Alarm
TransmissionsAlarms can be set to activate a bell or siren on the premises, or to activate a radio that transmits an emergency message. Many installations use a phone line to transmit a signal to a contract central station where personnel on duty telephone police or fire to respond. One used to be able to have alarms go right to the police, but the high false alarm rate took are of that.
There are X number of alarm companies in the U.S., and every one of them has ONE central station. So if I have ABC alarm in my home and someone breaks in, it would be reported to the central station in Houston, who would then call my local police dept. A further delay is caused because often the central station calls the house to try to reach the owner and get the "password" to ensure it was not a real alarm. You can be pretty sure that from the setting off the alarm until the police arrive, is going to be a good 10 minutes. That is an advantage to having an alarm that screams at the house.
The problem with this, of course, is that it could be set off at midnight by lightning or other causes and it wouldn't stop until someone either shut it off or some angry neighbor went over and cut the alarm wires. One thing that has improved is that cellular phones are now being used to report alarms, thus allowing for no wires to be cut. And cable lines are now being used to transmit out alarm information. False alarms are also lowering.
I'm bypassing the "How to Buy an Alarm" info, since few people will. But if you wish more info, just e-mail me. In our next episode we will cover some "buyer aware" advice and then get into telephones.
