Home and business security systems can be a very effective crime fighting tool. However, a security system that is constantly sending in false burglar alarm signals is a problem for both law enforcement and the homeowner. Many areas charge fines for excess false alarms, so it can also be an expensive problem.

Unfortunately, the majority of alarm dispatches are false alarms. In addition, the majority of false alarms are by 1-2% of burglar alarm owners who are repeat offenders. This problem with false alarms is that it is like crying “wolf”. Repeated calls to a site causes the police to develop a complacent attitude when dealing with these false alarms.

But you as a responsible alarm operator can take proactive measures to reduce the risk of having a false alarm. The following tips will help you reduce the occurrence of false burglar alarms at your home or business.

• Make sure all doors and windows are shut completely before setting the alarm. It is quite common for a door to be barely closed, and blow open after the homeowner has left.
• Ensure that everyone who has authorized access to the home or business knows the alarm code and the password should the alarm be accidentally set off.
• If the alarm is triggered, answer the phone and give the monitoring company your password. Too often dispatches could have been avoided had the homeowner simply answered the phone.
• Turn your alarm off quickly should you set it off. Many systems are set to send in a cancellation code if turned off quickly.
• If you add a pet to the family, make sure your alarm company knows about it. There are pet motion detectors available that are designed to detect human intrusion, but ignore animals. A word of caution however. These pet motions are designed to pick up a height versus width size pattern. So if you have a cat that jumps, it can fool the motion into thinking it is a person standing up. You may wish to consider an alternative to the motion detector if you have a cat.
• Make sure that there are no cobwebs around your motion detectors. Spiders and other bugs will cause the motion to go off if they crawl on it. A good idea in some cases (especially commercial settings), is to put a moth ball up behind the motion. This will drive the bugs away. But remember that you do have to replace them occasionally.
• Never leave floating balloons in a room with a motion detector. The biggest time of year when this is a problem is around Valentine’s Day. The Mylar balloons trigger a multitude of false burglar alarms that time of year.
• Don’t leave remotes out where they can be played with by children or pets. Many home security systems have panic buttons on their remotes which can easily be set off if children are playing with them, or pets are stepping on them.
• Be careful of leaving items out that can fall in view of the motion. A good example would be setting Hallmark cards up on a counter where they could fall off in front of the motion.
• If you have your doors or windows replaced, have a security professional reinstall your contacts and magnets. If the magnets are not lined up properly, the contact will go off intermittently.
• If the home you bought was new construction, pay particular attention to your exterior doors after you have been there a few months to a year. All houses have some settling. This settling, along with the sun hitting the doors, may cause the doors to warp just enough to put the contact and magnet out of line with each other. If you hear your chime going off when your alarm is not set, this is usually a sign of this condition. Try to see which zone is chiming and report it to your alarm company.
• Test your system at least once a month to ensure that everything is working properly. Open only one opening at a time to ensure that an opening is not wired on the same loop as another opening. Occasionally while doing this test, you may find a window or door that is not chiming. This will be a sign of a bad contact that has “stuck or frozen” in security industry terms. This bad contact may unstick itself and send in false alarms if not properly addressed.

A well designed security system should trigger very few if any false burglar alarms. Make sure that your security system fits your lifestyle and movement patterns.

Reducing false burglar alarms should be a cooperative effort between the alarm system owner and the alarm company. A little extra care when operating your system will go a long way towards reducing false alarms, and make you a more satisfied alarm system owner.

Lonnie Sallas is a 13 year veteran of the alarm industry and President of Texstar Alarm Systems in Houston Texas. Reducing false burglar alarms is a high priority for the alarm industry as we want to ensure a good relationship with law enforcement and give the alarm system owner a more rewarding experience.

Click the link for more tips on reducing false burglar alarms.

If you happen to live in the Houston area, consider Texstar Alarm Systems the next time you are looking for a security system in Houston.

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