Preventing False Alarms

False Alarm Reduction Tips

Across the country thousands & thousands of hours are spent on investigating false alarms by Police & Fire Departments. With more & more communities cutting back on resources they are limited & should not be wasted.
False alarms negatively impact your home and personal life, but they also affect your security company & your community. False alarm fees can cost you hundreds if not thousands of dollars. It can also create dissatisfaction with your alarm system, as well as your security company.

Here are some causes of false alarms:

• Using incorrect keypad codes.
• Failing to train authorized users.
• Failure to secure doors & windows once the alarm is turned on.
• Wandering pets.
• Re-entering the home just after leaving without disarming (assuming the exit delay is long enough to compensate).
• Objects hanging by or around motion detectors.
• Weak system batteries.
• Faulty equipment.
• Acts of nature (strong winds, electrical storms, etc.).
• Not operating or properly maintaining fireplaces, wood stoves etc…
• Renovations can disable devices or cause the alarm to trip.

False alarms due to faulty equipment or acts of nature are rare. The single largest cause of false alarms is human error.

Once the causes are identified, some basic steps should help reduce false alarms:

• Properly train all users ( babysitters, relatives, children, visitors, etc.).
• Secure doors & windows before turning on alarm.
• Keep pets in areas of your home where they wont trip the system or get pet friendly devices.
• Keep your password/codes & call lists up to date with the Central Station.
• Service & maintain the system (including batteries) properly. When renovating keep in mind changes that may have to be made to your system.

If there is a question as to whether or not the system is working properly, immediately contact the security company to have a technician check the status of the system & devices.