Is Your Burglar Alarm Really Protecting You? What You Need to Know From a Top Security Expert

For 19 years, Lou Adorian has been designing and installing burglar alarm and other systems for The People's Republic of China as well as for White House correspondents and other high-profile journalists in the Washington, D.C. area. Lou's background includes his years as a military officer, when, among other things, he taught army security personnel about security. 

I've always been a worrywart, and Lou and his sons, Erik and Robert, installed alarm systems for three homes I've lived in. "I seek advice from my sons and vice versa," says Lou. Lou shared with me what he and his sons want you to know about burglar alarms.

How to choose an alarm company

Consult local consumer publications, Angie's List, neighborhood listservs and associations and people you know to be thorough researchers.

When considering someone, integrity is of paramount importance. Lou goes to homes and meets families. He has a low turnover of employees, most of whom have been with him for 17 years or more. He has no Website and doesn't advertise. Word of mouth supplies his company, InterAmerican Security, Inc., with plenty of referrals.

As an aside, Lou told me stories about alarm companies that unknowingly hired convicted felons. As you can imagine, the felons who installed the systems knew how to bypass the alarms.

Questions to ask

• Who will be installing the alarm?
• How are the technicians hired?
• How long have the technicians been with the company?
• What experience do the technicians have?
• In detail, how exactly will the alarm be installed?

Options

Think of alarm system like the human body. The better the brain the better you work (other things being equal).

• Devices that can hear:  Some are superior to others. Glass break detectors sound the alarm if someone breaks the glass or makes certain other loud noise (you want one that is designed not to sound when your dog goes into barking mode).
• Motion detectors that can see: They protect areas—sometimes more remote parts of your home—and they too should be pet-resistant.
• Contacts can sense open and closing of doors and windows.
• Zones: Your home is divided into many zones, so—in the event of a break-in or a false alarm—your keypad shows on an LED panel which zone has been violated.
• In addition, you can get devices to detect gasses, temperature sensors and fire detectors to protect difficult areas such as crawl spaces.

Monitoring by a central station

Lou points out that redundancy is important. If someone breaks in, your phone dials the central monitoring station (you may pay $20 or so monthly for this important service). They in turn phone you to see whether or not it's a false alarm or not (if it's a false alarm you give a password).

Lou's company uses 4 or 5 backup stations all over country, because let's say in one region there is a flu outbreak and the monitoring station has several absent workers. The phone call from your alarm goes to wherever there is an open line. If there's a break in, you want police sent to your home as soon as possible

Emergency availability

If I have a problem with the alarm, any day of the year, day or night, Lou, Erik or Robert will return my call within three to five minutes.

Lou told me about a customer whose alarm went off in the night and the police failed to show up. Lou went to her house with a shotgun while Erik checked out the system.

In her case, water had leaked onto one of her sensors. A technician who had been doing some wiring for her computer system had compromised her phone wiring.

Recent technology

• You can get Internet access and monitoring that doesn't require a phone, so you can have a wireless gateway. Even if the phone lines have been cut, the system is still working.
• You can use computers to operate your system remotely, but Lou does not recommend this. Someone could hack into your system. If I need something like that, Lou's office can do it for me.
• Biometric systems can read your fingerprints. There are even systems that let the central station know you are opening a safe under duress.

Biggest mistake people make

Sometimes there are a rash of break-ins in a neighborhood and people decide too quickly to hire an alarm company, without having thoroughly researched the company. For the work to be done properly on an average-sized house, it should take at least 2 men working diligently for at least 2 days to do it correctly.

To do the job right, it may cost around $2,000 (give or take $700, says Lou) to wire, say, an average-sized 3-bedroom home.

Lou says, do it right or don't waste your money. A system is only as good as it's weakest link.

Tips (Some of these tip as well as many others can be seen in my previous articles about deterring break-ins; click links below.)

Make your home harder to break into than others in the neighborhood:

• Avoid shrubs that provide hiding areas (thorny shrubs are also good).
• Keep doors and windows locked.
• Keep the outside well-lit.
• Do not leave ladders around.
• When going out of town, do not discontinue mail or newspaper deliveries; if necessary, cancel rather than suspend and do not let any mail or other deliveries accumulate.
• When out of town, have someone put out the trash.
• Keep a couple of 20-dollar bills near the front door area (but not visible from outside). If it's missing, you know someone has been there; do not go in.
• Lighting can be wired to go on inside to look more natural when you are away.
• When you are away, a black and white television with a timer that is set to turn off at 2 or 3 am provides sound and casts better shadows than a color TV.
• A dog, of course, is a wonderful deterrent.
• Most important is to have protection when you are at home.

Lou notes that a minefield laid out by the army is not an obstacle unless you can cover it with observation and fields of fire. In the case of alarms, that refers to the central station and police and fire departments.

When installing an alarm system, ask about hard wiring for fire protection.

Everyone should have carbon monoxide detectors. You can buy them at a hardware store.

Houses in neighborhoods are normally watched before they are broken into. If possible keep away from routines. Take note of any new cars in the neighborhood. A knock on the door is a way for someone to see if anyone is home or whether there's a dog. Never let a stranger in.

What tips for home security to you have?

FOR MORE ON DETERRING BREAK-INS:

• 8 GREAT WAYS TO DETER BREAK-INS
• 11 MORE GREAT WAYS TO DETER BREAK-INS . . . READERS SPEAK OUT