Going on Vacation? Here’s 5 Tips to Keep Burglars Out of Your Empty Home

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

Vacation coming? Protect your home while you’re away so you can really relax and enjoy yourself. This requires addressing both physical and cyber protection challenges. Naturally, burglars in New England want to get the easiest targets possible, as the Ashland, Massachusetts, police point out. They know where to go to find them: social media.

Once, crooks would look for obituaries to target houses, knowing when the residents would be out at a funeral. Now, convicted burglars themselves believe that 75 percent of their thieving colleagues are leveraging social media to locate marks, according to a Virginia-based law enforcement website. Read more →

The Biggest Threats to Your Home: By the Numbers 

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

Knowledge is power when it comes to home and property safety here in New England. We recently published a report based on a five-year study of our archived verified-alarm data, and some interesting patterns emerged. Read more →

Burglar’s Best Friend and Other Silly Security Stories

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

Security is a serious matter. That doesn’t mean we can’t relax a bit in the summer heat and recollect some of the oddest New England home and business intrusion stories.

Here is a brief list of some of the most interesting encounters we’ve found between local felons, furry friends and property. Some were caught on camera, while one incident was apparent only by the evidence left behind. Read more →

Celebrating Independence Day Through New England: Firework Laws and Safety Tips

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

Nothing is better than a day of celebration with family and friends, followed by a night under the stars watching fireworks. There is something magical about watching a pitch black sky ignite with bright, colorful explosions. So on July 4th, many of us will be closing out our Independence Day celebrations with a firework display.

For those of you who will be using consumer fireworks this holiday, please read our firework safety tips! Being informed and prepared saves lives. Read more →

Summer Vacation Safety Tips

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

School’s out! Children will most likely be spending a lot more time in or around the house, which may require leaving them home alone.

This is worth thinking about in advance. In terms of the law, each New England state has its own rules about the minimum age a child can be left alone. Read more →

Stay Safe When Offering Short Term Rentals

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

Bay State short-term rentals appear to be increasingly popular. So indicates a WBUR article, citing Airbnb’s own statistics, which point to a “record year” in Massachusetts. The company claims that in Massachusetts alone, in 2018, 1.2 million people stayed in Airbnb rental sites, and hosts earned more than $256 million.
Read more →

Memorial Day Will Go Smoother with These Safety Tips

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

Memorial Day is just a few weeks away. Remember, just because it’s a holiday, Memorial Day is not immune to thieves, fire or environmentally related events.

Ideally, if we follow the rules of the road, observe good grilling/campfire practices, and take the usual home security precautions if we should travel, we’ll do just fine. Let’s focus on two key areas: Travel and outdoor grilling. Read more →

Get Peace of Mind: Entrust Your Home Security to the Pros

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

As professionals, we’re busier than ever and devoting more and more time to work. This means we are at home less, and our property and families could be vulnerable to thieves looking for an easy, untended mark. Your absence also leaves your home vulnerable to fire, flood, or other environmental events.

A lot of us are very busy, driving, working, emailing, texting, and on and on. In fact, according to a Gallup poll, American adults working full time put in, on average, 47 hours per week at their jobs. If you factor in commuting and errands, this means many adults are away from their houses 10-12 hours a day. Read more →

Avoid Letting Your Dream Vacation Home Become A Nightmare

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

Vacation homes are often a dream — and appropriately, they are often in dreamy, remote places. Perhaps yours is in the mountains of New Hampshire, or near the dunes of Cape Cod, or by the lakes in Maine.

Because of our usual long distance from these sites, we can’t always physically check on them in person. So, naturally, it’s reasonable to fret about your vacation home’s condition. You don’t want to have a getaway ruined when you arrive at your dream house and discover it’s been ransacked or flooded.

Read more →

Business Security Cameras: Intruder Protection-Plus

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

Security cameras can be key to fighting shoplifters, detecting and identifying intruders, and more. However, there are other advantages that come with high-resolution surveillance — benefits that promote return on investment for your cameras and connected solutions.

Camera footage can work in the long-term to ID criminals, and some higher-end systems include advanced analytics to count people and vehicles, ID and follow individuals, check against databases, etc. For instance, a Walgreen’s camera recorded a bold ATM theft within the Methuen, Massachusetts, store in January 2018. Read more →