More and more Americans are purchasing vacation homes. In most cases, this means it is vacant a good portion of the year. What can you do to keep your property secure?

Many alarm companies, especially ADT, are now providing a way to protect and monitor your property almost any where in the world!

The systems have several video cameras integrated into the security system. These cameras can be full color or even infa-red. That can video record your property in poor lighting conditions. Many users are getting these sophistcated systems for their main residence as well.

These cameras can be set so any movement will start the DVR, (Digital Video Recorder), recording the event. Many DVR’s will keep this information stored for several weeks or months. The DVR can also send this information to your home, work, cell phone via the internet. It also can send an alert signal to any of these locations the instant an ocurrence is happening. When you hear this “alert signal” you will be able to view your property as the occurence is taking place .

You can observe your property at any time from work or any other remote location that has an internet connection. Now you can see if your chilldren have returned safely home from school. Know who’s ringing your door bell without opening your door. The applications are unlimited. Imagine, being able to check in on your main residence as well as your vacation property from home or work.

An ADT Security Professional will design a custom system to meet your needs.

It is important that you research the alarm company carefully before you sign a contract with them. Most alarm companies require that you to sign at least a three year monitoring contract. It is very hard to get out of this contract if you are dissatisfied with your service.

Some questions to ask:
1. Is the monitoring center UL Approved.
2. How many agents are on duty at any time? (some smaller compaies only have one or two on duty. If there are a lot of calls coming into the center at the same time, some calls could be lost.)
3. Do you send a call report of alarms?
4. Is your company licensed by the state?
5. What kind of security checks does your company perform on your personnel? Does the sales representative have a license by the state, also the installing technician? (Most states do a criminal background check on all alarm company employees and require them to carry and update this at all times.)
6. Is the equipment you install UL approved?
7. Is an alarm license required by the city you live in? If so, what penalties does the community impose for multiple alarms?

A good idea is to call your local police department and ask them what alarm companies they have the most problems with. They can’t recommend a company but they can tell you about the companies that do inferior work. Ask your neighbors who have an alarm system.

Be sure and do your research before you install an alarm system.