Affordable technology abounds for keeping bad guys out

In the home-security arena, anything is possible.

“Home-security systems today offer features you couldn’t have envisioned 25 years ago,´ said Bryon McAvoy, owner, Tri-Tech Security. “They’re more than just security systems. You can have card-access systems, employee time clocks, control security gates and lighting, and interface with closed-circuit television.”

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Perhaps the biggest change, McAvoy said, is that home-security systems no longer are just for high-end homes. In Northern Colorado, homeowners in all price brackets tend to stick to out-of-the-box packages with variables here and there.

“Competition and product development have brought the cost down so any consumer can afford a system,” McAvoy said.

In the early 1980s, for example, a system installed in a standard three-bedroom, 1,500-square-foot home would have cost about $1,800. Today it’s $400. Monitoring costs range from $20 to $30 per month.

Systems can be hardwired or wireless. Most systems come complete out of the box and monitor windows, doors and motion as well as water, smoke, fire, CO2 and carbon monoxide. The security systems are controlled via touch pads, usually located by the main entrance. Having two or more controls pads – including one in the master bedroom – is becoming more commonplace, especially in high-end homes.

What about those computer-monitored systems featured on home-design shows?

“I’m not a big fan of those systems,” McAvoy said. “They’re all real cool and everything, but the problem is consistency. They’re not backwards compatible. You continually have to upgrade, and there are compatibility issues.”

Phone access modules are becoming an increasingly popular option as well. They allow the homeowner to remotely arm and disarm the system when cleaning crews or repair personnel are expected, McAvoy said.

Basic necessity?

Phil McDonald, owner of Rocky Mountain Low Voltage in Greeley, specializes in installing systems in homes in the $200,000 to $500,000 range and some in the higher brackets, too. But in his experience not all homeowners – high-end or not – opt for a system.

“It really depends on the people and how they feel about the situation,” he said. “If they come from Denver, Dallas or New York, they’ll get an alarm system. If they’ve lived in Greeley all their lives and their parents didn’t have one, they don’t get one.”

Those who do want systems, according to McDonald, are sticking with the basics. “All the panels are the latest/greatest. Manufacturers have to keep up with Johnny next door. You can get fingerprinting, palm reading and eye reading, but no one here is getting into that. The last one I did was all pretty standard. A door contact is a door contact, a motion sensor is a motion sensor.”

 McAvoy said many homeowners purchase systems not to keep the bad guys out, but to keep their daughters in. “They want to turn their homes into mini-prisons to keep their young daughters at home, or young guys out of the home.

“I did an upper end in Fort Collins where the homeowner had triplet girls,” he continued. “She said she wanted to put a system in because she didn’t want her girls doing the stuff she did at their age. I switched every window, every door. If you open the window, bam, an alarm goes off.”

He agreed that it’s not a given that all high-end homes have security systems. “I’d say it’s less than 50 percent.”

Ann Lindstrom, director of corporate communications for ADT, the largest and oldest home-security company in the world, also agreed that security systems are no longer exclusively for high-end homes.

“In the early ’80s, people who had those systems were higher end, multimillion or even million-dollar homes. Now it’s mainstream for the middle American and lower-income to need and have it as a necessity of life.”

Meet the Jetsons

But that’s not stopping ADT from focusing on the custom-home market, Lindstrom said from her office Boca Raton, Fla.

“One product in particular is called the iCenter. It’s a Jetsons-like security system with a graphical touch keypad.” In other words, it’s like an ATM. “It’s much more of a revolutionary system than anything else on the market. You can arm and disarm remotely, you have the capability of turning on and off lights.”

The iCenter comes with X10 technology, which Lindstrom said is akin to a family messaging system that includes voice mail. “It’s a very sophisticated thing.”

High-end homeowners also have the option of camera systems to ensure the premises are fully protected. They may need to monitor the gate and add perimeter protection as well as guarding all of the doors and windows in the structure itself.

“We’re seeing significant growth in the industry, not only in the custom-home market,” Lindstrom said. “People are away from their homes more and this is something they feel they really need.”

And it’s not just urban America. As crime is controlled in one area, it often pushes out to other areas. “We may consider ourselves rural, when in fact we’re more suburban,´ said Lindstrom, who used to reside in Colorado. Even rural residents find the need for security. “People who are farmers have very valuable equipment and fertilizers they need to keep their eyes on.”

Reducing false alarms

As systems become more sophisticated, it’s imperative that homeowners are educated on how to use their systems.

To alleviate false alarms, ADT, for example, has implemented enhanced call verification. The monitoring system calls the home to ensure it’s a real alarm and not inadvertently triggered. Then a second call is made to the owner’s cell phone to inquire why the alarm went off. “In 80 percent of the cases, it’s, ‘Oh gosh, my son got off from school early today’ or ‘My maid was going in today.’

“False dispatches to police are things we take very seriously,” she added.

So are life-threatening situations. “If we received a holdup alarm and we called and the homeowner said everything was OK, but the operator sensed that it’s not OK, we would send the authorities. Or if we’re not able to reach the homeowner, we would send the authorities.”