you’re truly getting the best of both worlds. Monitronics is easily the best monitoring company in the nation for quality, response time and just all around. Why? Because that’s all they do. They monitor the systems that we install. It is their specialty, just as installation and service is our specialty. Unlike other national companies, Monitronics does not do any installations or servicing of alarms themselves. They rely solely on a very strict authorized dealer program with the highest of standards for their dealers.

I came across some myths about authorized dealer programs that I would like to dispel (because we all know how much I enjoy myth-debunking), courtesy of this article and this article.

1. “Some dealers install the simplest of “all in one” wireless alarms.”
   First of all, don’t bash the all-in-one wireless system. It has all of the capabilities of any hardwired alarm. It can be “the simplest” if your system consists of two door contacts and a motion detector, but it also does all the complex stuff like smoke detectors, carbon monoxide sensors, cellular back up, two way voice monitoring, etc. Second, the GE Simon is the number one selling home security equipment in the nation. It is an all-in-one wireless system. Third, just for kicks I called five local companies and asked two questions:
   A. “Are you a dealer for a national company?”
   Their response: “No.”
   B. “Do you use the GE Simon system?”
   Their response: “Yes.”
   All five of them.
2. “Your account is immediately sold from the sub dealer to corporate (who monitor and service it), the company that installed your alarm is no longer responsible for the installation.”Not true. Your account continues to be serviced by VMS Alarms although Monitronics does monitor it. VMS Alarms has excellent, complimentary technical support. We at VMS Alarms are in it for the long haul with you, and your continued satisfaction and peace of mind is our responsibility and we take that very seriously.
3. “To prevent you from switching providers, authorized dealers for the major chains are more likely to install “locked out” and/or “proprietary” alarm systems.” This is possible with any alarm company. This has nothing to do with being an authorized dealer. And for the record, we do not lock your alarm. After the original term, the choice of monitoring companies is yours. I like that. It keeps us on our toes. We have to continue to earn your business the entire length of your service with us, and clearly, we’re very good at it considering that we’ve grown an astonishing 572% in the past three years. Our customers love us, they stick with us and they refer all their friends!
4. “Ideally, you want a company that does it all: sales, installation, service, and in-house monitoring.” What this could get you for monitoring: a rinky-dink call center with 25 employees that are not CSAA certified and offer a dangerously slow response time. I know what they’re going for here, though. It can be tough dealing with a dealer versus corporate, not knowing who to call, getting bounced back and forth. We understand your concerns and we have an excellent in-house customer service department. Always call us and we will make sure that any concerns or questions are solved easily and painlessly for you. Our service team communicates very well with Monitronics and can resolve your concerns for you either by taking care of your concerns themselves or even by doing a conference call with you and Monitronics. Let us do the work for you! It’s not worth putting yourself at risk in an emergency when time and experienced assistance is what you need the most.

There are other authorized dealer programs in which these myths may be true, however the setup of the Monitronics dealer program is such that your alarm company, the “dealer” remains your alarm company, takes full responsibility for your account and it’s our job to make sure that you remain a happy customer, and we wouldn’t have it any other way!

Stay Safe Security Blog by VMS Alarms offers information for homeowners on home safety tips, home security news, burglary prevention tips and home security offers. VMS Alarms offers a promotional alarm package including free alarm installation and equipment for any qualified homeowner.

I was researching the capabilities of our wireless system today and I came across something interesting. I wanted to make sure wireless systems are not vulnerable to a radio frequency jammer or any other device that could interrupt communication from the sensors to the panel so I consulted the experts in the VMS IT department. Turns out that this might be a problem for some wireless alarms, but ours immediately notifies the central station if someone is jamming any signals. That’s awesome, but it’s not the interesting part. The interesting part was how the gentlemen in the IT department responded. He said “technically, if someone was to go through great lengths to obtain a device they might be able to jam the signals. But odds are if someone is trying that hard to circumvent a system, they’d be doing it to a big mansion with a hardwired system.” Why do people assume that high end stores and expensive homes must have hardwired systems? So I went on a quest around the office asking why people think hardwired systems are better for big or high end locations. This is what I found.

Cost
“If it’s cheap, it’s junk.” There is a misconception that because wireless alarms are much cheaper, they are of a lower quality. Let me tell you a story. A friend of mine who has a lot of money just got into horseback riding. The woman she bought her horse from suggested getting a saddle from an online outlet because it’s cheaper. My friend responded, “I would rather pay the extra money at the retail store just in case.” Just in case what? It’s the same quality product, the only difference is the price. But all reasoning aside, she just felt more comfortable spending more money at the high end store. Don’t be that guy. The guy who just wants to pay more because he thinks he’s getting more. It’s often true that you get what you pay for, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do your research before going with the more expensive product.

“Okay, then why is the superior product less expensive?” Wireless systems are of the same or better quality as hardwired; the actual reason they’re cheaper is because hardwired alarms take so much longer to install and are harder to find. The truth is that hardwired products in and of themselves are actually cheaper than wireless (so if you’re “that guy” you can now feel confident that you’re choosing the more expensive product). There is also a problem with saying that wireless alarms are easier to install – yes, they take less time, but they still have to be programmed into the control panel in the same manner. It requires the same skill level – all you’re really cutting out is the hard labor and the mess.

For more on how VMS Alarms makes this top quality equipment affordable, click here.

Installation
As stated above, wireless systems are a lot easier to install. They also can go places that hardwired alarms can’t; you can’t snake wires through concrete! You also have to take into consideration if(when) your alarm needs servicing. If something goes wrong, its very difficult to find the problem and even more difficult to fix it. You have to go into the walls to get to the wires, it’s a nightmare. The labor costs are very high, it requires specialized power tools and will cost you a fortune.

Vulnerability
The problem with wires. Wires have an inherent and blatant security concern. You can see them, and you can cut them. Wireless systems just don’t have that option. All of the sensors communicate directly with the control panel over wireless signals. As stated above, the technology exists to jam wireless signals, but like I said, our system has a feature that alerts you and the central station immediately if someone attempts to jam the signals. Burglary attempts side, you also have to consider that wires deteriorate, rot or can be chewed through by mice or other rodents.

The truth about wireless. Many proponents of hardwired systems will tell you to say away from the all-in-one wireless alarm because the keypad and the control panel are in the same unit. The idea here is that if your keypad was separate, the rest of the alarm would still function in the event that the keypad is ripped off of the wall. There are two flaws with this. First of all, wireless alarms often utilize what’s called a “crash and smash” feature. There is a tab behind the panel that is attached to the wall. If the panel is ripped off the wall, the alarm detects that and immediately sends a signal to the monitoring station. This is a great feature because the central station sees that the panel was forcibly ripped from the wall and it is a confirmed burglary. They know it is not a false alarm. With the hardwired systems, if a burglar rips the keypad off the wall it’s true that the central station will receive a signal if a motion detector or door contact has been breached. Which do you think the police will take more seriously? And second, you can do the exact same setup with a wireless alarm if you want. Place the all-in-one control panel in the basement where it’s not easily accessible and install a wireless keypad. Problem solved!

Appearance
Some people think they should go hardwired because of the look of the wireless contacts. They think that hardwired is the only way to get invisible, recessed door contacts. What they don’t know is that wireless alarms offer recessed contacts, too. It’s not a very common request that we get, so if you are interested in recessed contacts, please let us know ahead of time so your installer has them in stock for you. Now you have no excuse to get anything but the best protection!

Eureka! I’ve found it!
In my quest to find out why people think hardwired systems are more appropriate for high end locations, I did finally find a solid answer. It’s not about how expensive or high end your home is; it’s the size of your home. Hardwired control panels can have hundreds of zones, while wireless alarms are limited (up to 62 zones in our systems). So if you do live in a castle and have more than 62 points of entry in your home, I must concede, hardwired is the way to go.

Thanks to Nick, Barry, Ryan, Chris and Brian for your input for this article!

Stay Safe Security Blog by VMS Alarms offers information for homeowners on home safety tips, home security news, burglary prevention tips and home security offers. VMS Alarms offers a promotional alarm package including free alarm installation and equipment for any qualified homeowner.

Let’s say you go out and buy a new computer. You spend over $1,000 on the computer itself, but then you think, “what if I need help? What if I have questions?” and you ask the salesman. He offers you premium tech support so you can call in and get answers to all your questions, normally $199 per year, for just $99 with the purchase of the computer. What a steal, right?

How about this for comparison. We give you a state of the art home security system at no upfront cost AND we have live tech support for the full lifetime of your system with us. That’s right, this isn’t the “thirty days of support then you’re on your own,” we back you up 100% the entire time you have the system with us.

Our customer service team in action. Keep up the good work, guys!

What sort of things can we help you with?

• Reprogramming your entry codes
• Turning the chime feature on so you can hear when your doors are opened
• Turning the chime feature off when you’ve had enough of it
• Adding in separate codes for the kids so you can tell who came home when
• How to set up your alarm.com or mymonitronics account
• How to change a battery on your door contact

So never worry, non-tech-savvy folks! We are here for you! We want to ensure that all of our customers can utilize all of the wonderful features our alarm has to offer.

A team with strong leadership
Our Director of Customer Service, Ralph Bruno, has been with the company for many years in both our sales and service departments. He has always demonstrated an “above and beyond” dedication to making sure all of our customers have a wonderful experience with us.

We’re easy to reach
Just call our service department at 866-493-1253, option 1. We are staffed with live representatives, all located right here in our Warwick, RI headquarters from 9am to 8pm Monday through Saturday. Once you press option 1, you will be connected to a representative. No jumping through hoops and navigating a million different “press 1 for yes, press 2 for no” questions. You don’t even need your account number handy – we can look that up for you with a few simple questions. We can guarantee you a hassle free, pleasant experience.

If you need assistance after those hours, Monitronics can help you at 1-800-447-9239.

Stay Safe Security Blog by VMS Alarms offers information for homeowners on home safety tips, home security news, burglary prevention tips and home security offers. VMS Alarms offers a promotional alarm package including free alarm installation and equipment for any qualified homeowner.

After fundraising all week and sponsoring Friday’s dress down for charity, VMS Alarms’ Compliance Department raised a record breaking $610 to go towards the Special Olympics. The team showed their support by participating in the “Penguin Plunge” in which they dove into the icy waters of Roger Wheeler State Beach in Narragansett, RI. The compliance department would like to thank everyone for their donations and support, particularly our top two donors, Aaron Gagnier, Director of Customer Service, and Jason Reis, Sales Administration for each personally donating over $100 to the cause.

The Special Olympics’ mission is as follows:

“To provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.”

Stay Safe Security Blog by VMS Alarms offers information for homeowners on home safety tips, home security news, burglary prevention tips and home security offers. VMS Alarms offers a promotional alarm package including free alarm installation and equipment for any qualified homeowner.

Over 3,400 deaths occur annually from residential fires. 58% of home fires where fatalities occurred did have smoke detectors installed. Up to 40% of children and adults may sleep through fire alarms. There are so many issues with noisemaker, non-monitored smoke detectors that have to be considered.

Problems with non-monitored, “noise-maker” alarms
Most residential fires occur at night while people are sleeping soundly. Many people, especially children, will sleep right through an alarm by either not hearing it or incorporating the noise into a dream they are having. Fire safety agencies such as the National Fire Protection Association advise placing smoke detectors as close to sleeping areas as possible to ensure that they are heard. However, most residential fires originate in kitchens. Another common location is basements where furnaces and clothes dryers are located. In most homes, these locations are the farthest from the bedrooms. So maybe your smoke detector is going off downstairs in the kitchen or basement, what good is the smoke detector in your bedroom until it’s too late and the fire has already spread throughout your home? A fire can engulf an entire room in under five minutes. By the time the alarm near your bedroom sounds, if you are lucky enough to hear it, it may be too late and help is not on the way.

The four major benefits of a monitored fire alarm
Let’s say a fire begins in your basement. You are sleeping soundly in your bedroom on the second floor. With a monitored alarm, your basement smoke detector sends a signal to the main panel which (1) sounds an alarm heard throughout the home. Next, you will also (2) receive a phone call from a monitoring station. If they are unable to contact you through your home phone, they will try your cell phone (which, if you’re like me, you keep right by your bed). Immediately after that, (3) the fire department arrives. Additionally, if you’re not home when the fire occurs, a monitored alarm can (4) save your home and your possessions before they are destroyed. Please note that this refers to smoke detectors in our system; it will not tie in with “noise maker” alarms you may already have. They have to be able to communicate with the main panel in order to send a signal.

The major benefits of getting a monitored smoke alarm through VMS Alarms

• We provide a promotional alarm package with no upfront cost for qualified homeowners.
• Unlike other companies, we do not charge any extra per month to monitor for fires.
• We provide smoke detectors to supplement our promotional alarm package at our company cost.
• Our smoke detectors comply with NFPA for sounding of fire notification appliances. Some companies provide smoke detectors that may be monitored, but do not meet NFPA requirements.
• Our smoke detectors utilize three types of detection:
• Photoelectric to detect actual smoke.
• Heat rise to detect a rapid rise in temperature. This means if the temperature rises fifteen degrees in one minute.
• Fixed 135+ degree heat sensor. In the case that the temperature does not rise fifteen or more degrees per minute, if it ever reaches 135 degrees, the alarm will sound.
• Unlike other monitored smoke detectors, in addition to the main alarm sounding in the control panel of the alarm, each individual detector has a built in 85 decibel siren.
• Our smoke detectors send a signal to the control panel before a low battery occurs. If the problem is not addressed, the standard low battery “chirp” until the battery is replaced.

  For more information, and to view the source of this data, please visit The National Fire Protection Association website.

  Stay Safe Security Blog by VMS Alarms offers information for homeowners on home safety tips, home security news, burglary prevention tips and home security offers. VMS Alarms offers a promotional alarm package including free alarm installation and equipment for any qualified homeowner.

  

A concern we sometimes need to address with customers looking for a home security system is the misconception that authorities take too long to respond. First, I am proud to inform you that Monitronics, our monitoring company, already has the industry leading response time, averaging 22.1 seconds. On top of that, Moni has implemented a new protocol, called “Automated Secure Alarm Protocol” or ASAP, which allows the monitoring company to communicate electronically and instantly with local authorities. This means that they send an electronic signal telling them to send help. This eliminates hold time, human error and also allows the local authorities to know instantly whether they need to send help your way rather than the operator explaining the situation and requesting that help be sent.

Only three monitoring companies have been selected to participate in this program: Monitronics, Vector Security and United Central Control (UCC). Not even ADT has technology to match!

Studies have shown that there is a 2-3 minute reduction in processing time by using this protocol. The creators of the program are hopeful that this will increase the instance of apprehending burglars, decrease the amount of time taken to extinguish fires and above all, save more lives.

According to Bill Hobgood, project manager for the city of Richmond’s DIT Public Safety Team:

Goals include: 1) a reduction in the phone call volumes between alarm monitoring companies and PSAPs (Public Safety Answering Points), 2) reduction in miscommunications and mistakes made during the verbal handoff of alarm notification information between an alarm company operator and a 9-1-1 calltaker, and 3) a reduction in PSAP processing time, resulting in an equivalent reduction in response times by first responders, resulting in the likelihood of increased law enforcement apprehensions made, fires being more quickly extinguished and more lives saved. (Read more)

Bottom line: you cannot get higher quality or faster service than with Monitronics and VMS Alarms.

Stay Safe Security Blog by VMS Alarms offers information for homeowners on home safety tips, home security news, burglary prevention tips and home security offers. VMS Alarms offers a promotional alarm package including free alarm installation and equipment for any qualified homeowner.

Lately we’ve run into this question and I’d like to offer an in depth explanation. Let’s have a look at each part of the system, how it is connected and any other situations that could potentially come up depending on the specifics of your home, you power sources and your phone lines.

The sensors. Wireless sensors are what constitute a wireless system. The old hard wired systems literally had wires coming from the control panel to each and every door, motion detector and other sensor involved in the system. Wireless sensors are much more effective because they can communicate directly to the control panel from anywhere in the home. The range is about 100 feet but varies slightly depending on how many walls/floors are between the sensor and control panel. That essentially means that if you have a 10,000 square foot home with dimensions of 100′x100′ and the control panel is placed centrally within the home, you’d still be covered! And if you’re lucky enough to have a home bigger than that, we can provide signal repeaters to ensure that the system is communicating 100% effectively with its components.

The control panel. The control panel receives signals from the sensors and sends signals to the monitoring station. There are two very important wires that must be connected to the panel – the phone line and the power line. Our control panels are equipped with a 24 hour battery backup (that recharges itself once the power is restored) but they do need a power source to ensure that your home and family are protected 24/7. As far as the installation goes, we need to install the control panel close to a non-switched, non-GFI outlet that can be securely connected and not tampered with. In most cases, this involves installing the control panel in a convenient location for you, for example, by the front door or garage door, and running a power line through the wall and down into the basement or up into the attic depending on the setup of your home. The phone line is run in a similar manner.

There are cases in which small lengths of wire may be run outside of the walls due to the structure of the home. For example, my control panel is next to the back door. The wall it is hung on is an exterior wall. Due to the foundation being directly below this wall, the technician did have to run a short length of wire outside of the wall in order to get it down to the basement. I watched him neatly and carefully run the wires tightly and secure them every eighteen inches per the protocol and he installed wire molding to conceal the wires. Now I could have avoided this by placing the panel by the front door (I have a front hall with an interior wall we could have hung the panel on), but the technician thoroughly explained my options and the wiring in each scenario and I decided to stick with the back door.

Another option I could have taken was purchasing an additional keypad which we offer at a very affordable price so you can customize your system to your liking. This means that we can place the control panel in the most convenient place for installation purposes and we can put a small wireless keypad wherever you would like that communicates with the control panel like all of the sensors.

Now for the most important part of the system: the phone line. You rely on your system to call for help and this means phone lines. There are a few potential scenarios that can come up with the phone line.

1. The wires cannot be run due to the structure of the home. If you had your phone line installed and then finished your basement, it can be very difficult for us to run the phone line in a way that is aesthetically pleasing. In this case, we recommend using our cellular back up service. This means that we install a GSM module (much like the SIM card in your cell phone) right in the panel and it communicates with the monitoring station directly through local cell towers. This service does cost a bit more per month just to cover our costs, but we want to make sure you are fully protected.
2. The phone line is internet based. This means that if the power goes out, so does your phone service. In this case, we must do cell back up, as described in the previous scenario. We need to make sure your home is completely protected, 24/7, power or no power.
3. We can’t obtain phone line seizure. This means that if your phone is off the hook when a break in occurs, the system will take over the phone lines and can contact the monitoring station. This is very important, especially if you have dial up internet or if the burglar thinks he can just take the phone off the hook to avoid the monitoring. With some phone companies or depending on how the phone system is set up, we (in rare cases) are unable to obtain phone line seizure. In this case, we do have to do the cellular back up as well to ensure that you are fully protected.

You can trust VMS Alarms to always ensure that the setup of your system is ideal for your home protection. From the phone line seizure, the power connection to the equipment, our technicians are professionals who know how to make sure help is on the way. No matter how your home is set up, we will not make any compromises in the area of your home protection.

Stay Safe Security Blog by VMS Alarms offers information for homeowners on home safety tips, home security news, burglary prevention tips and home security offers. VMS Alarms offers a promotional alarm package including free alarm installation and equipment for any qualified homeowner.

This is a good one. I get this a lot and it’s just not a good reason to pass up a security system (especially a state-of-the-art alarm system with a free starter package!)

I’ll tell you three things that don’t care what type of neighborhood you live in: fires, carbon monoxide leaks and insurance companies.

Fires. Fires can happen in any neighborhood. The most common causes of residential fire are cooking, smoking, heating and electrical (source). What most people don’t realize is that as a fire grows, it consumes the oxygen in the room and produces carbon dioxide. This is what usually knocks people out before they realize that there is a fire. At this point, the “noisemaker” alarm just won’t cut it. You need to know help is on the way. Our smoke detectors call the fire department for you.

Carbon monoxide leaks. Just as fires, carbon monoxide leaks are not correlated to the type of neighborhood you live in. However, it can be argued that people in more suburban neighborhoods, traditionally thought of as “safer,” have an even higher chance of carbon monoxide leaks because they are more likely to have garages and cars, one of the most common and deadly type of carbon monoxide poisoning. When a car, or other fuel burning appliance such as a generator is left running in an enclosed space, carbon monoxide begins to fill the room and leak into the house. This deadly gas is odorless, colorless and asphyxiates within minutes. Carbon monoxide sensors that simply make noise will not help in the event that you are knocked out. Having a monitored alarm with carbon monoxide detection means knowing that help is on the way even when you can’t help yourself. These detectors truly save lives.

We offer both carbon monoxide and smoke detectors to supplement your free starter package at our very affordable promotional pricing because your safety is our goal. We don’t charge any extra for the monthly monitoring for this feature.

Homeowners insurance. Your insurance company will give you the exact 10-20% discount that they would if you lived in the worst of neighborhoods.

Stay Safe Security Blog by VMS Alarms offers information for homeowners on home safety tips, home security news, burglary prevention tips and home security offers. VMS Alarms offers a promotional alarm package including free alarm installation and equipment for any qualified homeowner.