Finding the best alarms for you and your home

As great as precautions and safety tips can be, they won’t always be enough. It only takes an average of a minute for someone to break into a home, making every second count when it comes to deterring potential home invaders. With a home alarm in place and sounding off, the criminal will be uncertain of just how much time they’ll have until a response is mounted, reducing any loss suffered. We spoke to Northamptonshire police, as well as a retired police officer who preferred to stay anonymous.

General tips

Do not discuss any security details or requirements you may have with companies that cold call you. Only discuss this information with a firm you have yourself contacted. Do not hesitate to contact Trading Standards if you have any doubts about a firm.

When you’re choosing an alarm company to go with, try to get quotes from at least three companies recognised and inspected by a reputable body. These can include the ‘Security Systems and Alarms Inspection Board’ (SSAIB) or the ‘National Security Inspectorate’ (NSI)

Remember, while general tips alone might not always be enough to protect your peace of mind, an alarm is not a be-all end-all. Stay up to date on good home security techniques and measures.

Home alarms can seem a little complicated at first, so it’s important to understand just what they entail for you, and just what your options are. Take into account the type of house you own, the area you live in, and a budget.

There are four main types of burglar alarm, each with a different response level

- ‘Smart-home security systems’ will automatically contact either you or a designated family member through a specialised app, whenever the alarm is triggered.

- ‘Monitoring Contracts’ involve making regular payments to a company, who will themselves respond, taking action and calling the police.

- ‘Sound only Alarms’ will make a sound to deter burglars, but won’t actually contact you or the police, unlike

- ‘Dialling Alarms’ which dial either your or a family member’s phone.

Smart-home

This is probably the most versatile form of alarm, but can also become the most expensive depending on your specifications.

You will first need a central hub unit, to which you can then connect extra features, such as cameras, light-switches, motion detectors, and more, through a WiFi connection. These can then be connected to a smartphone or tablet belonging to you or a family member. This means that not only will you be contacted when the alarm is triggered, but you will be able to control your smart security at the tap of a button.

Advantages

This system will contact you directly when away from home, and can be monitored from your own phone.

Disadvantages

A smart-home relies on network signal strength, as with GSM diallers (see below), and costs can quickly add up depending on selected functions.

Monitoring Contract

Alarms set up with a Monitoring contract will alert a designated homeowner, or the police, when it is triggered. Unlike the other alarm systems listed here, a regular (annual or monthly) fee is given to a monitoring company.

If the alarm is triggered, this company will make a call to your landline asking for a specific, prearranged password. If there is no response or an incorrect answer is given, then depending on the contract, the company will either call the police or a designated keyholder. The designated keyholder(s) will need access to the house, must be a licenced driver, and must live up to 20 minutes away.

Advantages

Monitoring companies are available and ready 24/7 to respond to a break-in, making them potentially more reliable than a dialling alarm. Also, if no response is made, they will be liable if they fail to take action.

Disadvantages

Unlike other alarm systems, regular payments must be made to an external company. You must also ensure keyholders live close by, and it’s your responsibility throughout to keep the company updated with their contact details.

If your monitoring contract involves a direct call being made to the police, there are a few more factors to take into account.

Firstly, ensure your monitoring company is actually registered with the local police force. Secondly be aware that this does not actually guarantee a police response, and depends on other incidents occurring simultaneously as well as police resources.

Take care also to familiarise yourself with the system, two separate sensors within the home must be triggered in order to contact the police, but each year the police still receive an overwhelming majority of false alarms. The more reason they have to believe someone is in the property, the more likely a response.

Sound only

Though a sound-only alarm will make a loud noise when triggered, no actual contact to you or an authority is made. It therefore relies either on the burglar being intimidated enough to leave the property, or on alerting someone in the area into making a call to police.

It’s worth considering the neighbourhood most with this type of alarm, do you live in an active neighbourhood where you trust someone will call in an emergency?

Advantages

Sound-only alarms can still help to deter burglars in the event of an attempted break in, while the lack of a monitoring contract makes them more affordable.

Disadvantages

Unless anyone hears the alarm, there’s no guarantee of a response, or that the burglar will even be deterred.

Dialling Alarm

Also known as an auto-dialler, these will message you or a nominated contact when it is triggered, giving you the opportunity to message the police or a neighbour. Often, they can be programmed with somewhere between three and ten numbers, which will be contacted in a priority order of your choosing.

Advantages

With a dialler alarm, you and those you trust can be alerted whenever the alarm is triggered. As with sound-only alarms, there is also no monitoring contract to be paid for.

Disadvantages

You or nominated contacts might still be unavailable when the alarm’s triggered.

Dialling alarms can be sorted into two further types, ‘GSM’ and ‘Speech’ diallers.

GSM diallers use network signals to contact you, whereas ‘speech’ diallers will use your phone landline.

This means that with a GSM dialler, you’ll have to both have a landline, and install wires connecting it to the alarm. With a speech dialler, you won’t have to run wires, but a SIM card is required, with enough credit to call. As speech diallers use networks, make sure your home has good signal before choosing them.

Compiled and written by Isaac Warrington, with input from Northants police, and statistics from Which?