Sonitrol Evansville

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Evansville

Muncie

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Fire Prevention Week

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It is National Fire Prevention Week, and it is important to discuss fire prevention measures and safety tips with your loved ones, friends, and co-workers. 

Here are some safety tips to consider:

  1. Install smoke alarms throughout your home and business, test them once a month, and if they are not working, replace the batteries. An early warning from a regularly tested smoke alarm can save lives.
  2. Have a plan. Talk with your family, especially younger kids, about what to do if a smoke alarm goes off. Make sure you each know at least one or two ways to escape from every room in your home in the event of a fire. Do practice fire drills, and know where to meet up outside, for example, the mailbox. Have escape plans at your place of work, too. Practice getting out in less than two minutes.
  3. In the event of a fire, “Get out, and stay out.” Only professional firefighters should enter a building that is on fire. Don’t go back inside.
  4. Have a monitored fire system that will dispatch the fire department. Sonitrol’s fire detection integrates with all of our products and services for your home or business. Just like our alarm monitoring services, our Central Station team monitors smoke and heat detectors, sprinkler systems and pull stations. Our operators can differentiate between an intrusion alarm and a fire signal and will immediately dispatch the necessary emergency personnel to your facility or home. Our professional service team will install, maintain, and inspect your system regularly. Call us today for a free assessment at (800) 444-1191.

Celebrate our 50th Anniversary with us!

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Fifty years ago, in 1969, our founder, Dr. William Standring, “Doc”, opened Sonitrol of Evansville to help police reduce false alarms and to increase criminal apprehensions. Since then, our location has played an essential role in achieving Sonitrol corporate’s apprehension rate of over 180,140 criminals and counting. What began as one man’s vision of helping police catch criminals has grown into a trusted family of people who value each other, their clients, and their community. We couldn’t have achieved this milestone without the continued support of our customers, fire department, and law enforcement officers alike, which is why we’d like to invite you all to celebrate with us.
We would love to see you on Friday, September 13, 2019 between 11a.m.-2p.m. for our 50thAnniversary Open House. In addition to serving delicious barbecue and sides from our local favorite, Miller’s BBQ Catering, we will be giving tours of our Central Station, the heart of Sonitrol, where our operators work 24 hours a day to monitor our customers’ verified alarms. With the Central Station tour, you will find out how operators listen to live audio feed to determine whether or not to dispatch police. Join us for free barbecue, take a tour of our operation, and celebrate with us. We are excited for the next fifty years to come!

You’re invited!
When: Friday, September 13, 2019
Time: 11a.m.-2p.m.
Where: Sonitrol of Evansville
208 NW Third Street
Evansville, IN 47708

Call us with any questions: (800) 444-1191 or email: info@sonitrolev.com

50th Anniversary flyer

The Three a.m. Wake-up Call

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It’s three a.m. You are sound asleep, dreaming about that beach vacation you’re planning. Your toes are in the sand, the waves are gently lapping against the shore, when all of a sudden, an earthquake hits! Wait, it’s not an earthquake. It’s your cellphone buzzing across your nightstand. Why is my phone ringing at three a.m.? I was having the best dream!

No one wants to get that call. If you are a Sonitrol customer, you could be on the receiving end of one of those calls from our Central Station operators. Why? Has there been a break-in at your business? Maybe not. Often times, it’s not your usual suspect. A criminal hasn’t triggered the alarm at your facility. The culprit? An unsecured door, blown open by a summer storm or a gust of wind. Yep. A door.

But doors are great, right? They help protect the people who should be there and keep the noise, weather, unauthorized people, and zombies out. And with a Sonitrol security system at your business or residence, you’ve really added protection to your property, valuables, and loved ones. We’ve installed door contacts so that when your system is armed and a door is opened, our monitoring team will dispatch police.

How do the door contacts work?

A door contact has two components. First, there is the switch part that is attached to the doorframe. It can be wirelessly powered with a battery or wired directly to the security panel. The second part of the contact is a magnet. The two components need to meet up when the door is closed to let the control panel know that the door is shut. The standard allowable gap between the contact and magnet before it goes into alarm is ¾ of an inch. Once the magnet is farther than ¾ of an inch, the alarm point is considered open, and if the system is armed, our operators will be notified.

So how could a door cause a false alarm?

Sometimes, buildings settle, doors become misaligned, screws in hinges become loose, and doors and doorframes swell and shrink with changing seasons. It may sound as unlikely as a zombie knocking down your door, but it’s a common cause of false alarms.

So, what can you do?

  • Make sure all of your doors close properly. Can you pull the door open without turning the doorknob? Is there play in the door? When you pull on the handle, is it tight? Or does it wiggle and move?
  • Check the door hinges. The hinges should be checked to make sure screws have not loosened and the strike plate on the frame is installed properly and not damaged. Make sure the latch on the door is contacting the strike plate on the doorframe.
  • Check the door contact on occasion. Over time, the contact and the magnet can become misaligned or components can become damaged. Are both components of the door contact mounted properly and meeting when the door is closed?

Checking to make sure your doors are closed and secure and fixing older doors will help ensure that your building is protected when you arm the security system. It can increase police safety, too. Police safety? You bet. Avoiding these false alarms keeps our police from rushing across town when it isn’t necessary. On a windy night, or when a summer storm might be rolling in, that extra few minutes to check your doors could help make sure you enjoy those beach vacation dreams and don’t get a three a.m. wake-up call!

peaceful sleep

Preventing break-ins on summer break…

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The countdown is here, and sure enough, in just a few short weeks, students, and teachers alike, will be bursting through school doors across the country, proclaiming three months of freedom. And while the students are away, will the burglars play? Here are a few quick tips to secure your school and prevent a break-in:

  • Use outdoor lights. Make sure your school’s outdoor walkways, entrances, and exits are clearly lit. Motion detector lights are excellent deterrents for potential vandals.
  • Store valuable equipment, such as computers, tablets, and science lab items in interior rooms and away from windows, out of sight from prying eyes.
  • Consider a verified security company versus a traditional alarm company. Unique factors set Sonitrol apart from traditional alarms and help us protect your students, teachers, and campus. As a provider of school security to more than 12,000 schools across North America for over fifty years, the Sonitrol Safe Schools program takes campus security to another level. Here’s how:
  1. We provide state-of-the-art audio detection. With strategically placed audio sensors throughout your facility, you don’t have to worry about your school being unprotected while the students are away. The instant a vandal breaks a window, opens a door, or breaks into your facility through rooftop access or any means, our audio sensors are activated. This means operators in central station immediately begin listening to real-time events and can determine whether it is a false alarm or if a break-in is occurring. They relay this information to law enforcement. Traditional alarms can’t verify what is happening when the motion detectors they depend on are tripped, which causes a high rate of false alarms. Unlike Sonitrol, they can’t be sure an actual break-in is occurring. Also, a unique feature of the Sonitrol alarm is that the criminals won’t even know police are on their way because this is a silent alarm.
  2. We offer managed access control. Using programmed keyless entry, you can decide which employees have permission to enter your facility and through which doors. From day care facilities to college campuses, depending on the number of your staff, this is a huge convenience, during the school year and on summer break. Traditional alarm companies may offer access control, but Sonitrol also offers door prop notification. This means that if a student or staff member intentionally leaves a door propped open, for example, to allow someone to access the school after hours, our operators will receive a notification and contact you about the door. This feature can be programmed according to your specifications. You may, for instance, want door prop notification to alert us after only thirty seconds of a door being open. It’s up to you.
  3. We offer emergency panic buttons. It’s an unfortunate reality, but schools are more vulnerable to violence and crime than ever before. When the students and teachers return after break, Sonitrol can provide unmatched security for any on-campus emergency. Our panic buttons can be placed in common areas around the school, such as the front office, and can even be carried on key chains by administrators. With the press of a button, not only will police be dispatched, the audio sensors will activate to allow operators to listen in during an emergency. This enables them to provide critical details to responding law enforcement. As an extra feature, if you choose to add video surveillance as well, after a panic button has been pressed, operators can watch live feed of your campus. This allows them to provide law enforcement even more information as to what is happening on your campus. Before the police arrive, they can know who is in the building and where any potential perpetrators may be. While traditional alarm companies might offer you a panic button, they can’t verify what is happening on your campus as Sonitrol can with our technology.

Sonitrol can provide unrivaled security for your school. We even offer fire detection monitoring. This summer break let us handle your school campus security needs. For a free quote, call us today at 1-800-444-1191 to have one of our security professionals assess your school’s security risks and recommend a tailored solution to protect your school, students, and teachers.

safe schools

 

 

To the people that make Sonitrol wonderful!

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During this time of year, we reflect on the people that allow us to continue as successful, family owned company.

First, we would like to send a special thank you to all of our military, law enforcement and medical personnel.  At the top of this list are those who, because duty calls, will not be home with their families this season.  We appreciate your sacrifice!

A big thanks to our wonderful customers.  We appreciate that you have chosen us for your security and life safety needs.  Our goal is to continue to provide the high level of service that have kept you as our customer; some of you for decades!

Last, and certainly not least, our wonderful team of employees who work tirelessly to provide the outstanding service that has come to be Sonitrol and Maxitrol!  You’re an amazing group of people!

Please have a safe and Merry Christmas!

Apprehension – Owensboro PD catches a couple of turkeys!

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apprehensionWhile most of us were enjoying our long Thanksgiving weekend, Owensboro Police officers and Sonitrol operators were on the job keeping community property safe.

On Saturday morning at 1:52 am, operators received an audio alarm at an Owensboro church.  Police were immediately dispatched.  At 2:02 am, Sonitrol again contacted police dispatch to let them know there was another alarm on a new door.  Operators were informed that officers were on the scene.  The key holder called to let Sonitrol know that two teenagers were apprehended and 2 more were on the run.

A big THANK YOU, to the Owensboro Police Department!

Verified systems are the way of the future.  They help police by reducing false alarms.  And when an alarm is verified, police are dispatched to a burglary in progress and not just another burglary alarm.   Police can respond knowing they might catch the burglar in the act.  Catching the burglar in the act, allows the property owner keep their property and limits the loss to just a broken door or window.

If you are interested in a free assessment for a verified system, contact us.

Gobble Gobble!

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TurkeyWe are very thankful for our many awesome customers!  We sincerely appreciate that you have made the choice to use Sonitrol as your security provider.

Management would also like to thank our team!  We can do what we do because of an awesome team like you!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!