Is your refrigerator running??
You may not think about it very often, (which may seem like a good thing) but even though your alarm system seems pretty self sufficient and quiet, there are certainly some things that need checked occasionally. For instance, when is the last time your control panel's backup battery was replaced? How about your contact list that the monitoring station calls in the event of an alarm? Have any of the phone numbers changed, or even the people on the list that you would like called? Have you switched phone providers, such as going from a regular AT&T POTS line to a VOIP service such as Comcast or Vonage, or cancelled a line? In any of these cases, you could be vulnerable when you need your security system to work most - in an emergency.
If your main control panel's backup battery voltage drops below a certain level, it will annunciate a "System Low Battery" message on the keypad accompanied by rapid beeping (on most systems). But this is under normal conditions, with AC power on and your battery has reached the end of its life. Even if your system isn't showing a low battery message, your battery could still fail in the event of a power outage. Let me explain: under normal conditions, your alarm panel regularly checks the battery's voltage to make sure it is above a certain level. When the battery can no longer hold a charge, the voltage will drop below this level and cause the low battery message. But one important thing to note that most people may not be aware of, is that an old battery may be able to hold just enough of a charge to keep the panel happy, but if the AC power goes out, the battery might only be able to provide a couple minutes of backup time. A good battery will provide anywhere from 4 to 24 hours of backup time, depending on the type of system and number of devices. The best way to avoid this problem is to replace the battery at least once every 5 years. If you are going to replace the battery yourself, be sure to write the date on the new battery when you install it.
Ok, so you've got a fresh battery and you're ready to head out on your two week vacation. Everything is great, until you come home to find that the alarm has gone off and you were never notified. How could this have happened, you think to yourself. I had my cell phone on me the whole time, and I didn't miss any calls. Suddenly you remember: my cell phone!! As in, the fancy new one you just got three months ago, along with your new number, when you switched providers. You check the answering machine, and find a message from the monitoring station explaining that they have dispatched the police to your address in response to an alarm signal, but they were unable to reach anyone to notify them of the situation because all the numbers they have on file for your contact list are either disconnected or wrong numbers. With the proliferation of smartphone technology, and every cell provider vying for your business, people are switching cell phone numbers more than ever before. Make sure you're in touch when it matters most by updating your contact list frequently. This can be done with a simple phone call or email to our office.
And finally, let's say you come home one day to find a "Comm Fail" message on your keypad. This means that your alarm panel tried to send a signal to the monitoring station for one reason or another (perhaps a power outage, low battery, or even an actual alarm event), and failed to get through. There could be a few different reasons for this, but the most common that we find is that people have switched to a different provider for their home phone service. This doesn't necessarily happen every time, but more often than not, the technician that comes out to get your new service set up will not know how or care to hook up the alarm panel to the phone line. There are quite a few different possible phone wiring configurations in any given house, and usually switching to a different type of phone service (such as going from a Plain Old Telephone Service or "POTS" line to a Voice Over IP service) requires some degree of rewiring to get the alarm panel reconnected to the new phone line. Another common situation we run into is when a customer cancels the phone line that the alarm system was connected to. Whether they are going strictly cellular as so many people are these days, or canceling that second line for the fax machine etc, people tend to forget about the alarm system. The best way to make sure you are always protected? TEST YOUR SYSTEM! We can't stress enough that the best way to ensure proper operation of your system is to test it frequently, preferrably about once a month. In most cases, your alarm system doesn't know anything is wrong with the phone line until it tries to use it. If you want to avoid phone line issues altogether, there is always the option of installing a radio on your system. Contact us for details. Obviously, the best case scenario for a comm fail is when something benign like a low battery or power outage occurs, but the worst case scenario, well, I'm sure we can all imagine a worst case scenario. I'm sure we can also agree that one of the greatest calamities in life is a catastrophic, life altering event that could have been prevented. Please, if you take one thing away from this article, remember to test your system frequently. As always, feel free to call or email our office for instructions on how to do this, or for more information on switching to a radio communicator.
