With winter quickly approaching in many parts of the country, it’s important to keep home safety in mind. The colder months of the year present their own unique challenges. Below, you’ll find some tips to keep you safe.

Keep Up Appearances: When you go away on vacation to some sunny spot, don’t forget to arrange to have your driveway plowed. If it’s completely snowed over, criminals will be much more likely to target your home.

Start Your Vacation By Setting Your Alarm: In the rush to pack and make a flight, even the most responsible homeowner can forget to set his or her ADT home alarm system. Take an extra second to stop and double-check.

Beware the Cold: The weather can do severe damage to your home. When a frozen pipe bursts, the results can be disastrous. Likewise, snow piled on top of your roof could cause a collapse, risking not only damage to your property but hazard to your family as well.

Be aware this winter. With a few simple but important considerations, you can help to ensure that your home and family will make it through to the warmer months without a problem.

September is finally here, and it’s time to send your little guy or girl off to college. In all of the excitement of this big moment, don’t let the importance of home security get lost in the mix. The first days of the school year are thrilling regardless of whether it’s freshman or senior year, and thoughts of safety end up abandoned amidst the hoopla. As a parent, it’s up to you to remind your children of the importance of maintaining home security, either in the dorm or off campus. Here are some tips to pass along to your kids:

Remain Aware of Your Surroundings: While the first few weeks of freshman year can seem like summer camp, remember that not everyone is as trusting and innocent as you are. Thefts happen in the dorm everyday, and once a valuable possession is gone, it’s likely that it won’t be seen again. Remember to lock your door when you leave, and make sure your roommate is on the same page.

Ask Your Landlord for an ADT Home Alarm: Many landlords are coming around to the fact that home security is their responsibility, just like fixing a broken dishwasher or a leak in the roof. Ask your landlord to install an ADT home security system. Offer to tack on a few extra dollars per month; the savings will come back in spades when a burglary is thwarted.

Keep an Open Dialogue With Your Neighbors: Let the folks living around you know that you want to hear about any suspicious behavior. Taking collective home security seriously is the best way to keep everyone around you safe, including yourself.

With some basic precautions around campus and your home, you can go a long way towards a safe school year. Contact ADT today to see how they can help.

Summer is nearing its end, and that means children across America will soon be hearing that first bell that kicks off the new school year. That makes some kids happy and other kids sad, but regardless, every child needs to understand that safety and home security take top priority. There are too many potential hazards out there to give this anything less than your full attention. Look below for tips to help ensure your child’s safety this school year.

Perform Some Bus Stop Recon: No matter whether it’s your kid’s first or hundredth ride, it pays to spend a few minutes scouting out the place where he or she will wait for the bus. If there is a walk from your home involved, take the time for a practice run.

Replay Home Security Basics: Now is as good a time as ever to go over your expectations for keeping your home protected. If your child is old enough to operate the ADT home alarm, have them show you how to do it. This is especially important if the child will be left alone.

Talk to Neighbors: Have a discussion with the folks living around you about expectations for the new school year. Consider setting up a schedule to take care of each others’ kids if an adult isn’t always available in both homes.

Lay Out Rules for Older Children: Kids in high school and college represent a whole different set of challenges. Sit your child down and have a frank talk about the dangers involved with operating a motor vehicle, especially in cases where alcohol is involved. Parents are the number one deterrent for bad behavior, so take the few minutes to speak to your kids.

As the dog days of August turn into cooler September rain showers, make sure your children are safe. Practice these home safety and school safety tips. There’s nothing more precious than their well-being, and you should take every step possible to ensure it.

Have you ever heard the expression, “a team is only as strong as its weakest link”? While not universally true, it certainly applies to home security. By banding together with your neighbors, you can greatly bolster your own property’s protection. Along with an ADT home alarm system, this can be one of the best ways to keep your family safe. Here are some tips for getting your neighborhood watch group off the ground.

Start Small: Talk to your neighbors to the immediate left and right. This is the first step to increasing the strength of your neighborhood’s defense system. Discuss mutual expectations and concerns, and delegate responsibilities.

Expand Across the Neighborhood: Now that you have the backing of more homeowners, take the campaign further by going door to door. Don’t be discouraged if you get rejected from a few homes on your way-it’s their loss. You can also print up flyers if you would prefer to move things forward from a distance.

Home Security Meetings: Once the organization has been developed, hold a monthly meeting to talk about potential threats. Encourage your neighbors to openly discuss home security issues.

As a unit, your neighborhood can protect itself against potential intruders. By banding together, you can supplement stronger locks, a home alarm system, and other individual home security measures.

Packing for safety is key. It is important to always take along things like a personal alarm, a door alarm, cash carriers and passport jackets.  It is also important to keep everything important, such as money and documents, close to your body where they’re harder for someone to steal. Not in an inside pocket or fanny pack, but a money belt or harness that is worn inside your clothing. Especially when traveling overseas.

For example, a woman in the Paris train station sat her fanny pack with her and her husband’s passports, their traveler’s cheques, and their cell phone all on top of her suitcase. When she turned sideways to bend down beside the suitcase and look inside their backpack, everything was stolen in the blink of an eye. A busy train station with people walking by and bumping into one another was all it took for someone to casually pick up the fanny pack and leave my friends stranded in a foreign country without cash and their passports.  They hadn’t even purchased their train ticket yet, so they couldn’t get to the American Embassy. Their first mistake was putting everything they had in one central location. They should have each had their own passports on their bodies.  Each of them should have had money and traveler’s cheques hidden on their bodies. Their cell phones that had all of their phone numbers stored inside them should have been separated inside luggage and a duffel bag, and they should have had a back-up system like a written copy of emergency numbers.

Personal alarms can protect you if you’re out and someone tries to mug you or if you’re in a situation where you simply feel uncomfortable. By pulling a wire out of a handheld device, an ear piercing alarm is emitted that will scare off a potential attacker and attract attention to you. A door alarm will do the same, except it is like a bumper placed at the foot of the door that will sound if someone tries to gain entry.

If you go on vacation, especially to a foreign country where you might not be fluent in the language, be careful about what you pack. Make sure you’re taking the safety items you need to make your vacation a success. Do it right and your only worries will be how much stuff you lug home!

As for the safety of your home while you are away, ADT home security has been protecting American homes for over one hundred years. Their monitoring professionals are quick to respond. Remember to travel safe, and keep your home security level up while you travel.

For the ultimate in home security, supplement your home alarm system with a set of closed circuit television cameras. Commonly referred to as CCTV, these high-powered devices allow you to monitor everything happening both inside and outside of your home. Having the ability to spot a potential problem before it becomes a disaster can save lives.

With recent significant leaps in technology, CCTV is now an even more effective way to protect your property. Going on vacation any time soon? With a CCTV system from your home security provider, you can keep track of the situation from any computer with a broadband internet connection. Take a brief look each day; if anything seems out of the ordinary, you can immediately contact a home security professional to investigate and decide whether further action is needed.

Most experts will agree that home security cameras are one of the most effective ways to combat potential break-ins. Having the ability to scope out your property before exiting the front door is a sure way to beat back the potential for intrusion.

If you’ve been thinking about upgrading your home security system, a CCTV setup is the next natural evolution. Offering great protection at a very reasonable cost, closed circuit cameras give you an eye into the outside world from the comfort and safety of your own home.

Summer is winding its way down, and that means Labor Day is quickly approaching. As always, June and July flew by, and Memorial Day and the 4th of July are distant memories. You’ve kept your family safe throughout the hot days and nights, and now’s no time to quit. Here are some home security tips for maintaining that same level of safety for the upcoming Labor Day holiday.

Home Alarm - Don’t Forget to Set It: Your ADT home security system has monitored your home while you were away all summer long. When you go away this Labor Day, make sure you don’t forget to arm it. Burglars know just as well as you do that summer’s last harrah means vacant houses waiting to be picked off.

Fireworks – Don’t forget about Fire Safety: Have some fireworks left over from July 4th? Be careful when lighting them off, especially if you live in a dry area. In many parts of the United States, this summer hasn’t brought much rain, which means the risk of fire is greater than at any other point. Your home security depends on the wise choices you make, so take care and don’t play with fire.

Don’t Forget About Mother Nature: Folks in hurricane-prone areas should stay cautious, as Labor Day falls right into the prime time for late summer tempests. Have an emergency action plan ready, in case disaster strikes. In any case, you can feel secure about your home’s continued protection against intrusion: ADT’s four interconnected command centers mean that even if one location goes down, the system remains up and running.

Enjoy Labor Day, and remember to share these home security reminders with your family, keeping them safe as back to school gets closer and Fall approaches.

Here is a list along with some additional home security safety tips are a good idea for kids that have to spend any time on their own. Go over this list of rules and post them for your youngster. Explain why each one is so important and offer more suggestions for handling each situation.

1.    Never tell anyone on the phone that you’re home alone. If anyone calls asking, “is your mother or father home?”, or if they are simply asking for a parent to speak with, tell them that your parent is busy and unable to come to the phone. Ask if you can take a message.

2.    Never answer the door to a stranger. If someone comes to the door and you look out the window or peephole and do not recognize them, either be quiet like you’re not there at all, or simply say, “my mother/father can’t come to the door right now.” If the person insists on your opening the door, do not hesitate to call 911 and tell the person that you’ve done so.

3.    If you have a home alarm system, always set it so that you are protected and secure inside the home. Set it to “home” and the home alarm system will know that someone is supposed to be at home. If a door or window is opened without entering the code, the alarm will activate.

4.    Be sure you know where the fire extinguisher is if you plan to do any cooking. Even the simplest of microwave meals can turn into a flaming disaster within moments. Understand how to operate the fires extinguisher and always call 911 before you attempt to put out a fire yourself.

Remind your kids that staying at home on their own is as much of a privilege for them as it is a convenience for you. You are expecting certain adult behaviors from them and trust them to do what is right.

Look into the various home alarm systems in your area and see if two way monitoring, cell phone and computer updates are available. You might be able to visually check up on the kids via a laptop webcam or other cameras placed strategically throughout the house.

When it comes to home security and family, there is no such thing as over protective!

It’s that time of year again.  Holiday vacations are on the horizon and you’re dreaming about what the sunsets will look like after a grueling day of tanning and swimming.  It’s hard to interrupt such pleasant departures of the imagination, but there’s also an element of safety to consider.

You don’t want a holiday interrupted because you failed to take some basic precautions.  You’re leaving your home for a while.  You’ve taken steps to keep your ADT home alarm system activated while you’re away, right? Once you’ve made arrangements with friends or neighbors to look after the homestead, back it up with these three steps for a safe beach holiday.

1. Make your hotel room less attractive to thieves. Hotel rooms are not private, and usually lack the security of a home security system. There are plenty of staff members passing through, most of whom are trustworthy.  However, it only takes one, so keep your hotel room free of valuable items.  There is no home alarm to sound when the chambermaid changes the sheets.  Keep your jewelry in the safe and your cash in the bank.

2. Keep the door to your hotel room locked.  Even when you have friends or your children coming and going, it’s a good habit to lock it up.  If you’re in the shower, and someone goes for the newspaper while leaving the door unlocked, it can be open season for someone passing by.

3. Remember that the beach is a public area.  Even in private beaches, it’s difficult to keep people from swimming over from different areas, or walking down the edge of the water, which is usually public property.  When you go for a swim or take a walk, don’t leave anything behind that you will miss if it disappeared.  You’ll live if a beach towel is gone — losing your wallet could spell a true disaster.

Keep these simple tips in mind as you enjoy your vacation this summer. Take a few elements of your home security plan with you on holiday. With a few basic precautions, you can safeguard your family and belongings, ensuring a pleasant stay away from home.

It looks like this summer could have the necessary ingredients for the perfect storm that will send crime rates soaring through the roof. First off, it looks like criminal activity is trending upward along with the Recession, as desperate people begin to take desperate measures. Though concrete statistics have yet to be determined, police chiefs around the country report a noticeable increase in reported crimes. Most are recommending home security systems as the most potent method available to citizens for protecting against this surge.

That still leaves the second front sweeping in, which threatens to turn the situation into an even more serious national event. Many meteorologists are counting on July and August to set new records for heat and humidity across the nation, as thermometers slowly start to creep upward.

Sociologists have long known that rising temperatures result in rising crime rates. People tend to spend more time outside of their own homes, leading to more invasions. Extreme heat also leads to a general loss of self-control and restraint. Finally, don’t forget that kids are out of school, unsupervised, and looking to cause trouble.

All of this means that there’s never been a better time to protect your property.

Consider that all of this heat will almost certainly lead to increased blackouts, as more and more folks switch on their air conditioners to beat the heat. Other home security providers limit their coverage to one command center. In contrast, ADT spreads the risk across four interconnected command centers.

This summer, give your family the protection they deserve. With a home alarm system that is reliable and ready to protect you and your loved ones.