| Alarms |
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| Q 1. What is an Intruder Alarm 'system'?
A. An Intruder Alarm system is made up of three main sections. These are explained below. |
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| Q 2. What are the control panel and the remote keypad?
A. This is the 'heart' of the alarm system itself. All the decisions are made here. All the parts of the alarm system are linked to this box; this is why it is usually hidden away! The control panel is connected to the mains electricity and has a battery fitted inside to run the system in the event of a power cut.
A remote keypad controls the alarm system. This is fitted somewhere near the exit point, it is mainly used to switch the system on and off but is also where information is entered or extracted. |
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| Q 3. What is a door contact?
A. A contact (in its simplest form) is a metal switch, fitted to the doorframe that is kept closed by a magnet fitted to the door. In most cases these are fitted flush into the frame and door but some are surface-mounted. Heavy duty contacts can be fitted to large doors (e.g. garages) and special contacts are available for roller shutters. |
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| Q 4. What is a PIR?
A. A PIR or Passive Infrared is a device that detects infrared movement (heat). It is the most common form of movement detection fitted to an alarm system.
Because the detectors are 'passive' they detect rather than emit infra-red energy. PIR detectors can cover ranges over 60 meters. |
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| Q 5. What is a Quad PIR?
A. A Quad PIR is very much like the standard PIR but uses two circuits instead of one (each circuit is 'Dual Element', hence 'Quad'). These types of detector are far more resistant to causes of false alarms e.g. draughts, small animals and insects etc. These detectors look similar to a PIR. |
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| Q 6. I own pets; won't they set off the alarm?
A. Cats and dogs have always made it difficult to design effective and economical alarm systems. Fortunately there are now 'Pet Immune' P.I.R detectors which can provide similar protection as a standard P.I.R but will ignore cats and small dogs. |
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| Q 7. What is a 'Dualtec' or Microwave Detector?
A. A 'Dualtec' is a detector that has two detection devices. The most common type is a Microwave/PIR but can be any combination of detection devices (Ultrasonic and Seismic being the other most popular). A Microwave detector works by sensing the physical movement of an object (person). These units would be installed in an area that may be prone to temperature fluctuations as the PIR and the Microwave circuits need to be activated simultaneously to cause an alarm. |
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| Q 8. What is a Personal Attack Button?
A. A Personal Attack button, often called a 'panic' button is a small unit that has one or two recessed red buttons. When pressed it causes the alarm to activate immediately. |
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| Q 9. What is a shock sensor?
A. This is a small device usually fitted to a window or doorframe, properly known as a seismic detector. This detects vibration caused when a door or window is attacked. |
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| Q 10. Are there other types of detectors?
A. Yes. There are many other types of detection devices that can be connected to alarms. Glass Break detection, Smoke detection, Ultrasonic and Lace Wiring are just a few. A detection device can be found to suit any situation. |
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| Q 11. What is a Bell Box
A. Every alarm system will have an outside sounder usually fitted at high level, normally rated at 106dB or louder. It has anti-tamper protection and a separate battery fitted, it also has a strobe light that flashes when the sounder activates. The outside sounder will ring when the alarm has been activated and must switch off after twenty minutes. However, the strobe light will continue to flash. |
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| Q 12. What is an Internal Sounder
A. The internal sounder is fitted somewhere inside the protected area. This will indicate fault conditions as well as full alarm activations. There may also need to be more than one internal sounder fitted in larger buildings. |
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| Q 13. Is the Alarm complicated to use?
A. No - It's normally just a matter of entering a four digit code whenever you want to see it. |
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| Q 14. Who chooses the four digit code?
A. You can. The code is changeable at any time. It does not come "Factory Set" |
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| Q 15. How do I turn it off?
A. Whenever you re-enter the house it will bleep at you, just enter the code and it switches off. |
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| Q 16. Can I set it at night?
A. Yes, and we advise that you do. We will program the system to include only those areas that you want protected and exclude others during a 'night' setting. It is more disturbing to be burgled when you are asleep, than when out! |
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| Q 17. What happens if it goes off?
A. The alarm will only ring for a pre-programmed length of time before silencing and re-arming itself. If you are there you just enter your code to stop it. |
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| Q 18. Will I know if it has been off while I was away?
A. Yes. When you return you will notice the external strobe light flashing, to warn you that there may potentially be danger in the house. Also the keypad will bleep differently to normal when you open the entry door. |
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| Q 19. I have pets. Can I still have an alarm?
A. Yes. We can use various equipment and methods to protect your home, whilst still allowing your pets to be in the house. Our surveyor will advise the best way of doing this when we assess your property. |
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| Q 20. Do I have to change any batteries in a wired system?
A. No. All batteries are rechargeable and have a life-expectancy of 5 years. Our engineer will check these annually and change them for you when necessary as part of an annual service plan. |
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| Q 21. What happens in a power cut?
A. All systems have rechargeable batteries that must keep the system powered for at least 12 hours. Should power not be restored before the battery runs out a second battery is then used to trigger the external Alarm Box alerting everyone that there is a problem. The system does not just run flat quietly. |
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| Q 22. I've heard about Wireless Alarms. Are they any good?
A. Some are, some aren't. They can be prone to false alarms from rogue frequencies and the batteries do need changing regularly, unlike 'wired' alarms. The sensors also tend to be slightly larger as they must incorporate a decent sized battery. However, certain situations dictate that Wireless systems may be a more practical solution for various reasons, - but read on...
Professionally supplied Wireless Alarms are far superior to ones available in DIY stores, and engineers have the equipment to detect rogue frequencies and test signal strengths, thus minimizing false alarms. You also have the peace of mind that should any problems occur, they will be diagnosed and dealt with promptly by the Installer under warranty - unlike a DIY system when you are on your own...
One advantage of wireless systems is that you always have the option to take the equipment with you whenever you move house! |
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| Q 23. happens if my neighbors just ignore my Alarm?
A. Additional equipment can be added to the alarm, linking it to a telephone line that calls either your mobile, office, relatives, etc, or a central monitoring station, whenever your alarm goes off, alerting you of a potential problem. |
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| Q 24. How long is my alarm guaranteed for?
A. All of our own alarms are guaranteed for the first year following installation. That includes all parts and labour charges as a result of faulty equipment or workmanship. We will also offer you the opportunity of an extended warranty annually thereafter for up to 5 years+. |
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| Q 25. Do you service alarms that you haven't installed?
A. Yes, we will attend any call to whatever system you may have and can offer you an annual service plan should you require one. Obviously, the type of system you have and extent of cover required will determine the price. |
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| CCTV |
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| Q 26. Are all cameras the same?
A. No. There are many different types of CCTV camera. Monochrome (Black & White) and colour are the obvious differences but there are also low and high resolution cameras. Higher resolution cameras produce a much sharper picture but are more expensive. Most CCTV installations now use colour cameras as the costs have fallen, but monochrome cameras are still used for low budget systems or for nighttime use where infra-red lighting is required. There are now even cameras that are colour during the day and change to monochrome at night. |
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| Q 27. Where can cameras be fitted?
A. A CCTV camera can be installed just about anywhere but care does need to be taken that privacy is not invaded. Cameras can be fitted internally on brackets or externally in weatherproof housings. Powerful lenses can be fitted to enable distant objects to be viewed in detail! |
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| Q 28. I have heard about 'hidden cameras', what are they?
A. Covert or 'hidden cameras' are small CCTV cameras that can be fitted inside everyday items such as clocks or fitted above false ceilings. These are often used to detect fraud or theft and can secretly record people's actions. |
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| Q 29. Not all lenses are the same, why is that?
A. Some of the most important parts of any CCTV system are the lenses. These come in many different designs suitable for any application. The main types of lens are the 'fixed iris' or 'auto iris' and 'fixed focus' or 'zoom'. A 'fixed iris' lens will have the light level set during the installation but the picture would follow the brightness of the viewed area. The 'auto iris' lens again is set during installation but will automatically adjust to varying brightness levels.
The difference between a 'fixed' or 'zoom' lens is quite simple. The 'fixed focus' lens is set up and focused during installation. The 'zoom lens' can be adjusted by the user to move closer or farther from the object.
There are two important rules to remember with lenses.
A) They can only focus on one point at any moment in time
B) The larger the viewing area the lower the detail, and vice-versa.
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| Q 30. What about recording the pictures?
A. Most CCTV systems will use a VCR to record the images. These differ from the VCR found in the home because they are designed to operate 24 hours a day, every day of the year. The VCR also runs a lot slower and can make a standard 3-hour VHS tape last over a month! Usually though this is a 24 hour time period. As a result there is far more wear on the tape and it is recommended that the tape be not used more than 12 times (at 24-hour rate).
Other methods are available, Super VHS is the most common and more recently digital recorders are being introduced. Pictures can also be sent via telephone lines and recorded remotely. Recording onto DVD will also be available in the future. The great advantage with digital recording is that the pictures can be re-recorded many times without loss of quality and special events can be indexed for rapid playback. Also with today's technology these pictures can be sent to anyone with a compatible computer via e-mail or the Internet. |
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| Q 31. How do you record more than one camera with one video?
A. This is done in one of two ways, firstly a switcher; this is a device to which all the cameras are connected and has one output to the VCR. The switcher will sequence through the pictures one by one. The VCR will record only the camera showing on the monitor. A switcher is only suitable for small numbers of cameras.
The second method is a Multiplexer. This is a device that digitally encodes all the cameras and records them frame by frame. This gives the effect that all the cameras are recording simultaneously. Multiplexers come in all shapes and sizes and can have from four to sixteen cameras connected, some also allow multi-screen (more than one camera) pictures whilst recording. |
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| Q 32. Can a camera look at more than one area?
A. Yes. The main reason for wanting to do this would be to get a more detailed view of a larger area. There are units which can move cameras, these can be as simple as a simple left to right 'panning' motion or as complex as a fully controllable 'PTZ' (pan-tilt-zoom, a camera which can be moved in all directions and zoomed in and out). It is important to remember with CCTV cameras that the greater the viewing area the lower the detail and vice versa.
Another advantage with panning or PTZ cameras is that a large area can be covered with fewer cameras reducing installation costs. |
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| Access Control |
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| Q 33. What exactly is Access control?
A. Access control is exactly what it says, a method of controlling access to an area. This can be anything from the front doors of a large building to a small stationary cupboard.
There are hundreds of different types of access control systems available to suit all requirements. |
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| Q 34. Entry Readers
A. These are devices that are located on the outside of the controlled area. They are available in three main types and in many different designs.
The first type is a Keypad or Coded unit. This will be a keypad that requires a code to be entered to allow access into the controlled area.
The second is a Magnetic Swipe reader, this device will read small credit card size cards with a magnetic stripe, and if this is valid access is permitted.
Finally the third is the Proximity reader; this will be a blank box fitted outside the controlled area. Small key fobs or credit card sized tokens are presented to the reader to allow access. This is the longest lasting of all the three options as there is no physical contact required producing any wear. |
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| Q 35. What do you use to secure the doors?
A. The two most common methods of securing doors are either by an electric release (rim lock) which allows a normal Yale type catch to be used to secure the door. The other method is a Magnetic Lock that is secured to the doorframe and a metal plate is fitted to the door. When the door is closed an electrical charge powers the magnet and holds the metal plate tight preventing the door from opening. |
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| Q 36. Exiting or, how do I get out!
A. To exit the secure area there are again three main methods. The first is by opening the door from the inside via a handle or snib.
The second is via a Request to Exit (R.E.X) button located near the exit door, this about the same size as a light switch.
The third would be another reader usually the same as the Entry reader. These are used where higher security is required or when details of who is on site are required.
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| Q 37. So what is the difference between access control and entry systems?
A. Entry-phone systems differ from Access Control systems as they are manned i.e. they require human intervention to operate. Entry-phone systems are most common in offices where the entrance door is secured but access for a visitor is required. A two-way speech unit with a call button will be mounted outside the entrance door and a handset with a door release button is located conveniently within the building. There can be any number of handset and call button combinations. |
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| Q 38. Video-entry system, what's that?
A. Video-entry systems operate in the same way as Entry-phone systems but have a camera built into the door unit and a small T.V monitor built into the handsets. These provide a much higher degree of security as the person at the door can be identified visually as well as via speech. |
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| Q 39. What if I have a large building with a lot of people, isn't that complicated?
A. NO. With the latest Access control equipment the administration can be easily done via a P.C. So after the installation is complete and the software is set up adding or deleting a user onto the system is as simple as a few mouse clicks. Reports on user activities and door opening/closing can be run. |
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