"War" might sound like a very exaggerated term when referring to burglary. It provokes the mental image of battlefields, nothing like a sprawling suburb with white picket fences, well-looked-after lawns, and two-car garages. But the truth is that this is exactly what makes suburbs so vulnerable — people just don't think that burglaries happen there and therfore the last thing they are thinking about is installing a smart alarm.

Yet the United States Department of Justice tells us that in 2010 the country alone has had over two million of these incidents^[1]. Almost three-quarters of those were in residential areas, which often included suburban households and some of which even had alarm systems installed to prevent this very thing.

Still, many companies that provide burglary alarm services are not evolving against these trends. Alarms are annoying, but they depend on wires to get the job done, a simple snip will stop an intrusion from alerting neighbor. Smarter criminals require smarter countermeasures. Here are some ways in which smart alarm systems can help nip this problem in the bud for us.

It's No Longer An Economical Decision

Getting a proper alarm system in the average household would typically cost over a thousand dollars. There are installation fees, activation fees, "free" equipment that only comes after a two-year agreement, monitoring fees, tolled calls and many other things that inflate that cost even further. Investing thousands of dollars in top-notch security that "might" work wasn't the first thing on anyone's bucket list, so it was naturally something that people were reticent to try out unless they had extraordinarily valuable goods to protect.

Just like how cell phones no longer cost more than a used Cadillac, burglary alarms are no longer something you really have to think a lot about financially. SimpliSafe^[3] has a flexible offer where you build your own system. Its installation process is simple enough^[4] that anyone with two healthy hands can install it and the learning curve takes about five minutes of your time if you're a slo w learner. You can choose your own monitoring service, and since you have total ownership of the smart alarm system itself, you do not have to worry about the fees that traditional smart alarm service providers may charge you at any step of the way.

The sensors cost just a little over ten bucks while the alarm itself will please even the stingiest miser. At this point, the price is no longer a question. Those days are long gone.

Wireless Tech Is A Failsafe Against Wire Cutters

When a burglar really wants to get around an alarm system, they look for wires that they can access and eliminate. The first obvious target is the blaring siren that's waking up elderly neighbors from their afternoon naps. The last thing they want is a possible confrontation with angry people complaining about the noise. Cutting those wires quickly will buy them a little more time since others may just think the alarm going off was a fluke. But what if the siren has no strings? Where is the puppeteer?

A good wireless smart alarm will run on battery power. The base station should also be equipped with cellular communication capability so that there is literally no way to interfere with its capability to report situations to a monitoring service. Both of these working in tandem will leave burglars helpless. Lots of mistakes are made when 105 decibels worth of distraction bleat right into your ears while you're trying to do a B&E.

You're More Informed Of Situations

Because smart burglar alarms are connected to the internet and cellular networks, developers have the ability to offer you a more flexible platform. An application on your phone can give you access to a large array of features that allow you to set up devices as you wish. You'll even be able to arm your alarm after you've left your home in case you forgot to do so. In the event of an emergency, you'll also be more reachable. The point here is that intelligent alarm systems take advantage of the ubiquity of smartphones to offer an unprecedented level of power to their owners.

Today, there are well-funded startups^[5] that provide a plethora of choice to the customer, making alarms less clunky, less expensive, more foolproof and enormously powerful. There is no debate anymore. The benefits of having one of these things far outweigh any reason to hesitate taking the plunge.

Smart Alarm Systems – The War Against Burglars Has Started

IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK^[6]