CONSUMER BURGLAR PROOFS

LAST NIGHT your next-door neighbor’s house was burglarized. He was fast asleep when the whole thing happened – even the wife and kids slept through it. The burglars lifted almost everything of value in the house: the silver, the jewelry, even the gun collection. No one heard a sound. And no, he didn’t have a burglar alarm.

This morning, after your neighbor briefly recounts the grim details of the evening and returns to his no-longer safe house, you pick up the phone and dial the number of the nearest burglar alarm company. The man who answers briefly describes the available systems; you automatically announce that you want the most intricate system he has – and pronto.

Having done that, you grab another cup of coffee and return to the morning paper. You once again feel secure; you breathe a slow sigh of relief. Now you know you won’t be the next victim.

But will that ritzy new alarm system really make your home any safer, or is itmerely a mental placebo incapable of providing any real service to you? To get tothe bottom line we talked to an industryinsider, whom we’ll call Joe Holden.Holden, who asked that we not use his realname, spent several years with a majorlocal alarm company working in variousphases of the industry. He believes a quality system can deter burglars, but advises buyers to take a cautious approach whenselecting a system.

“There are some hazards,” Holden says. “A lot of people pick three or four com-panies at random out of the Yellow Pagesand have them come out and do a securitysurvey. Then they go with the lowest bidder, which can be a big mistake.”

To test this assertion, we compared Dallas’ 1978 Yellow Pages with its 1980 Yellow Pages. Thirty companies that were in the burglar alarm business in Dallas in 1978 were not to be found in 1980. “Some years have been worse than that,” says Holden.

Fortunately, there are several fine burglar alarm firms in Dallas. Holden says the best way to find them is to ask satisfied customers. If you have friends or acquaintances who are pleased with the company that installed and maintains their systems and can advise you accordingly, that’s a lot safer approach than a dart shot at the Yellow Pages.

If this approach doesn’t produce results, Holden suggests the selection of an established operator with a proven record. American District Telegraph Company (ADT) is the largest burglar alarm company in the world; Honeywell Inc. is the second largest in the United States. Other local established firms that have built substantial operations on word-of-mouth advertising include Smith Alarm Systems, Neighborhood Co-op Patrol Inc. and J.H. Thompson Associates Inc.

The simplest burglar alarm setup is called a local system. As described by Officer J.H. Barnett, crime prevention officer for the northeast sector of Dallas (127.5 square miles of prime personal property), this is the system where lights flash, horns go off and gorillas attack.

But take note: Burglar alarm companies don’t want to sell you a local alarm; they want to sell you a supervised alarm. “This is the big draw,” says Holden. “The supervised system is what attracts people to this business. This is where they think they’re going to make a bundle of money.”

A supervised alarm system is monitored by the alarm company, a service for which a monthly charge is assessed. These charges are the residuals, as in the insurance business. Many alarm companies charge a modest fee for installation, then sit back and let the monthly service fees roll in. But sometimes the money doesn’t roll in fast enough.

“Cash flow is the killer in this business,” says Holden. “You have to be completely set up with an expensive monitoring operation before you can sell the first system. That’s why so many companies don’t last.”

Actually, the burglar alarm company is doing you a favor when it advises you to select a supervised system. A local system is really not enough; most people run in the opposite direction when they hear a burglar alarm. With a supervised system, the monitoring agency is automatically alerted when your system is violated, and can immediately notify the police.

There are all kinds, sizes, shapes and prices of supervised systems. “A good salesman will listen to what you want, then sell you what you ought to have,” says Holden. “A pro won’t overload or underload you. He knows what gets stolen. He knows what will be attacked and where the attack will come from.”

When a violation of a supervised system occurs, the monitoring agency may be notified by several methods. There are still a few systems around, mostly in remote areas, called “direct connect” systems, which are wired directly to the law enforcement agency. But it is highly unlikely that your local police department is interested in getting into the alarm business; they probably won’t let you connect directly.

The next possibility is a direct wire system, a leased telephone wire that connects your home to the monitoring agency. This is an expensive proposition that, according to Clint Hughes, branch manager of Rollins Protective Services Company, costs from $75 to $200 per month for the use of the wire alone. Even this system can be defeated, and no one that we talked to recommends it for residential use.

That leaves the digital dialer system, which is used in a vast majority of supervised residential systems. When an alarm system is tripped, the digital dialer will automatically alert the monitoring agency through your telephone line. This system can, of course, be defeated if the burglar cuts your telephone line, but this rarely happens. Barnett suggests the installation of a supervised system that automatically converts to a local system if the telephone line is cut. The local system, which operates from a battery backup in the event of a power failure, is activated by the cutting of the telephone line, at which point the noisemakers go into action.

Now a supervised digital dialer system with a battery-operated local backup has been developed. The best of such systems makes the perimeter of the house the first line of defense. Magnetic sensors are installed on all doors and windows. When the magnetic connection is broken by the opening of a door or window, the alarm goes off.

There are two basic types of Perimeter systems: wired and radio frequency (RF). The wired system has been around as long as the burglar alarm; the RF is relatively new. In the wired system, cables run through the attic and walls to magnetic sensors at each access point; however this can be a problem aesthetically, especially in a two-story house.

“If you have a wired system installed by a butcher, you’ll wind up with ripped draperies, sawdust and exposed wiring,” says Holden. “But when a pro installs the system, you’ll have no damage and zero visible wire.”

The industry is pushing the RF system. “They’re a lot easier for the company to install,” Holden says.

Honeywell Inc. gives its customers an option between wired and RF systems. Larry Armstrong, branch manager of Honeywell, says most customers select the RF systems because they would rather put their money into radio equipment than wires. Rollins offers only RF to residential customers. “Rats and squirrels can eat through the wires,” says Hughes. “Besides that, what do you do with all those wires if you move?”

According to Armstrong, the industry has made great strides in overcoming one of the biggest problems relating to the RF system: the false alarm. “We’ve been using a system since January that’s cured that problem.”

Holden says there are a couple of other problems with the RF system that have not yet been adjusted. First, it operates on batteries, which are scattered throughout the house. There are ways to check the batteries to see if they have been used up, and some of the alarm companies will even remind you periodically. But if you’re the type who forgets to change the furnace filter and turns the oven on “broil” to cook the Christmas turkey, you’d better consider the wired system.

tivated if the system is “open” somewhere: If you’ve left a window open to air out the kitchen, the alarm system won’t turn on, thereby letting you know that something is amiss. The RF systems don’t offer this feature; if you’re going out the front door, you can activate an RF system with the back door standing wide open. It’s up to you to check the house every time you leave to be sure all is secure.

Whether you choose a wired or RF perimeter system, you’ll need a backup. If a window is broken out rather than opened, the magnetic perimeter sensor will not be activated, and the system will remain silent.

Several backup systems are available to plug this gap, the most popular of which is the motion detector. Several fascinating techniques nave been devised for detecting motion within the house, even if the perimeter defense has been defeated. Most of the techniques utilized in commercial security – ultrasonic, microwave, infrared – have now been adapted for residential use.

The biggest problem with the motion detector is the false alarm, especially if you have an indoor pet; even curtains rustling from the draft of an air conditioner can set off some alarms. Explore the pros and cons of the various types of motion detectors with your security system supplier and talk to people who have lived with them for awhile.

Several other features, all keyed to a monitor, can be added to the perimeter sensors and interior sensors. For example, you can connect a fire alarm or a “panic button,” a hand-carried device that when punched will alert the monitor to problems involving your health or safety.

One feature is absolutely essential in any system: You must have a system that reminds you that it’s there and will prevent you from setting it off accidentally. False alarms are a tremendous problem in this business. The City of Farmers Branch gives its residents three free false alarms a year, then fines them $60 for each one thereafter. Don’t be surprised if the City of Dallas follows suit.

A good system will sound a warning buzzer when you enter the house. You then have a prearranged time period to turn it off (usually 10 to 30 seconds) by punching a code number in a key pad on the inside wall.

Another nice feature is zoning. A zoned system has a switchboard-like device that tells you what part of the system, if any, is down or open. If something breaks, you won’t have to spend all day watching the maintenance man hunt for the problem. With a zoned system, the monitoring agency can chart a burglar’s path through the house, then advise the police.

In Highland Park and University Park, Sammons Communications Inc. offers a security package to its cable television subscribers. According to Sammons spokesman Larry Perrin, the difference between this system and other local security systems is in the method of transmitting the alarm to the monitor. Instead of a digital dialing transmission, the alarm is sent on Sammons’ two-way cable.

Perrin says this service, which costs $16.95 per month for monitoring and maintenance, will soon be available in Duncanville and will eventually be offered in Fort Worth.

With any of the systems, if you don’t pay your monthly bill, you’re not going to be monitored for long. Honeywell has a method of telling the computer to forget that you ever existed: It’s called a kill command.

The cost of all of this will depend upon what you have to protect (numbers of windows and doors, for example), and to what economic extent you’re willing to go to protect it. You can buy or lease the equipment, then pay by the month for monitoring and maintenance. Expect to pay about $3,000 up-front to protect an average house. For a very large house or a more elaborate system, the cost can run $10,000 or more. Monitoring and maintenance will probably cost $40 or $50 a month for the average system. For a little more, some companies provide their own patrol service.

When selecting a company, be sure to compare all the costs. A less-than-honest salesman might give you the system at his cost, or even less, then hook you on an exorbitant monthly contract.

Burglar alarm contractors must now belicensed by the Texas Board of Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies;unfortunately, the entrance requirementsare not that rigid. A contractor has to passa test, undergo a background check, posta $10,000 bond, furnish evidence of a$50,000 liability insurance policy and paya $150 fee. Nevertheless, if he loses hislicense, he’s out of business. If your contractor fails to perform, the board may beable to help. Write them at 510 S. Congress, Austin, Texas 78704.