CCTV Security monitoring student in classroom at school.Security camera surveillance for watching and protect group of children while studying.

A Great Time for School Security System Upgrades

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

CCTV Security monitoring student in classroom at school.Security camera surveillance for watching and protect group of children while studying.Upgrading School Security Systems

As a school administrator, are you wondering how to respond to new threats such as COVID-19 when you reopen your facilities? Besides the usual risks (vandals, thieves, intruders and potential shooters), administrators must now factor in hygiene and cleanliness protections (surveillance and monitoring may assist with these efforts).

The upside is that school buildings are less occupied and quieter than usual because of the pandemic. This provides the opportunity to get large projects done with less disruption, including bigger and more ambitious security infrastructure upgrades than would be possible during a normal summer season.

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Shot of an unrecognizable little girl playing with a sparkler at night time outside in nature

Safety Tips for the 4th of July

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

The Fourth of July brings the excitement of backyard barbeques during the day and awe-inspiring firework shows at night. However, as Pew Research describes, Fourth of July weekend is also considered the most dangerous and deadliest weekend of the year. Emergency rooms experience thousands of patients on normal weekends for a variety of causes, but Independence Day adds a high number of firework, alcohol and water-related injuries to the Shot of an unrecognizable little girl playing with a sparkler at night time outside in naturelist. 

There’s no reason to let these statistics dampen your enthusiasm. Most – if not all – Independence Day accidents can be avoided by observing a few standard safety precautions. Implement the following tips to ensure that your Fourth of July remains a fun weekend of relaxation and entertainment.

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young couple buying a new house

5 Reasons to Upgrade Your Home Security Before Selling 

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

Invest in Home Peace of Mind 

Planning to put your house on the market? Want to differentiate the property and build value for it in a practical, demonstrable way? Offer your buyers full security capabilities and extra peace of mind.young couple buying a new house

If you already have some sort of basic alarm system in place, consider upgrading it and implementing a cutting-edge, high tech and holistic surveillance/life safety solution. The safety of your property and loved ones is crucial. Anything you can do to enhance that protection will most likely appeal to future owners of your house.

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Teenage girl with mobile phone in bed

How Monitoring Your Kids’ Online Activity Mitigates Break-Ins

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

Online “casing” has become a new favorite tool of burglars throughout the country. Statistics show that nearly 75% of home invaders used a resident’s online presence in some way to target and locate their home. While adults use social media and other online platforms to engage with the world, children are far more Teenage girl with mobile phone in bedinvested in their virtual life, which makes them a vulnerable target for would-be burglars looking for easy access to a vacant home.

There are many ways you can monitor your child’s online presence to ensure that your entire family – and your home – are kept safe from intruders. First, it’s important to know exactly how potential robbers locate the information they need.

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video surveillance camera

Reopening Your Business During the Pandemic: Considering High Tech Protection

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

Businesses Reopen: Consider High Tech Protection 

Idling New England business owners and managers look forward to opening up to the public once again, but COVID-19 regulations bring challenges and risks.video surveillance camera

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has imposed a variety of restrictions on how businesses must operate to ensure workers and customers are protected from infection. Violations could result in fines and closure.

More customer-facing businesses, such as retail or restaurant operations, face special new challenges. There are rules around social distancing and the need for everyone on the premises to work masks, and so on. This requires completely new processes for security and safety.

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Man enters business wearing face mask during COVID-19 pnademic

Reopening Your Business During the Pandemic

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

Reopening Your Business? Check Your Security.

Idling business owners are still awaiting the opportunity to reopen, both here in New England and across most of the country. When these businesses finally come back online, cash and inventory will be flowing again — enticing potential burglars.Businessman with mask is going to work during COVID-19 pandemic

Given all the other challenges businesses face, besides the lost time and revenue, protecting future revenue should be a priority. Now is a good time to think through the safety and security processes involved in ramping back up your business’ physical location. 

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Young woman setting burglar alarm at home.

Stay Protected During COVID-19 Crisis

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

Maintain Your Alarm/Safety Services During COVID-19 Crisis

First, we wish all safety for you and yours through the COVID-19 crisis.

It’s also worth remembering that though many of us are working from home and practicing social distancing, we still need to be reasonably cautious. This means maintaining our security and environmental surveillance and monitoring systems.

Sobering Statistics

Despite our relative isolation at home, we’re still vulnerable to theft or vandalism. That’s because despite good times or bad, criminals never really rest. In fact, contrary to what we might expect, crime hasn’t universally decreased: in some areas, it’s shown an uptick.

Young woman setting burglar alarm at home.

In New York City, general crime incidents spiked by 12 percent in the first three months of 2020 (as compared to the prior year) according to a news story. Burglaries rose by 22 percent, or 533 more cases. Possibly this is a mark of desperation, but whatever the cause, it’s a fact that robberies generally do rise in such crises, as local police and FBI statistics will likely bear out.

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How to Protect Your Business from Social Engineering

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

What is social engineering? Social engineering is the act of psychological manipulation of people into performing specific acts (breaking normal security procedures). It is used in over sixty-six percent of all attacks by hackers whether it’s warranty exploitation or attempting to breach company data. According to the FBI, social engineering scams have cost U.S. businesses 1.6 billion since 2013. A couple types of social engineering attacks are called phishing and pretexting. Read more →