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Choosing an alarm and an armed response company

An alarm only protects you if it is armed, it works, and someone responds. An alarm that is never set, has a flat battery after load shedding, or reports to a company whose contract has lapsed is just a box on the wall.

The parts of an alarm system

• Panel and keypad: the brain, and where you arm and disarm.
• Motion sensors indoors.
• Door and window contacts.
• Outdoor beams, which detect people in the yard before they reach the house.
• Panic buttons, fixed or on a pendant.
• Siren.
• Communicator, which sends signals to the control room by radio, cellphone network or internet.
• Battery, which runs the system during a power cut.

Use the night setting

Zones let you arm some areas and not others.

• Away: everything armed when the house is empty.
• Night or stay: the outdoor beams, outside doors and windows and living areas are armed, while the bedroom zone is off so that the family can move about.
• Perimeter only: for the evening, while people are still moving around inside.

Ask the installer to set up a night setting that suits your home, and to name the zones clearly.

Using the alarm well

• Give each adult their own code, so that you can delete one when someone leaves.
• Avoid birthdays and 1234, and never write the code near the keypad.
• Learn the duress code if your system has one. It disarms normally but silently tells the control room that you are being forced.
• Test the panic buttons monthly. Phone the control room first, press the button, and confirm that they received the signal.

False alarms and batteries

Frequent false alarms make everyone ignore the alarm, and some companies charge for them. Common causes are pets, plants or curtains moving near sensors, doors left open, and spiders in sensors.

Repeated power cuts wear out backup batteries faster. A flat battery can cause false alarms or leave the house unprotected. Ask the company to check the battery at every service.

What armed response does, and does not do

The company monitors your signals, phones you to check, sends an officer and reports what was found.

• Response is not instant. The officer must drive to you, so your gates, doors and beams must delay an intruder long enough.
• Armed response officers are private security officers, not the police. In a real emergency, call the police on 10111 as well.

Questions to ask before you sign

Get the answers in writing.

• What is monitored? Alarm signals, panic buttons, electric fence, cameras?
• What response do I get? Is an officer sent for every signal? What is the target response time?
• What does it cost? Installation, monthly fee, call-out fees, false-alarm charges and annual increases.
• How long is the contract, and what is the notice period?
• Who owns the equipment? Will they unlock the panel if I change companies?
• Is the company registered with PSIRA? Check this with PSIRA yourself.
• How often is the system serviced, and does that include the battery?

Compare all of these, not only the monthly price.

Your rights on a fixed-term contract

Under section 14 of the Consumer Protection Act:

• you may cancel a fixed-term consumer agreement at any time with 20 business days' written notice, though the supplier may charge a reasonable cancellation penalty;
• the supplier must notify you before the term ends, and if you do nothing, the agreement continues month to month;
• fixed terms for consumers are generally limited to 24 months.

Keep a copy of the contract and note its end date.

This guide is based on Chapter 7 of Home Security in South Africa.