Now is a good time to rethink your home security system: Summer vacation season is a popular time for break-ins because the bad guys know fewer people are home.
According to Bureau of Justice Statistics records, in an average year, 3 percent of all U.S. residences are burglarized.
Some people employ high-tech monitoring systems. At the heart of these systems are motion detectors that “talk to” a monitoring center, which may be hundreds or even thousands of miles away.
Larry Cox, sales manager for Castlewall Security and Video in Carmel, Ind., says home security systems still do that, but also maintain a “data page” for all customers that includes driving directions, occupants’ health issues and more.
The best systems will be linked to closed-circuit television and an intercom so people talk back and forth; the intercom will activate when an alarm is sounded.