When it comes to what’s in store for the home security system market for 2014, the buzzword is still “traditional,” according to James Cook, sales manager at American Alarm.
“We’re selling more traditional home security systems, not the other stuff and that’s what’s generating our growth,” Cook says. “Although I expect that things like full home automation and other add-ons will continue to grow a little bit after people get more comfortable with technology.”
Cook says that while some homeowners may like the add-ons including mobile apps and remote monitoring, the main reasons they invest in home security and alarm systems are to prevent burglaries and fires.
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4 Ways to Save Money on Your Homeowner’s Insurance
/by American Alarm Blogging TeamIf you’re like the rest of us, you’re looking to save money any way you can. You make sacrifices like eating out less, cutting back on vacations, and buying fewer clothes. However, there’s another way to save money – by taking advantage of the discounts your insurer offers on your homeowner’s insurance.
Here are four way ways to lower the costs of your premium, courtesy of the Insurance Information Institute.
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Tips to Keep Your Basement From Flooding
/1 Comment/by American Alarm Blogging TeamImagine this scenario: You’re on a great winter getaway, soaking up the rays on one Caribbean island or another. The temps are in the mid-80s, and you and your family are snorkeling and swimming with the dolphins. The last thing on your mind is the plumbing in your home back in New England.
When you get home, you discover (to your horror) that your water pipes have frozen and burst, flooding your basement and causing significant damage that requires extensive and costly repairs.
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Top Ten Ways to Prevent Shoplifting
/by American Alarm Blogging TeamShoplifting. It may seem like an innocent crime, but it’s costing retailers nearly 11 billion dollars in loss every year. Some of the most common items include clothing, books, music, jewelry, and pretty much anything you can fit in your pocket or purse.
A good video surveillance system can help identify and prosecute a suspect after a theft occurs — but, wouldn’t you like to stop it from happening altogether?
In this video, American Alarm Blogging Team’s Sunny Gault will give you the top 10 ways to help you prevent shoplifting.
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Working Smoke Detectors, CO Detectors Save Lives
/2 Comments/by American Alarm Blogging TeamOn Wednesday February 12th, a woman in her 50s lost her life when a fire broke out in an apartment of a three-family home in Cambridge, Mass. Fire officials determined the cause of the fatal blaze was an electric baseboard heater that may have malfunctioned.
The home fire alarm system (smoke detectors) inside the apartment, as well as throughout the building, had been disconnected or did not have batteries, said Cambridge Fire Chief Gerald R. Reardon.
“A working smoke alarm coupled with an escape plan can double one’s chances of surviving a fire,” he said.
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5 Tips to Protect Your Pet in Emergencies
/2 Comments/by American Alarm Blogging TeamAs a leading provider of home alarm systems, we’ve written a lot about things you can do to ensure the safety and security anyone living with you – and, of course, yourself. Everything we do is focused on helping you protect your family and your home in the event of an emergency or natural disaster — but what about your furry, four-legged family members? Don’t forget to take them into consideration when you develop your family’s emergency preparedness plan.
We offer you five tips, some of which are courtesy of The Humane Society of The United States, to protect your pets in emergencies and natural disasters:
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5 Ways to Prevent Credit Card Fraud
/by American Alarm Blogging TeamIn an alarming statistic reported by Forbes, 42% of people in the United States have experienced some type of credit card fraud occurring to their account. After the card information has been stolen, an average amount of $5,000 in fraudulent activity occurs before the problem is fixed. Although credit card companies and banks are doing more to prevent this issue, it is, unfortunately, still up to the card holders to do as much as they can to prevent credit fraud.
We recently put together an infographic outlining the strange life of a stolen credit card — today we’d like to discuss our top 5 ways to prevent credit card fraud.
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Business Security Trends for 2014
/1 Comment/by American Alarm Blogging TeamThe business security system market will show strong growth in 2014, driven by access management and video, according to James Cook, sales manager for American Alarm.
The Boston Marathon bombings demonstrated the importance of video cameras, as we mention in a recent blog post. Investigators used video from a number of businesses in the Copley Square area to identify Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who are suspected of the bombings.
The need to manage access to buildings via video surveillance systems and alarm systems that include enhanced access control is being driven in large part by the school shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut as well as other schools across the country, Cook says.
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Home Security Trends for 2014
/1 Comment/by American Alarm Blogging TeamWhen it comes to what’s in store for the home security system market for 2014, the buzzword is still “traditional,” according to James Cook, sales manager at American Alarm.
“We’re selling more traditional home security systems, not the other stuff and that’s what’s generating our growth,” Cook says. “Although I expect that things like full home automation and other add-ons will continue to grow a little bit after people get more comfortable with technology.”
Cook says that while some homeowners may like the add-ons including mobile apps and remote monitoring, the main reasons they invest in home security and alarm systems are to prevent burglaries and fires.
Read more →
[Infographic] The Strange Life of a Stolen Credit Card
/by American Alarm Blogging TeamCredit card fraud is a frightening hazard of commerce in the modern age, spurred on by our increasing reliance on Internet shopping along with increasingly brazen in-person high-tech cloning operations. How do credit card numbers get stolen? What happens to those numbers once they are in the hands of thieves?
We’ve put together this infographic to help explain not just the mechanics of how your credit card number could end up being sold to the highest bidder, but also who is out there purchasing this illicitly-gained data and what they are willing to pay for it. Keep reading – the answers to these questions, and more, might surprise you.
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Top 5 Home and Business Security Posts of 2013
/1 Comment/by American Alarm Blogging TeamIt’s the end of the year and time for a look back at the Top 5 Home and Business Security Posts of 2013. This year we saw a focus on keeping homes and valuables safe in the most-read content from our blog. Each post below offers some great tips to add to your calendar as we start a new year. Here’s a look at our top five posts of 2012.
Number 5: Is a Dialer Delay in Your Home Putting You at Risk?
The all-in-one security system is attractive, but many systems include a four-minute notification delay to avoid false alarms. This post explores how thieves can rob you blind in four minutes and why you need to question your alarm company about such a delay.
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