Landlines Give Way to a Wireless Future

The Center for Disease Control's 2012 National Health Interview Survey uncovered an unexpected tidbit about telecommunication. The survey reveals that in the first half of the year, more than a third of American adults had a mobile phone but no landline. On the flip side, less than a tenth relied solely on landlines for telecommunication.

The rise of the mobile phone is hardly surprising. It has, for the better part of two decades, revolutionized communication by allowing people to stay in touch with one another without being leashed to a telephone cord. The mobile future was taken to new heights when smartphones, the Swiss knife of cellphones, entered the market.

The steady decline of landlines and the shift to wireless communication is forcing some industries to adapt too. For example, home alarm systems are usually tied to landline connections, using them to send alarm signals in the event of a break in. However, as more households choose to cut the cord, cellular alarm monitoring systems have become a viable alternative for home protection.

Landlines, like paper, is said to be on the way out. No one knows when the last phone call using this technology will be placed, but its decline has opened a world of possibilities for newer and more convenient alternatives. 

Be Better off Having Someone to Watch Your Back

As crimes become more common and frequent these days, some people think that they're not as safe as they were in the past. Detroit, for instance, unfortunately remains as one of the most crime-ridden cities in the country. Many homeowners are taking matters into their own hands by installing better security devices in their homes, especially those that come from alarm monitoring companies.

These devices are often touted as being better than traditional ones for a variety of reasons. Their primary advantage is that they can notify both the police and the homeowner of any intrusion or attack in the property no matter where they are. The response is very fast, thanks to the advanced transmission protocols used by monitoring companies. At the same time, the devices themselves are also tamper-proof, which means that they'll sound the alarm if someone tries to remove or disable them.

However, these machines have other practical uses that further add to their appeal. Monitored alarms can also be used to warn the homeowner about fire or if a baby is left unattended. Some high-security facilities like laboratories and research centers use monitored CCTV cameras to help in personnel authentication, preventing unauthorized access to people who manage to bypass security checkpoints.

Keeping Close Tabs on the Security of Your Vacation Home

Vacation homes provide you with a place that you can claim as your very own slice of paradise. When they are located in idyllic locales, they can even work better than resorts in helping you relax and just wind down. There's one catch with these homes though in that they are not always secure since you have to leave them unattended for long periods of time. It's a problem that can be addressed by signing up for what's known as the cellular alarm monitoring feature that security companies provide.

Since you can't spend 365 days in your vacation home and it could be expensive to hire a steward, the next best thing is to have something in place that can tell you right away if your property is at risk. Alarm monitoring services can alert you to anything unforeseen as well as potential criminal events around your property.

The best part of this security feature is that you don't need any special equipment or software to get updates. Once you sign up for this feature, the company itself will notify you through your cellphone. Make sure to apply only with reliable security groups, because there may be thieves out there who may want to use this idea to get information on your home and potentially infiltrate it.

A Cellphone is All You Need to Protect Yourself

Alarm monitoring services provide household members and business owners alike with reliable security systems that guarantee a speedy response from the police or the fire department in case of any emergency in their properties. However, these systems may not work well if, say, the local telephone lines are down. As a response, some alarm monitoring companies turn to cellular technology so they can continue providing their clients with top-notch security.

Cellular alarm monitoring is primarily catered to people who have yet to sign up with a phone company, although it is also used as a backup channel of sorts for those who wanted standard alarm monitoring services. The biggest advantage of cellular alarm monitoring is that it can't be easily disabled by criminals using conventional means (i.e. cutting telephone wires). Cellular alarm monitoring is also flexible and can easily be routed for use in existing security devices.

Perhaps the only noticeable downside is that this technology demands home and business owners to upgrade their devices. Second-generation (2G) cellphones are generally considered to be too primitive even when it comes to cellular monitoring, since 3G and 4G devices are regarded as standards. This also means that some cellular modules may not be supported by the alarm monitoring company, further necessitating the need to upgrade.

Questions to Ask and Answer before Getting a Home Alarm System

A house security system has proven to be one effective means of keeping valuables, property, and lives safe. There are questions, though, that homeowners should ask themselves before jumping right in and purchasing a new alarm system. The first couple of questions being: how many windows and doors should be hooked up to the security device, and where should the control panels and keypads be?

The first couple of questions are important because they determine how comprehensive the security system will be and what rooms are in more need of protection. For example, many homeowners want the areas frequented by the home’s inhabitants (i.e. bedroom, family room, kitchen) to be switched into the system. The control panel and keypad, meantime, are recommended to be placed as strategically as possible, like in the bedroom and front door for accessibility.

The third question is: how far away is the control panel from the windows and doors where the alarms will be installed? The response to this query would help the property owner determine if wires need to be routed to properly function. If it is a wireless system, what will be identified will be the strength of the sensors’ signals and if they are being received by the high tech devices.