Many homeowners want to improve the security of their houses, but they are not aware that one critical part is to make sure that all specifications operate properly. This will require proper adjustments and configurations. Wrong settings could cause the whole system to not working properly for specific conditions. In fact, it would be quite troublesome if the system sends the wrong signal or activate a false alarm. That’s the reason why we should know about all the correct adjustments, although they are originally performed by professional installer. It means that, the security system shouldn’t report a fire when there’s an intruder.
In some cases, we need to re-adjust the system and this will require us to read the manual. There are specific things to consider, as an example, we should make sure that our system has proper zoning. As an example, wrong adjustments could cause the system to think that smoke detector is located at the porch or other inaccurate things. Our accurate number should also be correct, so the central station knows, which house or consumer is reporting emergency information. We need to enter the correct phone number that the system will dial in during an emergency.
There are hundreds of settings that we need to consider and the manual should provide an explanation about each. When choosing a system, the manual should be written clearly, so we won’t skip some of the more important steps. After we have configured all the settings, we should test the security system. We should make sure that all the features are working and they don’t send the wrong signals. Each component should be armed and tested whether it works. However, in order to prevent the system from sending the signal to the central station, we should make sure that the system is in test mode.
After the system is properly configured and tested, we should always monitor it. Without proper monitoring, our system will just become a fancy noisemaker that doesn’t work like it is supposed to. It would not be able to protect our family properly and we couldn’t always depend on our neighbours. Besides, it would be imprudent to expect our neighbours to confront an armed burglar and douse a huge fire in the kitchen. Such a task should be left to professionals, such as the fire department and police. If we know how to set up and test the system, it would be quite easy to monitor it.
When we are using a DIY installation system, we are the installer and it means that we are responsible for replacement of components and troubleshooting. If it appears that some of the components are not working, we should send them back to get a replacement. For this purpose, we should make sure that spare parts of the system are available from local distributor. This will minimize the time needed to fully operate the system.