Things to Consider When Getting An Alarm System

The First thing you should look at is the number of sensors you are going to need to properly protect your home. Every entry point needs to be protected, e.g. all doors leading to the exterior, all windows and any glass areas that may be easily broken into. Write down the list of sensors to give to your installer. Your list would look something like this.

• 2 Magnetic Contacts (Front and Back Door)
• 10 Vibration Detectors (Burglar proofed windows throughout the building)
• 1 PIR Motion Detector (Enclosed Garage)

Next you are going to section off your compound into zones. For example the two windows in the kitchen could be one zone, or the front door could be one zone. You get the general idea. After sectioned off the property count the number of sections. The figure you come up with will determine what control panel your installer will put in for you. 

Now you need to choose your keypad and decide if you want to have wireless keys. Different keypads allow you to do different things with your alarm systems and some are more user friendly than others. I use the DSC alarm system so the keypads I am going to show you from that system.

8 Zone LED Keypad

The LED keypad displays information with status lights. Nice things about this keypad is it looks good on the wall and it has backlit keys so you don't have problems using it in the dark. It is the most basic keypad available. This particular keypad limits in the amount of information you can get on your system and should not be used if you system has more than 8 zones.

Fixed Message LCD

The Semi LCD, as I like to call it, can display up to 64 zones and can display alot more information than the led keypad.

Full Message LCD

My personal favorite is the Full LCD. The most user friendly of the keypads and has the most features available. Features which include Auto arming, access to and event buffer which shows all recent activity on the alarm system, with time stamps.

For those who don't have the time to punch in a code every time they have to leave the house their is the wireless keys. These are also a nice option to consider for the elderly and less tech-savvy. 

Interior and Exterior Sirens and Strobes are the last on your list but they are very important. In most installations 1 siren outside and one siren inside should be enough but their may be a need for additional coverage in lager compounds.

Your final list given to the installer should look something like this

• 2 Magnetic Contacts
• 10 Vibration Sensors 
• 1 PIR Motion Detector
• 1 Eight Zone Control Panel, battery and transformer
• 1 Full LCD Keypad
• 2 Wireless Keys
• 1 Indoor Siren
• 1 Outdoor Siren

The information above should be enough for you to get a pretty accurate quotation but I still advise that you have a professional view the property before equipment is bought.