Court decision favors ADT over client, carries implications for security managers

[LARMGUY]

Curtis and others:

So is ADT a-okay?
And if you have cats that roam and jump is that a problem?
No we are not getting rid of our cats. They are part of our familky

They have "pet immune" motion detectors and dual technology motion detectors that can be somewhat adjusted for pets. We had one customer that had small dogs that were setting off the motions. I took them down and set them at three feet and turned them upside down. We tested them extensively. No more alarms from the dogs.
I had another trick I used for motion detectors. I wired the two motions in parallel that looked at the same area.
I have never had a false report since I have applied that procedure.

Since FARA and other reduction associations have surfaced, there have been monumental improvements in alarms and false reports. They have increased the resistance tolerance window of zones for the removal of electronic bugs and used software enhancements such as two zone and dual zone alarm for reporting. This has removed about all but the most challenging variable, the human factor.

[Curtis Baillie]

Curtis and others:

So is ADT a-okay?

I wouldn't hire ADT to alarm my ant farm.

[CameraMan]

Camerman:
Aren't you semi in the alarm business with your Dad? If that be true, do alarms still bonkers in thunderstorms
I ask that because Thursday afternoon we had one hell of T- Storm, hail, wind
Knocked out power. Is this a problem for you in bad weather???

I used to work as an alarm installer with my my Dad. Now I sell cameras and DVRs over the phone. I get to sit down, indoors, all day, and the worst danger I have to face is carpal tunnel, dry mouth, and possibly the occasional paper cut.

The reason alarms go screwy during thunderstorms is because sensors are, by design, sensitive to vibrations.

The way alarms work is you've got a closed circuit with a switch of some kind, wired up in the Normally Closed position. Say, for example, a magnetic door sensor. You've got a pair of wires, one for each end of the circuit, and on the end you have it wired into a reed switch which is mounted on a door jamb. The reed switch is held shut by a magnet mounted to the door itself. As long as the magnet is at the correct distance from the switch, the switch stays shut and the circuit stays closed. If you open the door, even a little, the magnet moves too far from the switch, which springs open, causing an open circuit, which tells the alarm panel to alert the user by means of a signalling device like a siren or flashy light or what have you.

Now, because most competent installers install these sensors with as little wiggle room as possible, even the slightest vibration from a thunderclap will move the magnet away for juuuust long enough to set off the alarm.

Glassbreak sensors have a microphone inside, listening for the sound of breaking or vibrating glass, and are also susceptible to false positives from lightening strikes from the glass resonating.

Motion detectors are an interesting case, because some of them are actually measuring the time it takes a laser to bounce off the opposite wall, and if that changes, even a little, it's whooo-whooo time.

There are ways to cut down on false alarms, but some methods, such as resistors causing an open circuit to be registered by an alarm panel a second or two after the fact instead of immediately, can cause more problems than they solve by not being sensitive enough to catch everything.

Manufacturers are constantly changing sensor designs to help cut down on false alarms, which I think everyone in the burglar alarm industry will agree is the number one industry problem.

Now, I haven't installed an alarm in five years, so I'm a bit hazy on the details, but I think this covers everything.

[copelandamuffy]

Thanks Camerman.

Listen to your local police on the scanner. "Central to car 54. Report of a motion detector at 123 Main Street. Copie resident. Car 56 please provide back up"

Five minutes later. "Car 54 to Central. Tenneage daughter home, forgot to reset alarm. All Secure"

Quesion Camerman: "Does the local police within their rights to fine the Copie resident for a false alarm?"

[TOII]

Some fine them, some remove the alarm permit, some do both. Usually you get a number of false alarms first.

[capurato]

We monitor our own alarm systems. ADT installs and maintains. Some of our cctv systems are hooked to our motion detectors. ADT techs refuse to work on them because its "our programming". The chips in the sensors of the roll down gates constantly go bad causing multiple false alarms and phantom alarms. And don't get me started when the power goes out of the BA or FA battery packs get low.

[CameraMan]

Thanks Camerman.

Listen to your local police on the scanner. "Central to car 54. Report of a motion detector at 123 Main Street. Copie resident. Car 56 please provide back up"

Five minutes later. "Car 54 to Central. Tenneage daughter home, forgot to reset alarm. All Secure"

Quesion Camerman: "Does the local police within their rights to fine the Copie resident for a false alarm?"

Some do, some don't. Some fine you for a certain amount of false alarms within a determined period of time. Some knock the fine down or erase it completely if you can prove you've had your alarm serviced. Some places make you pay a yearly license fee to have alarm response, which in theory covers false alarms. And some places just straight up ignore alarms. Don't live in those places if you can help it, it's a symptom of an overloaded, undermanned, underfunded police department.

[CameraMan]

We monitor our own alarm systems. ADT installs and maintains. Some of our cctv systems are hooked to our motion detectors. ADT techs refuse to work on them because its "our programming". The chips in the sensors of the roll down gates constantly go bad causing multiple false alarms and phantom alarms. And don't get me started when the power goes out of the BA or FA battery packs get low.

Our policy was to replace batteries after a certain amount of time, usually 3 to 5 years depending on the system and the load, to replace the battery automatically if the power is out for over 6 to 12 hours, depending on the load, and to replace the battery automatically if the power goes out for a shorter period of time but repeatedly- I don't remember, but I think if the power went out more than six times in a 3 month period.

After bad weather, we'd schedule a slow day to go around and yank batteries from customers with service contracts, and call customers without service contracts to recommend they get their batteries replaced, because a $35 battery service that can be scheduled for a convenient time is better for everyone involved than an $85 emergency service call that can strike without warning and make the beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep sound, which I understand can be really annoying, although frankly I've gotten used to it.