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All over the country, there are times during every year when the entire neighborhood seems to be on vacation.  The winter holidays will find many families visiting relatives in different places, if only for a short time, while the summer holidays are the time when families will really get out and try to do something memorable.  Either way, these two periods introduce a lot of questions to be answered on the home security front.  If no one is at home, who is watching over the fort?

Homeowners who have invested in a home alarm system will be correct to believe they have gone a long way to keeping their possessions safe while on holiday.  However, there are further preventive measures families can take.  Here are five tips for keeping your home security plan intact while you are away.

1. Don’t let the mail and landscaping give you away.  There are a variety of options on the table to keep your house from looking abandoned.  Two basic tips are keeping the mail from piling up on your doorstep (have a friend or neighbor collect it) and taking care of some overdue lawn and garden work before the holiday time crunch sets in.  Overgrown shrubs and high grass levels will invite unwanted guests observing your home.

2. Keep the house continuously occupied.  Making the house look occupied and having it occupied are quite different.  While it may not seem obvious to most people, there are always college students and other local residents who don’t get to take off for the holidays.  Maybe a babysitter or friend of the family will be in town.  In exchange for a place to stay, you can have someone house sit for you and add a terrific level of protection.

3. Use a light timer.  All of the studies show that houses are generally robbed when homes are unoccupied.  Even alarms will sometimes not scare off criminals if they know what they are after and know they can get it within a short period of time.  Light timers can continue to make a house look occupied, always a great defense.

4. Replace your dog’s presence.  Even if someone is watching over your dog (or if the family is bringing the pet along), you can replace that dog presence with an artificial dog barking device.  Criminals will flinch at the thought of trying a house with an angry dog inside – whether there really is one inside or not.

5. Have someone available to respond to your home alarm.  Even if you cannot get a house sitter, you still should have someone looking after the house in case there is an emergency and your home security company is alerted.  Someone locally ought to respond and be able to reassure you that everything is fine, and then see to it that the proper help is on the way.

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Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/home-security-articles/five-home-security-tips-for-holiday-times-1509696.html

We do not have a big, fancy, heavy duty fire safe to protect our valuables if something goes wrong and our house goes up in flames. All we have is a small security chest that can be easily grabbed in case of an emergency. Though small, it holds many of our important items. Things such as our social security cards, birth certificates, vehicle titles, our will and trust, our back up FireLite hard drive (which holds thousands of family photos), and a few personal items. It really isn’t big enough to hold much else, but it allows us a certain amount of protection. It should also offer peace of mind, but I often wondered how effective such a small fire safe would be in a blazing inferno; especially as I watched our wood stove burning really hot the other night.

Looking a bit around the web, I found a news story done by KSL news out of Salt Lake City, Utah. They had the same basic questions that I did: how well would one of these small, inexpensive fire chests hold up in a fire? Would they live up to their fire resistant claims?

They took four fire resistant chests, ranging in price from $25.00 to $70.00 and put them to the test. Ours cost around $50.00, so it was comparable to what they were testing. Some of the chests they tested even resembled the one we have. They placed inside each fire safe some basic items: paper, a photo, a CD and a video tape. Then the local fire department stacked up some pallets with hay and fire accelerant and placed the fire chests on top. A blaze was then set which heated up to 1200 degrees Fahrenheit before being extinguished. Total burn time was about 5 minutes. The safes were then drenched with a fire hose until they were cool enough to touch. So what happened?

The outside of all chests were totally charred and the handles melted. The main problem was how to access their contents. But, being prepared, the firemen were armed with picks, axes and pry bars. With a little effort, they were all opened. Inside, the contents of each fire safe was still fully intact. For the most part, there were no marks of fire or water damage. Only the cheapest chest, at $24.99, had a little evidence of the beginning of charring on the edges of the paper.

My conclusion? That even an inexpensive, basic fire safe will protect your important documents. The only one I would not trust is the least expensive fire chest. Considering that many fires will burn for 30 minutes, I do not like there was evidence of charring after only 5 minutes. So, don’t get the cheapest fire safe chest, but considering they were all under $70.00, you do not need to spend a lot of money either.

All four chests were portable, so if home you could grab them quickly. If this is a concern because of security, then you should know that one of the safes tested was small enough to carry out of your home, but, if desired, also had the capability to be bolted to the floor.

A fire can strike anybody at any time, so this one small thing can make a big difference in your life. With a very small investment, you can purchase peace of mind. A basic fire safe will protect your valuables from fire. I know that I will rest better at night knowing that our small fire chest offers ample protection.

MJ writes for ClickShops Inc., where you can find a the perfect fire safe to suit your needs and budget at www.gunsafes.com.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/home-security-articles/does-my-fire-safe-offer-enough-protection-1506214.html

The importance of a reliable commercial surveillance system in New York can hardly be overstated. The safety and security of staff, merchandise, property and customers depends upon the consistent and accurate operation of surveillance equipment, security cameras and burglar alarms. Even further, a system with spotty performance not only endangers that which relies upon it, but can cost hundreds of dollars of wasted time and effort dealing with false alarms where security personnel, firefighters or police officers are erringly summoned.

At the very root of a dependable system is dependable commercial network wiring. A business owner may take a responsible path in researching and obtaining state-of-the-art equipment to monitor his or her premises, but there is an extra step to take to ensure prime performance.  Installing a security camera is a relatively easy task, but beyond a few screws and a power connection, one must pay close attention to the commercial network wiring that connects the camera to the surveillance system.  Experts in commercial data structuring in New York, 360° Protection has witnessed its fair share of businesses who have tried to make do with outdated network wiring: old buildings present obstacles in running cables, so installers sometimes expose ugly network wiring; the management of new buildings often limits the amount of space or built-in cabling available to tenants, unwittingly forcing them to run inefficient extra data cabling to support an expanding business. The result can not only be a ruined aesthetic, but a sacrifice to performance of a network that could, in worst case scenarios, result in compromised security or safety of a commercial premises.

Cost-saving commercial network wiring in New York begins with design. Whether building, renovating, or improving a business environment, 360° Protection has the experience to be able to custom design commercial data structuring to support the technology in use by a client, responsibly manage, organize and hide the cabling, and ensure maximum performance of data network.  Innovative new technologic devices and equipment will only work as well as the commercial network wiring that supports it. With that in mind, 360° Protection pays attention to the details, assuming that a company will expand and the system on which they currently operate may not always meet their growing needs. They pride themselves on eagerly monitoring developments in new technology and configuring commercial data structuring in New York to meet the needs of new equipment.  An office plasma screen works better with proper cabling.

Extending the cost-savings even further, reliable commercial network wiring in New York, like that designed and installed by 360° Protection, can save the frustration of time and money wasted by the dedicated civil servants of the city. Payment of fees for responding to a false alarm can be prevented by making sure that the data network is as technologically up-to-date as the surveillance equipment itself.

For more information on how to improve a surveillance system’s performance with better cable structuring, visit 360-Protection.

360° Protection is a security provider and consulting firm with over ten years of surveillance and security industry experience. For more information, call 718.645.3655, 360-Protection.com.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/home-security-articles/360-protection-inc-save-money-with-reliable-commercial-network-wiring-in-new-york-1502554.html

Unfortunately many homeowners don’t realize how easy it is to “out-smart” most burglars. Burglars basically pick out homes that appear unoccupied, unprotected or easily accessible through concealed entry points. Fortunately, there are some easy things you can do to protect your home for when you are there or when you can’t be there, no matter where you live.

1. Doors & Windows: Be sure to secure all of your doors and windows, even pet entrances and garage doors. Be wary of weak locks that can be easily forced open. An easy fix is to install deadbolt locks with a one inch throw and reinforced strike plates with three inch screws on doors. For ground level windows, mount high-quality locks on all windows but don’t forget about all other windows.

2. Sliding Doors: You can secure sliding glass doors by placing a metal rod or piece of wood, like a broomstick, in the doors track. Another precaution you should take is to install vertical bolts.

3. Interior Lights: Timers should be utilized on any indoor lamps and appliances to keep your home lit up at night. You can also set timers to turn on your televisions and radios at random times throughout the day. This is a great deterrent.

4. Exterior Lighting: The perimeter of your home should always be well lighted. Try using low voltage, solar lighting or motion sensitive lighting around porches, decks, entrances, walkways or any other dark outdoor area around your home.

5. Newspapers and Mail: Before you and your family leave on vacation you should stop mail and newspaper deliveries. You could also as a trustworthy neighbor or friend to collect them while you are away. This prevents an accumulation of mail and flyers being spotted by burglars.

6. Keys: You should never hide your keys under doormats, mailboxes, under a rock, flowerpots, etc… Just give an extra key to that trustworthy neighbor or friend. You can ask them to check your home regularly while you and your family are gone.

7. Blinds and Shades: In order to maintain the appearance of normal, everyday living, remember to leave a few of your shades, blinds or curtains open.

8. Answering Machines: Never announce on your voicemail or home telephone answering machine that you are away from home.

9. Landscaping: Large shrubbery provides hiding areas for burglars. Therefore, all shrubs, bushes and trees should be kept trimmed and away from any entrances. You may want to consider arranging to have someone care for your lawn or garden while you are away.

10. Your Local Police Department: Before you skip town, you should check with your local police department for home security evaluations or checklists. You may even want to ask them to check your home or patrol your neighborhood more closely while you are away.

11. Install an ADT home security system. Home security systems or home alarm systems provide an enormous amount of security since your home can be monitored 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

Its amazing how just a few simple do it yourself tips can help to prevent hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars worth of loss and damages to your home. For a consultation to go over your home’s security, contact National Home Security Systems, an authorized ADT dealer, for a great and affordable selection of home security systems and home alarm systems.

Our author has immense knowledge on Home Security Systems and monitored Home Alarm Systems. He has many article regarding this information on home security systems and ADT. With his well researched ideas he is helping a lot of people nowadays.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/home-security-articles/eleven-simple-tips-to-keep-your-home-safe-1498251.html

Latest figures from the Metropolitan Police have suggested that residential burglaries in the London area have increased in the 12 months leading up to September 2009, compared to the previous year.

Earlier this year the press suggested that the reason for the rise in crime figures could be blamed primarily on the recession and the effect that it is having upon society. With the recession still in effect, many homeowners are being encouraged to invest in security equipment to protect themselves and their property.

There are companies that specialise in CCTV North London and Hertfordshire areas that supply a selection of products that could help to secure both homes and businesses, these include, intruder alarms, access controls, security lighting, cameras and other integrated solutions.

Specialising in CCTV cameras, they can install recording devices to suit any homeowners’ requirements. Whether looking for a single camera to monitor the entrance of the home or a system for the perimeter of the home, they offer solutions to match.

A burglary can be an extremely stressful incident for both home and business owners; CCTV cameras are not only useful following a crime to help Police Officers identify the burglar, but they are also good deterrents of criminals, preventing crimes from occurring in the first instance and causing unnecessary trauma.

The up to date products that these specialists provide can severely minimise the chances of a crime from being committed; the cameras use motion detectors and can inform homeowners via text or on their computer of any potential break-ins.

As beneficial as CCTV cameras are, it is important that they are used to complement other security systems. These specialists offer complete solutions from just £299 including installation to ensure that homes are adequately protected.

For more information about the security options available from these specialists, take a look on their website or call a member of their team to discuss your requirements.

Danielle Ingram, Content Writer for Creare Web Design and SEO specialists.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/home-security-articles/protect-your-home-in-times-of-recession-with-cctv-from-specialists-in-north-london-1493104.html