How a Monitored Security System Can Benefit Your Business

In 2011, there were 4,220 burglaries of residences and businesses in the Baton Rouge area alone. Larceny - taking away someone's personal property while trespassing on private property – affected 7,947 home and business owners.

Every day more homeowners are choosing to have a monitored alarm system installed in their homes, making their homes three times less likely to be broken into. With the rise of property-related crimes in Baton Rouge in the last few months, business owners would be wise to, also, consider getting a monitored alarm system installed in their establishments.

Having security cameras and a keypad installed in your business and being monitored by a reputable, local alarm company can not only keep you safe from after-hour burglaries, but can help protect your employees and assets. A monitored alarm system does not just protect from thieves, but can also safeguard from fire and vandalism. Business owners should also check with their insurance providers, as they sometimes offer discounts to businesses that have a professionally-installed security system.

One of the key benefits of having an alarm system is having total Access Control over your business and property. A business with multiple employees can assign a separate access code for each employee, allowing the business owner to log who is coming and going, and when. Also, lost or stolen keys are a problem of the past.

According to About.com's "Do I Need Electronic Access Control?":

You can evaluate your need for EAC by asking these three questions:

1. Do I need an audit trail, i.e. a time and date stamped record of every opening or attempted opening of a door?
2. Should different employees have different access privileges based on time and day?
3. Does a lost or stolen key represent an immediate security threat to my facility?

Answering yes to any of those questions can justify the investment in an EAC system.

Our U.L. Listed and Approved Central Station is located right here in Baton Rouge and monitors and processes your alarm system's signals 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Even during Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Issac, we never went offline. Depending on the signal received, we will dispatch the Police, Fire Department, or an Ambulance and notify you within seconds of an event.

Give us a call today - (225) 292-5276 -  to see what we can do for you in helping to make your business safer and better protected, or consider switching to us from your regular alarm company and get 6 months free!

[Call Alarm Center Security today for a FREE quote on a security system for your home or business - 1-800-97-ALARM - or visit our website to see if you qualify for a $0 down installation - alarm.net]

Want An Existing Alarm System Monitored? No Problem!

If you have an old or pre-installed alarm system in your home and would like to be monitored, we can help!

Perhaps you have moved into a new home that has an alarm system already installed, or maybe you had an alarm system installed yourself years ago but have never, or no longer have, it monitored. You have decided you would like your home to be monitored, but aren't sure if you have to get an entire new system installed or if an alarm company can work with what is already there.

Alarm Center has the solution! We can monitor any system, no matter who installed it!

Our customers are monitored through our local U.L. Listed and Approved Central Station; the largest in Baton Rouge. Central Station is never offline and so reliable that it stayed online and functional through Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Issac, keeping our customers safe during and after the storms.

What About Switching?

Do you have a system but are unhappy with your current company or unsatisfied with their response time? Give us a call at 225-292-5276. If you switch to us we'll give you 6 months FREE!

Alarm Center offers flexible solutions for your security needs, whether you're a homeowner who wants to keep their loved ones and possessions safe or a business owner with commercial property to protect. We work with each client individually to build a protection plan tailored to your specific needs.

[Call Alarm Center Security today for a FREE quote on a security system for your home or business - 1-800-97-ALARM - or visit our website to see if you qualify for a $0 down installation - alarm.net]

Alarm Monitoring - What It Is & How It Works

Having an alarm system is an important aspect of smart home safety, but homes with a monitored alarm system are 2-3 times less likely to be burglarized. Alarm Center offers monitoring from a local, state-of-the-art facility known as Central Station.

Our Central Station is U.L.-approved and located in Baton Rouge. The largest monitoring station in the city, it has the most up-to-date, high-tech equipment and software to monitor and process our customers' alarm signals.

Central Station is online 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In fact, even during the widespread outages caused by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Issac, Central Station never went offline!

Your Alarm Is Going Off – What Happens Next?

Depending on the signal coming from your alarm panel, which is wired to a phone line, the police or fire department or an ambulance will be dispatched immediately to your home or business. You will, also, be notified with a phone call (to your work and/or cell) within seconds of the alarm sounding and the call going out to the appropriate department.

To break it down even more for you, this is what happens when your alarm is tripped:

1. A signal is sent from your control panel to our monitoring facility.
2. We call your premises to verify the alarm. Your password is on file with us so that you can identify yourself in the event of a false alarm.
3. Our Central Station dispatches the proper authorities. (Police, Fire or Medical)
4. Our operators contact your emergency call list to notify you or your assigned emergency responder of the alarm and dispatch.

But I Don't Have a Home Phone!

We can still monitor you! Alarm Link will transmit your signal to our Central Station even if you don't have a telephone line.

Whether you don't have a phone line at your residence, or want to monitor a location where phone line access is not available, such as a boathouse or garage, our Alarm Link Wireless Monitoring is the solution.

Whatever Your Needs, Alarm Center Has You Covered!

[Call Alarm Center Security today for a FREE quote on a security system for your home or business - 1-800-97-ALARM - or visit our website to see if you qualify for a $0 down installation - alarm.net]

Alarm Center Celebrates Crime Prevention Month

It was in 1984 that the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) first designated October as Crime Prevention Month. Throughout the month, local governments, schools, businesses, and the like are encouraged to work together in educating the public about crime prevention.

If you are interested in getting your school, business, or community to take part in this October's Crime Prevention Month, the NCPC has kits to help get you started. The theme for this year can be downloaded at 2011-2012 Crime Prevention Month Kit on the NCPC website.

One of the main focuses of Crime Prevention Month is on getting citizens to join together to help create safer communities. One way that this is accomplished is by making people aware of, and getting them involved in, the NCPC's Celebrate Safe Communities program.  From the website:

Celebrate Safe Communities (CSC) is crime prevention done the right way – local people working with local law enforcement to address local issues. CSC spotlights communities' crime prevention efforts, enhances public awareness of vital crime prevention and safety messages, and recruits year-round support for ongoing prevention activities that help people keep neighborhoods safe from crime and prepared for any emergency.

Visit their website today to utilize resources and tools for your community, or to register your own CSC-inspired event.

Working together, we can all help to create safer communities for our families and children here in Louisiana.

[Call Alarm Center Security today for a FREE quote on a security system for your home or business - 1-800-97-ALARM - or visit our website to see if you qualify for a $0 down installation - alarm.net]

Locks Aren't Enough to Keep Your Home Safe

Simple is always best, and – unfortunately – breaking into a home can be just that. In fact, two of the most common methods burglars use to gain access to your home are also two of the most simple: kicking in the door and lock-bumping.

Crime statistics tell us that most burglaries occur when a thief simply kicks in your door. Another, less well-known, method is by bumping your lock. The method is simple – a regular key is filed down to trigger the pins in a tumbler lock.  In minutes and with a quick internet search, a thief can learn how to bump a lock, order "bump keys" for as little as $3/key, or even read how to make them himself.

Door kick-ins and lock bumping are simple and, frighteningly, effective. The FBI states 74% of burglars kick-in doors, making this method the most common type of forced entry. Statistics on lock-bumping are hard to come by, as a bumped lock shows no sign of damage or forced entry (often causing headaches for a victimized family trying to prove to their insurance company they have been burglarized!); however, according to Lock Bumping.org, a public service site about the procedure, more than 90% of American doors use an old style cylinder lock which is vulnerable to lock bumping.

The bonus for burglars – and the blow to you – is that both methods take shockingly little time to execute. A thief kicking in your door can be inside your home in less than a second. One utilizing a bump key will gain access in 1 minute or less.

While getting stronger doors and better locks is recommended, it cannot ensure your home's safety. Thieves have many other ways of getting into your home, including using tools to force open doors as well as windows.

The FBI states that a burglar breaks into a home every 15 seconds in the U.S. and that a home with a monitored security system is 2-3 times less likely to be broken into. The only way to guarantee your home's continued safety is by having a fully-monitored alarm system controlled by a key panel – no unreliable doors or locks to be concerned about, no windows that can be forced open without an alarm sounding.

Local Crime Woes

The widely-reported crime wave rocking Baton Rouge and the surrounding areas is not something local residents should take lightly. Of all the crime-related news you do hear about, there is far more that goes unreported. In fact, most burglaries and home break-ins are not reported in the news, but that does not mean they are not happening.

Alarm Center is proud of helping to keep the Greater Baton Rouge area and beyond safe since 1978.  We are fully licensed and insured, and with over 10,000 systems installed, we are confident we can meet all of your security needs.  In fact, all of our systems are guaranteed or your money back.

Owned and operated by local residents with a stake in our community's safety, we take great pride in our history, and the fact that we continue to offer protection and security to thousands of satisfied customers. In addition to no up-front costs (with approved credit) and the possibility of an up to 20% discount off your homeowner's insurance premium, depending on your insurance carrier, you can fill out our online form for a Free Estimate on our Comprehensive Homeowner's Package.

Your neighbors have trusted us for over 34 years – you can too!

[Call Alarm Center Security today for a FREE quote on a security system for your home or business - 1-800-97-ALARM - or visit our website to see if you qualify for a $0 down installation - alarm.net]

We're Open for Business!

In May of 2012, we began construction on a brand new building  here in Baton Rouge on the corner of Airline Highway and Siegen Lane. On October 1, we officially moved in!

Originally located on Coursey Boulevard, we are now at 11410 Airline Highway at Siegen Lane. Come by and visit us today.

If you need help finding our new location, visit the Find Us page on our website, or contact us at (225) 292-5276.

[Call Alarm Center Security today for a FREE quote on a security system for your home or business - 1-800-97-ALARM - or visit our website to see if you qualify for a $0 down installation - alarm.net]

Hidden Keys - Don't Do It!

On September 2, in Monroe, Connecticut, a homeowner came home to find his deadbolt unlatched and items missing from his home, including a video camera, laptop, and $500 in cash. There were no signs of forced entry and police noted that a key he kept outside was missing.

The victim made what is an all too common mistake among homeowners – leaving an extra key "hidden" outside the home. Everyone is familiar with the fake rock that you can buy to hide an extra key in your yard. Over the years, this has evolved into any number of seemingly ordinary yard, garden, or porch items to hide that extra key inside. Those not wanting to splurge on fake yard décor often hide their key in what they already have on display – under the door mat, on top of the door, in a flower pot.

Know who else is familiar with those rocks and rugs and flower pots? The burglar wanting to get into your home!

The problem with all of these "hiding" places is that they are so well-known and so many people use them, and thieves are well aware of this. Other security experts agree - a quick online check shows everyone from  from insurance companies to police departments to simple home protection articles  – advise against doing this. In fact, the only places that believe hiding an extra key outside of your house is wise are the places selling those rocks we just talked about.

Our unfortunate homeowner in Connecticut was hit, likely when he was at work, at a time when the FBI says more than half – 62% - of home invasions occur (precisely between 6am-3pm). Not only are you at work, but so are your neighbors, giving burglars time and leisure to snoop around and find that hidden key.

There are many reasons to need an extra key nearby and many will tell you to place that key in the trust of neighbor, friend, or family member. Yet, that's not exactly convenient if you're locked out and you can't get in touch with them. So what's a homeowner to do?

If you're determined to have that extra key stashed away, the safest option (or the lesser of the evils) is a combination-lock key storage box (pictured right). There's hundreds of brands and types to choose from, and they are widely available.

However, the only real way to guarantee the safety of your home, family and valuables whether you're a convenience-key-hider or not, is to have a fully-monitored alarm system with a keypad panel. This way, even if someone does come across your house key, they're still stopped in their tracks without your alarm password and the authorities are quickly notified that there's an intruder in your home.

Worried a home alarm system is beyond your means? You may be surprised. We have a wide range of security products and features to fit many needs and budgets, such as iAlarm, Alarm Link, as well as fully-monitored alarm systems. You also may qualify for our $0 Down Internet Special, where you can get a home security system installed with no up-front costs with approved credit.

If you'd like to know more, contact us today, or just fill out our online form for a Free Estimate on our Comprehensive Homeowner's Package.

[Call Alarm Center Security today for a FREE quote on a security system for your home or business - 1-800-97-ALARM - or visit our website to see if you qualify for a $0 down installation - alarm.net]

How to Secure Your Home from the Inside

How to Secure Your Home from the Inside on Howcast

[Call Alarm Center Security today for a FREE quote on a security system for your home or business - 1-800-97-ALARM - or visit our website to see if you qualify for a $0 down installation - alarm.net]

As Familiar As Pecan Pie

If you have been reading this blog, you know the statistics of high crime in Louisiana and specifically the Baton Rouge area. Even if you're new here, there's plenty of evidence of our drastically-high crime rate on the local news every single day. Perhaps you even know someone - a friend or family member, a co-worker, or someone in your neighborhood that has become the victim of a home invasion or violent crime.

Local authorities are attempting to tackle the high crime problem by creating pro-active groups like BRAVE, but what can a concerned citizen do to keep their own personal property and loved ones safe?

One of the most effective ways to ensure the safety of you and yours is to have a fully-monitored alarm system installed.  We discussed the importance of this step for anyone concerned about home security in our last blog post, "Who's In Your Fridge When You Aren't Home?"  Now we'd like to tell you a little about us and our services and how we can help you protect yourself from the growing threat of crime throughout our city.

Owned and operated by local residents with a stake in our community's safety, we have been serving the Greater Baton Rouge area and beyond since 1978. We take great pride in our history, and the fact that we continue to offer protection and security to thousands of satisfied customers.

We offer a full-range of security system services, including installation and monitoring, as well as products for homes and businesses.  Our experienced, competent, and friendly team of security experts will tailor a protection plan customized specifically to your needs.

Our state-of-the-art monitoring facility is U.L. Listed and Approved and the largest in Baton Rouge.  This U.L. Central Station provides services not available at other monitoring stations, such as video and GPS monitoring.  Up and running, and ready to serve you 365 days a year/24 hours a day, our Central Station didn’t miss a beat during Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav, or Issac!

Alarm Center is fully licensed and insured, and with over 10,000 systems installed, we know how to protect your family and possessions.  We're so confident we can meet all of your security needs, all of our systems are guaranteed or your money back.  We're so confident, we're offering to get you installed, configured, up and running for $0 down (on approved credit)! With no up-front costs and the possibility of an up to 20% discount off your homeowner's insurance premium, depending on your insurance carrier, why not call Alarm Center today?

[Call Alarm Center Security today for a FREE quote on a security system for your home or business - 1-800-97-ALARM - or visit our website to see if you qualify for a $0 down installation - alarm.net]

Who's In Your Fridge When You Aren't Home?

I once knew an insurance adjuster who worked in the burglary division of his agency and I'll never forget the day he said to me, "You'd be surprised at who's been in your fridge eating that cold fried chicken."

I have never been able to shake that image in my head of someone in my home when I wasn't there, eating out of my fridge, sitting in my favorite chair, rifling through my drawers, and invading my private space. It made me realize it was naïve to think that my home was safe and secure behind my flimsy lock and easily kicked-in deadbolt.  

People's homes get broken into every single day, and though we believe it could never happen to us, I'd imagine all those who have suffered through a home invasion once thought the same thing.

Though we may want to believe we are immune to such misfortune, the odds are not in our favor.  In the U.S., a burglar breaks into a home every 15 seconds.  According to the FBI, 62% of those burglaries occur during the day, between 9am-3pm, when most people are at work and their homes are left unoccupied and are more vulnerable to an invasion. 

Here locally we have cause for even more concern.  Of all the burglaries that occur in the United States, almost half of them - 45% - occur in the South.  

Louisiana itself, especially in and around the Baton Rouge area, has a notoriously high crime rate.  Statistics state that you have a 1 in 27 chance of becoming a victim of property crime in this state; in fact, of the 12,666 property crimes committed in Louisiana in 2011, 4,220 of them were burglary of a residence or business.

And yet, there is something you can do to prevent you and your family becoming a victim.  In contrast to the frightening stats above, it is proven that homes which have a fully-monitored alarm system are 3 times less likely to be burglarized.  If that isn't incentive in these times we live in, I don't know what is!

[Call Alarm Center Security today for a FREE quote on a security system for your home or business - 1-800-97-ALARM - or visit our website to see if you qualify for a $0 down installation - alarm.net]

Home Security and Burglary Prevention

From YT: Home Security and Burglary Prevention starts with understanding basic layers of protection and prevention. While a sticker or a sign isn't "secure", it is a deterrent and creates doubt in the mind of the burglar. There are a number of creative measures you can take to protect your home and family.

 

[Call Alarm Center Security today for a FREE quote on a security system for your home or business - 1-800-97-ALARM - or visit our website to see if you qualify for a $0 down installation - alarm.net]

Local Businesses Continuously Targeted for Theft

On July 31, 2012, the St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office asked for the public's help in catching a thief – or thieves – responsible for stealing over $71,000 worth of large pipe couplings from local business, Patterson Tubular Services.

Hopefully surveillance video from the business's yard will help nab the perpetrators and Patterson Tubular Services will be able to recoup some of their enormous loss.

While the theft of pipe couplings may not be something most business owners need worry about, any business or commercial building is susceptible to copper theft.  This crime is so prevalent here in Louisiana that a bill introduced this past legislative session – HB48 – easily passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law by the governor on May 22, 2012.  This law, which will be effective August 1, 2012, will impose harsher crimes for copper and other metal thefts.

Copper theft is a growing problem for Louisiana, as shown by a quick look at the long list of news stories tagged with "copper" at WBRZ, including the bust up of a copper theft crime ring in July 2011 (nine were arrested for stealing around $360,000 worth of copper over 20 months) and the February 2012 theft of over $100,000 worth of copper from Live Oak High School in Denham Springs.

Crimes such as this demonstrate the need for Louisiana business owners to invest in a monitored alarm system from a fully-licensed alarm company.

Alarm Center Security offers alarm monitoring for local businesses in and around the Baton Rouge area, providing theft and hold-up protection, fire detection, video surveillance, and digital recording.  Our systems allow you to see your business, inside and out, from any internet-connected computer in the world.

Our commercial alarm monitoring can also provide you with reports showing what time your business was opened and closed each day as well as which employee armed or disarmed your system and much, much more. We can also send an email to your cell phone any time an alarm signal is received. Also, if you forget to arm your system, don't worry; we can automatically arm it for you at a predetermined time each day.

We provide monitoring via a U.L. Listed and Approved Central Station, located right here in Baton Rouge, that monitors and processes your alarm system's signals 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Even during Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Gustav, we never missed a beat.

For those constructing a new office, we also offer pre-wiring services – see our New Construction page at our website for more information.

It's never too late to start monitoring your business and protecting it from theft.  Contact one of our sales representatives today to learn how Alarm Center Security can help protect your business from the unthinkable.

[Call Alarm Center Security today for a FREE quote on a security system for your home or business - 1-800-97-ALARM - or visit our website to see if you qualify for a $0 down installation - alarm.net]