home alarm at 5:30 am!

[Teamless]

My sister has an audible alarm inside the air conditioner ductwork, so it really amplifies the sound and is very hard to disconnect if you are a burglar.

[gabe]

My sister has an audible alarm inside the air conditioner ductwork, so it really amplifies the sound and is very hard to disconnect if you are a burglar.

Her neighbors must love that if she has any false alarms.

[gabe]

Does anyone know a motion sensor (PIR) alarm system that can be self installed and will phone/email/SMS me if it's triggered? This would be an additional layer, not a replacement for a home alarm.

[Teamless]

Gabe, not sure, as they did not have many false (or any Real) alarms, but in the case of an intruder, I really wouldn't care what my neighbors thought, Id be glad that they were woke up if necessary though

[TexDotCom]

One, or both, of our cats sometimes climbs high enough to set off the motion sensor during the day. Richardson allows 3 false alarms per 12 months with no fee, the next 3 are $50 each, and after 6 in a 12 month period your permit is canceled for a year. So...we had the alarm company set up two call profiles:

1) Police first, then our cell phones.
2) If the signal is inside motion detector only (i.e., no glass break or door open sensors going off, too) then call us first, then police

This has resolved things well for us. We're only 2 miles for the police station, so their response time is really good...too good if the cats set things off and we don't get the call until a dispatch occurs!

Incidentally, if anyone is interested in getting a good system with excellent monitoring, I'd be happy to give a customer review/reference for the system I use.

[Keith B]

One, or both, of our cats sometimes climbs high enough to set off the motion sensor during the day. Richardson allows 3 false alarms per 12 months with no fee, the next 3 are $50 each, and after 6 in a 12 month period your permit is canceled for a year. So...we had the alarm company set up two call profiles:

1) Police first, then our cell phones.
2) If the signal is inside motion detector only (i.e., no glass break or door open sensors going off, too) then call us first, then police

This has resolved things well for us. We're only 2 miles for the police station, so their response time is really good...too good if the cats set things off and we don't get the call until a dispatch occurs!

Incidentally, if anyone is interested in getting a good system with excellent monitoring, I'd be happy to give a customer review/reference for the system I use.

I just put my system in the stay mode and that bypasses the motion detectors. I don't care what anyone says, if you have pets, and they climb they will eventually set off your motion detectors.

[jimlongley]

I would note that just because an alarm goes off and no burgler is found does not mean it is "false." Cat knocks the phone off the hook, yes. Alarm goes off, no cause found...maybe the cause just hotfooted it down the street.

Dog is still the better alarm. As long as you have a dog that barks at strangers. Mine thinks any human that comes to the house has come to pet him...

My dogs are great at that too. They raise a ruckus until whoever is inside the house, and then it's "PET ME! PET ME!" Of course anyone who would enter the house with that much noise going on, as well as all those teeth flashing, is either crazy enough to stopp and pet them , or is a friend anyway, and the line of demarcation is quite slim.

[kidder014]

In the 5 years of having my alarm system, I've only had 3 false alarms, none of which resulted in dispatch by PD.

My system is set up so that I get a text message on any alarms at the same time the monitoring center is notified. They don't need to call me, as I am notified at the same time they are. They can dispatch immediately, and I can cancel the dispatch if need be.

Furthermore, my system has a 7 second reporting delay, which allows someone with a valid code to cancel the alarm within 7 seconds of it going off. This has worked everytime we've accidentally set it off. I was able to cancel it, and the monitoring company never knew the difference. Most recently, my wife had to leave early one morning (which is not our routine) and accidentally activated the motion sensors when she left. Imagine the surprise I got when I rolled out of bed and set off the motion sensors!