When deciding on a home burglar alarm system, what is right for you depends on a number of factors including the safety of your neighborhood, the type of residence you live in, if you have pets, and how much you want to spend.

The best way to hinder thieves is with a basic home security system that makes an unbearable noise when an intruder is detected. Often, these are enough to deter a burglar away before he has had time to take much. However if you’re not home, chances are your neighbors will notice the alarm and call police.

With a monitored burglar alarm today, you will be offered greater protection because the home monitoring service will be notified if there is a break in. Upon an incident, a brief delay is present that gives the homeowner time to cancel in case of a false alarm. If the alarm is not canceled, someone from the monitoring service will call to make sure everything is okay. If your password can’t be confirmed, the service will contact the fire department, police, or EMT service.

For the monitoring option service, there may be an installation fee, as well as a monthly monitoring fee. The advantage of these systems is that they can detect fires, carbon monoxide emissions, and medical emergencies. The alert in these systems can either be audible or silent. There is also a panic button that bypasses the false alarm checks and goes directly to 911 in the case of an emergency.

Since most home burglar alarm systems communicate through phone lines, it’s a good idea to have a system that uses cellular service as a backup if phone service is down or the lines have been cut.
Monitored home burglar alarm systems usually consist of a control box, a touch pad, sensors for windows and doors, a motion detector, a siren, and a backup battery, in case the power is interrupted. It is important that you don’t forget the lawn sign, which has proven to be the greatest deterrent to potential thieves.

Both hard-wired and wireless systems are available. A wireless system is easier and quicker to install. Plus, it has the advantage or being portable and easy to expand if your needs change.
But, make sure you take the extra time to get an on-site assessment at your home to ensure that you’ll get all the protection you need.

Expect to pay between $30 and $50 a month for monitoring, with a 1 – 3-year contract. And check with your homeowner’s insurance company to see if they give a discount to homes with burglar alarm systems.

More modern systems incorporate a digital telephone dialer unit that will dial a central station through a public switched telephone network and activate the alarm, either with a synthesized voice or increasingly through an encoded message string that the central station decodes. These may connect to the regular phone system on the system side of the demarcation point, but typically connect on the customer side ahead of all phones within the monitored premises so that the alarm system can seize the line by cutting off any active calls and notify the monitoring company when needed

Many alarm panels are equipped with a backup dialer capability for use when the primary PSTN circuit is not functioning. The redundant dialer may be connected to a second phone line, or internet interface device to bypass the PSTN entirely, to perhaps overcome intentional tampering with the phone lines. Just the fact that someone tampered with the line could trigger a supervisory alarm within the radio network, giving early warning of an imminent problem.

Wired systems also have the advantage, if wired properly, of being tamper evident. Wireless systems, on the other hand, often use battery powered transmitters which are easier to install. However, these transmitters may reduce the reliability of the system if the sensors are not supervised, or if the batteries are not maintained. Depending on distance and construction materials, one or more wireless repeaters may be required to get the signal reliably back to the alarm panel.

Hybrid systems utilize both wired and wireless sensors to achieve the benefits of each. Transmitters, or sensors can also be connected through the premises electrical circuits to transmit coded signals to the control unit. The control unit usually has a separate channel or zone for burglar and fire sensors. But there are better systems that have a separate zone for every unique sensor, as well as internal “trouble” indicators.

Burglar, fire, and safety alarms are electronic alarms designed to alert the user to a specific danger. Sensors are connected to the control unit with low-voltage wiring, or if wireless a narrowband RF signal which is used to interact with a response device. The most common security sensors are used to alert the opening of a door, a window, or detect motion through passive infrared.

New construction systems are normally hardwired for cost efficiency. Retrofit installations often use wireless systems for a faster, more economical installation. Some systems serve a single purpose of burglar or fire protection. Combination systems provide both fire and intrusion protection. Systems range from small, self-contained noisemakers, to complicated, multi-zoned systems with color-coded computer monitor outputs. Many of these concepts also apply to portable alarms for protecting cars, trucks or other vehicles and their contents.

Depending upon the application, the alarm output may be local, remote or a combination. Local alarms do not include monitoring, though may include indoor and/or outdoor sounders, and lights which may be useful for signaling an evacuation notice for people during fire alarms, or where one hopes to scare off an amateur burglar quickly.

However, with the widespread use of security systems, false alarms are very frequent and many urbanites tend to ignore alarms rather than investigating, let alone contacting the necessary authorities. In short, there may be no response at all. In rural areas, lights or sounds may not make much difference anyway, as the nearest responders could take so long to get there that nothing can be done to avoid losses.

System reliability can be a problem when it causes nuisance alarms, or fails to alarm when called for. Nuisance alarms occur when an unintended event evokes an alarm status by an otherwise properly working alarm system. A false alarm also occurs when there is an alarm system malfunction that results in an alarm state. In all three circumstances, the source of the problem should be immediately found and fixed, so that responders will not lose confidence in the alarm reports.

Some systems are designed to detect problems internally, such as low or dead batteries, loose connections, phone circuit trouble, etc. While earlier nuisance alarms could be set off by small disturbances, like insects or pets, newer model alarms have technology to measure the size/weight of the object causing the disturbance, and thus are able to decide how serious the threat is, which is especially useful in burglar alarms.

Photoelectric beam systems detect the presence of an intruder by transmitting visible or infra red light beams across an area, where these beams maybe obstructed. To improve the detection surface area, the beams are often employed in stacks of two or more. However, if an intruder is aware of the technology’s presence, it can be avoided. The technology can be an effective long-range detection system, if installed in stacks of three or more where the transmitters and receivers are staggered to create a fence-like barrier. Systems are available for both internal and external applications.

The glass break detector may be used for internal perimeter building protection. When glass breaks it generates sound in a wide band of frequencies. These can range from infrasonic, 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Glass break acoustic detectors are mounted in close proximity to the glass panes and listen for sound frequencies associated with glass breaking. Seismic glass break detectors are different in that they are installed on the glass pane. When glass breaks it produces a specific shock frequency which travel through the glass, through the window frame and the surrounding wall. Seismic glass break detectors “feel” these shock frequencies and in turn generate an alarm condition.

The passive infrared detector is one of the most common detectors found in household and small business environments because it offers affordable and reliable protection. Passive infrared detectors are able to distinguish if an infrared emitting object is present by first learning the ambient temperature of the monitored space and then detecting a change in the temperature caused by the presence of an object. Using the principle of differentiation, passive infrared detectors verify if an intruder is actually there. Creating individual zones of detection where each zone creates one or more layers can achieve differentiation. Between the zones there are areas of no sensitivity, referred to as dead zones that are used by the sensor for comparison.

The E-field system can be installed on building perimeters, fences, and walls. It also has the ability to be installed free standing on dedicated poles. The system uses an electromagnetic field generator powering one wire, with another sensing wire running parallel to it. Both wires run along the perimeter and are usually installed about 800 millimeters apart. The sensing wire is connected to a signal processor that analyzes amplitude change, rate change, and preset disturbance time. These items define the characteristics of an intruder. When all three are detected simultaneously, an alarm signal is generated.

The operation of a microwave barrier is very simple. This type of device produces an electromagnetic beam using high frequency waves that pass from the transmitter to the receiver, creating an invisible but sensitive wall of protection. When the receiver detects a difference of condition within the beam, the system begins a detailed analysis of the situation. If the system considers the signal a real intrusion, it provides an alarm signal that can be treated in analog or digital form.

Micro-phonic based systems vary in design. Each is generally based on the detection of an intruder attempting to cut or climb over a chain wire fence. Usually the micro-phonic detection systems are installed as sensor cables attached to rigid chain wire fences. However some specialized versions of these systems can also be installed as buried systems underground. Depending on the version selected, it can be sensitive to different levels of noise or vibration. The system is based on coaxial or electromagnetic sensor cable with the controller having the ability to differentiate between signals from the cable or chain wire being cut, an intruder climbing the fence, or bad weather conditions

A taut wire perimeter security system is basically an independent screen of tensioned tripwires usually mounted on a fence or wall. Alternatively, the screen can be made so thick that there is no need for a supporting chain wire fence. These systems are designed to detect any physical attempt to penetrate the barrier. Unwanted alarms caused by animals and birds can be avoided by adjusting the sensors to ignore objects that exert small amounts of pressure on the wires. It should be noted that this type of system is vulnerable to intruders digging under the fence.

Fiber-optic cable can be used to detect intruders by measuring the difference in the amount of light sent through the fiber core. If the cable is disturbed, light will ‘leak’ out and the receiver unit will detect a difference in the amount of light received. The cable can be attached directly to a chain wire fence or bonded into a barbed steel tape that is used to protect the tops of walls and fences. This type of barbed tape provides a good physical deterrent as well as giving an immediate alarm if the tape is cut or severely distorted.