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.

You depend on your home security system to keep your most precious possessions safe. A huge part of this approach is your home security company’s continued dedication to developing the newest technology. Both behind the scenes and right there in your home, new electronics and software are constantly revamped in order to keep you and your loved ones protected.

At the core of the defense system is an inter-connected network of command centers, each intricately linked to the others to prevent loss of service in the event of a catastrophe. ADT home security systems are set up with a total of five different command centers. When one designated center goes offline, another kicks in within seconds, preventing a potentially catastrophic lapse.

The innovation never stops, either. Exciting new developments are constantly coming down the pipeline, including video surveillance. Some security companies allow you to tap into your home security feed from a web-equipped cellular telephone. This is a great feature for vacation homes; keep an eye on deliveries from thousands of miles away, without having to call a neighbor.

Technology isn’t the end all and be all of home security. Other precautions need to be taken, such as maintaining the appearance of inhabitance and advertising the installed system. When put together, these advanced methods will make for a secure home for you and your family.

Many consumers automatically think of home alarm systems  when they hear the name ADT.  The reason for this is based on the company’s long history of providing the most effective and advanced means of security at rates that are affordable to everyday consumers.  The company takes a great deal of pride in their service and their reputation for protection.  After more than 100 years in business, ADT has made quite a name for themselves.  However, there are many consumers who are unaware of just how successful and effective the company really is and what services they have to offer.

While primarily known for home security and intrusion detection, ADT provides a number of services.  In addition to preventing and responding to break-ins, the company provides freeze and fire detection, critical condition and elder care monitoring, electronic article surveillance, video surveillance, and much more.  In fact, ADT is the largest provider of electronic security service to customers of all types in North America.

In addition to protecting residences, ADT is the security provider in charge of protecting the United States and British governments.  Many federal courthouses are protected by ADT security as well as many of the busiest airports in the country.  A large number of the country’s top banks and nearly all of the Fortune 500 companies also rely on ADT to meet all of their electronic security needs. ADT has millions of customers and thousands of technicians. These facts help bring to light how popular the company is, and shows how their reputation makes them the most trusted name in home and business security.

With their five strategically located customer monitoring systems within the United States, ADT is able to handle a great volume of transactions. The centers are staffed with trained professionals who are able to assess any situation to determine what officials to contact and how to best help the customer in any given situation.

ADT’s call centers are able to interact fully with one another, meaning that in the event of an emergency situation or disaster, any center will be able to handle traffic from another center.  This means that if your local center was bombarded with calls or there was a situation that rendered it nonoperational, calls would be rerouted immediately to another call center, where staff would still be in constant contact with your local law enforcement agencies.  This is yet another way an ADT alarm coupled with live monitoring can help provide around the clock security and peace of mind to homes and businesses.

Since it was created in the late 1800’s, ADT has always maintained excellent service and helped to ensure the safety of all its customers. It is never too early to help protect what is important to you with ADT home security.

The Home Safety Council hosts a wonderful website designed to provide awareness to home safety issues and educate your family on to practice home safety steps in your home or neighborhood. The Home Safety Council was issued a $1 million grant for Fire Prevention and Safety from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

As a result of this grant the Home Safety Council has been providing a series of Webinars on various fire safety and prevention topics. April’s Webinar is titled Fire Safety for Older Adults and People with Disabilities. Previous Webinars have been on juvenile fire setting, school fire safety, scald burn prevention and other similar topics.

Viewing these Webinars is an excellent way for your community to learn about fire safety. The Home Safety Council will send all participants a sampling of the Webinar material for free after each Webinar. For more information on these programs visit the Home Safety Council online at http://www.homesafetycouncil.org/.

There is no substitute for being prepared in case of a fire emergency. Sometimes even the best preparations are not enough to protect you and your family. A rapid response from emergency personnel is essential to getting your family out quickly and safely.

The best way to ensure that your home and family are protected for any emergency is to have a home alarm system with professional monitoring services installed. Choosing a home security service can be a difficult task. The two top names in the home security industry are ADT home alarm systems and Brinks. Take care not to simply pick one without researching the facts. It could mean the difference between life and death for your family in the event of a fire.

ADT and Brinks both have highly trained staff in their Customer Monitoring Centers that are prepared to assist you during any emergency. Both companies have easy one touch buttons to contact the CMC’s if you are in need of emergency assistance. Both have smoke and heat sensors to detect a fire early. That is about where the similarities end when it comes to immediate emergency response.

Brinks and ADT both advertise 24/7 home monitoring but is it really 24 hours a day 7 days a week? In the case of ADT it certainly is. ADT Security Services has a total of five Customer Monitoring Centers in different locations. Unlike ADT, Brinks only has one CMC. This leaves the Brinks CMC vulnerable to power less and natural disasters. Certainly both companies have backup power plans but in the event of a large scale disaster backup generators may not be able to work they entire time. When a call gets routed to an ADT Monitoring Professional it can be immediately routed to another center if needed. This means that your family will truly be protected 24 hours a day 7 days a week with an ADT Home Security system.

Another important area of difference is the way that the monitoring center is contacted. Both companies utilitize a standard telephone line in the event that the CMC needs to be contacted. Only ADT home alarm systems offer Safewatch Cellguard. In the ever increasing wireless age this technology is a wonderful enhancement to your security system. Safewatch Cellguard contacts the monitoring center using a nearby cellular tower. This means that the center will be contacted even if the telephone line is not working in your home.

In the event of a fire you will be unable to answer your phone. Hopefully you will be on your way out of the home at the time the alarm goes off. If you are still in the home an added benefit of ADT security systems is the ability to talk with the ADT associate through the unit itself. ADT can hear you speaking from up to 100 feet away from the unit. This technology is currently not installed in the Brinks security system. The comfort of being able to hear that help is on the way is sometimes all you need as you make your way to safety.

Take the time to research your home alarm options for the safety of your family. Check the Home Safety Council for information on fire preparedness and how to educate your family and friends. You will be glad you did.