I’ll never forget the first time that I no longer felt safe going to sleep in my own home. I woke up one morning in the second grade to find that our basketball hoop had been stolen from our house, along with those belonging to several of our neighbors. To think that someone was able to do something that labor intensive, while we slept, was very sobering. It made me realize at a young age, that sometimes when we sleep and recharge our bodies, when we are supposed to relax and get ready for the next day, there are some people that will take advantage of this downtime. A year or so down the road from my first experience with theft and trespassing, my family was up early one Sunday morning to get ready for church and while my mom was in the shower we spotted an intoxicated young adult man trying to get in our house through our screened-in back porch. From that point forward, I always worried about what could happen. There were nights in junior high that I would stay up much of the night while my family slept because I thought that I may have heard something outside.
Fast forward to the last few years. I live in a great community, but every few months I seem to hear that several cars in my neighborhood have been broken into while many of us are sleeping. I look up crime statistics, watch 20/20, and try to keep on top of what is going on in my neighborhood because, as a parent, I feel that it is my job to protect my home and my children. So just as I did when I was a kid, now as an adult, I found myself wondering if the creaking noise I was hearing was our house or if it was someone outside. I would often wake up my husband and ask “Did you hear that?”. My husband and I hope to move within the next couple years and I recently had been telling him “I want our next house to have a security system.” I had not looked into it yet because I thought it would be too expensive, and I wondered what would happen if we ever moved, so I definitely had an interest and a lot of questions.
Here’s what I was wondering:
How does it work? The first step is to meet with someone at your home to decide what features that you would like to have, iron out the cost, answer any questions that you may have, and plan a date to have the Guardian Alarm installers install your security system, which takes 4-8 hours depending the type of features your system has.
How much does it cost? It depends on the features you choose. Fewer features = a lower monthly cost. The system we have is around $50/month and includes 24/7 monitoring, a touchscreen keypad, up to three entry points monitored, a wireless remote, a pet-sensitive motion sensor, an interior siren, a battery backup and a few other conveniences. $50 a month is about the same as a basic cable package and less than I expected it to cost! Check out different plan options and pricing HERE. (Mom Tip: It’s likely that your home owner’s insurance will give you a discount, which varies by provider, but in my case my husband and I will be receiving a $45 discount per year.)
What if I make the investment, but then I move? Good news. Guardian Alarm does not install used equipment, so I leave the equipment at my house and the next owners could easily choose Guardian Alarm as their security service provider and I receive a new security system free of charge.
What if I want to change up the features as our needs change? No problem. Guardian Alarm lets you pick what features you will have in your security system, specific to your needs and your budget. Some people may want door and window sensors with nothing else, while others may also want to have an outdoor camera and a motion detector. You can also combine security with home-automation and energy management (yes, please!).
We had our system installed last month, and we are loving it! The men from Guardian Alarm worked hard to install all of the components to the security system and control panel, which including things like sensors, indoor and outdoor cameras, motion detectors, and a carbon monoxide/smoke detector. Dave and Jason were true professionals. They were extremely polite and made sure to speak with me about everything to make sure that things were done just how I wanted it.
- They asked me where I wanted to install my control panel and I decided to have it installed next to my thermostat.
- They gave the different options as to how the electrical line could be installed to power the security system panel, I chose to have them run it from my basement. (Sidenote: While they were drilling a small hole in my wall to install the unit, the electric screwdriver bounced off the plaster and made a larger chip than they had intended. Without a beat, they ran out to their truck to grab some putty to fix the hole. Dave was also nice enough to buy a small sample size of paint for me to use once the paint had dried, to repaint the hole!).
- When they installed the cameras, they did not just put them up and aim them how they wanted them to be. They had me pull up the app, they showed me where the cameras were aimed currently, and they went back and moved them until I was happy with their position. It was so nice to be consulted throughout the process about what was best for our family.
- They made sure that I had the app all set up and showed me how to use it and the control panel before they left. They were super duper thorough, and while the installation took nearly all day, it was because they were making sure I felt comfortable before they left. Plus, they worked around my three kids, myself, and my dog!
- They gave me a lot of helpful tips, like the “restart button” which buys you extra time to turn off your alarm in case, I don’t know, you have your hands full with all the children and the things and to make sure you create a guest account for a sitter or guest who may need temporary access versus overall control.
What is the app? Well, in my opinion, it is a parent’s best friend! The Total Connect Mobile App allows you to: turn any lamps on and off that are connected to a lamp module, arm/disarm your security system, watch what your cameras are recording, and receive any updates of activity at your home. As long as your phone is connected to the internet, you can use this app to control your security system whether you are sitting in your living room or if you are on vacation in Florida. This app has become one of my favorite features of the security system. I use it most frequently to disarm my system when I have returned home and I am sitting in my driveway. This is much easier for me than trying to get from the front door of my house to my control panel with several young kids in tow to disarm the alarm. I also like that I can view what my cameras are recording, watch past recordings, and request recordings to be taken from the app. (Mom Tip: The Guardian Alarm website has even more features available that are not offered on the app, but I haven’t bothered to even log on, because the features provided by the app are so great!)
What is it like having a security system? It’s peace of mind. It is me having control of my house again. It is being able to go to bed at night without worrying because I do not have to sit up and try to discern random noise in the dark. I know that if someone tries to get in my home, my house is always watching and will alert myself and the police. With small children, I have enough keeping me up at night, and Guardian Alarm makes one less thing.
Would you sleep better with one less thing to worry about?
Learn more about Guardian Alarm HERE or call for a free quote: 833-243-5645.
