Neither has Sonitrol’s competition…
Click on the link below to listen to a recent break in followed by Evansville Police Dept. apprehending the burglar.
If you would like more information on how to protect your business, both inside and outside, contact us for a FREE assessment.
One of the most wonderful times of the year can quickly turn into the most dangerous time of year without proper fire prevention. As you decorate and spread holiday cheer remember some of these simple tips:
For more tips on keeping your property from a fire, go to NFPA.ORG.
If you have a sign on your door saying the business is closed for the weekend, you have just told the public that your building will be unoccupied for the holiday. Is your alarm system up to the task?
Several businesses have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars over a holiday weekend. The bad guys even took their truck. And while you may have the very best insurance provider, they usually only cover lost equipment. Which piece of equipment is most valuable to your business? If it was gone, how long would you be down? If someone burglarized your store, how long would it take to clean up and restock the missing items? Burglaries cost money. No system can prevent burglaries. But a verified system has a better chance of keeping your property on your property.
For a free assessment contact us!
APPREHENSION
Last night at 2:30 am, Sonitrol operator Tina, received an alarm from Owensville Community School in Owensville Indiana. Police arrived to find a broken window. One person was apprehended. Other then the broken window, there was no property loss.
Special thanks to the Owensville Police Department for their quick response time!
If your school is interested in a security solution that works, contact us for a free assessment!
Have you ever had to dial 911? If you have, you’ve probably been nervous, scared, shaken up, maybe even hurt. In honor of National Public Safety Telecommunications week, we have put together some tips to help you, help your 911 operator get help to you.
1) Is it an emergency? If you need law enforcement, the fire department or an ambulance, call 911. If you need directions, call 411.
2) Listen to the questions that the 911 operator asks. This person is trained to get specific information to help life safety respond accordingly. Be prepared to answer these question:
A) What is the emergency?
B) Where are you?
C) Who needs help?
3) Speak slowly and precisely. This maybe hard to do in a stressful situation. But the calmer you are, the quicker you can relay the information.
4) Give the operator all the information, especially if someone is unconscious or has stopped breathing. The 911 operator may give you instructions for immediate help that you can provide until help reaches you.
Hopefully you will never have to call 911. But if you do, know that there is a trained person there to get you help.
Thank you to all our of our 911 operators! ~ Sonitrol
APPREHENSION
Last night at 12:52 am, New Castle Police responded to an alarm at a local consignment shop. Police arrived to find the suspect exit and then dart back in the shop. They arrested one individual!
If your burglar alarm scares a burglar away with your property, you may never get your property back! Catching them in the act is a BIG DEAL!
Here’s how one police chief described verified alarms: “Alarms that merit a higher response…get the response they need to make arrests. And that’s what we are all going for here. Because if you take that guy off the street, that’s committing the offenses, you solve that crime. You probably solve a handful of crimes that have occurred before that, that that guy has already committed, that you can tie to this one or that he confesses to. And then you prevent all the crimes that he’s not going to do while he is sitting in jail. So it’s a big deal to make an arrest, on one of these calls!”
So help your police and sheriff departments! Get a Sonitrol system!
First one to comment on this post with the correct answer will win 3 Evansville Icemen Hockey, Suite tickets to tomorrow night’s game at the Ford Center:
+In honor of our hometown hero, Don Mattingly:
Don Mattingly shares the record for most home runs hit during 8 consecutive games. How many total did he hit in these 8 games?
Remember, you must comment on this post to win.
One of our awesome Evansville customers alerted us to this phone scam yesterday:
“Just a heads up on a scam phone call that was received this morning from Seth at (location).
Seth answered a call and the person on the other end told Seth that he was with Emergency 24 and they were receiving a break-in alarm from our business and if he could give them his security code then they could clear it on their end.
Obviously Seth immediately realized that this was out of place and he had never heard of this company and he refused to give them any info. Once he told them this, they said “nevermind we’ll handle it”
The number that they called from was a 773 area code and the number goes back to an unnamed telemarketer with dozens of complaints filed against it.
Please share this info with any employees who may answer the phone from time to time and be sure that they route any questionable call like this to a manager.
Not sure what a company or an individual could gain through our security system but with all of the technology and electronic viruses in place – we want to keep ourselves protected as well as possible.
Great job Seth on handling this correctly and then spreading the word so we are all aware.”
THANKS SETH!!! GOOD JOB!
We also don’t know the intent of this phone scam. But, please share this to alert other businesses and residences!
A recent wave of commercial break-ins has unveiled a brazen, knowledgeable criminal. Telephone lines have been cut which has effectively disabled the security system by causing a communication failure back to the monitoring station. In some cases, the entire panel was ripped out. Cell back-up provides backup communication paths for reporting of alarms in the event of a loss or cut of your primary communication line. It is recommended that every alarm system be equipped with a cell backup device.
When the communication line is cut, a signal is immediately sent via the cellular line to the Monitoring Center telling operators that the phone line is down. Because the cell backup unit maintains constant communication with the Monitoring Station, operators are still able to monitor the facility, providing continuous information to the police department in the event of an actual alarm.
It is important that you determine where your telephone or broadband IP infrastructure cables enter your building. If you have any exposed cables, take immediate steps to secure them. It is also important to secure the room that houses the control panel or the brains of your security system. This box should be out of sight to your visitors and customers. You also want to make sure that the delay, or amount of time you are given to enter your building and disarm the system, is as minimal as possible. Remember, the longer the delay, the more time a criminal has to find your control panel and try to destroy the communication lines. Thirty seconds can be the difference between an alarm and an undetected burglary.
If you presently use a regular hard phone line, your services could be limited in the near future. Voice over internet protocol is the latest practical way to make phone calls over your internet connection. VoIP is a recreation of the telephone, allowing users to reach anyone across the globe with little to no issues as well as at a lower cost. More importantly, if you have a security system, the inevitable switch from a hard phone line to Voice over Internet Protocol will eventually make your systems unable to function.
Here is some helpful information to answer what Voice over IP is and how you can keep your security system running optimally.
VoIP basically just uses your internet connection to place your call. VoIP transmits someone’s voice into a digital signal that can travel across that internet connection. The technology behind VoIP will entirely replace traditional phone systems and render them obsolete. Companies Vonage or MagicJack, offer services that allow customers to make calls to virtually anyone with a phone number and internet connection, all at a fraction of the price. Many major telephone service companies such as Verizon and AT&T are also converting towards VoIP.
Calls are limited to only places that you have a broadband connection. However, home systems that have internet connection and public internet places make VoIP more flexible than the traditional wireline system.
A traditional telephone system works by the phone service company running a telephone line to central point in your home. A typical older alarm system will by using a telephone signal from that same center point. The alarm system is able to “capture” and take over the phone line when the alarm system needs to transmit an important signal to its central monitoring hub. Due to the fact that VoIP is entirely wireless, alarm systems that are using a VoIP platform will need the same access to send an emergency signal to its center monitoring device.
Most VoIP systems are enabled with a similar feature known as QoS or quality of service. The feature allows for prioritized information to be sent digitally over the internet connection so platforms such as your alarm system can stay reliable and consistent. A highly qualified alarm technician needs to ensure your system will successfully “capture” the line through the new wireless method.
Within the next 10 years, switching to VoIP will no longer be optional. Here are some other helpful tips to ensure your alarm system will continue to run smoothly, keeping you and your family safe:
