House burgled - need recommendation for alarm fitting in MK

[o.versteer]

Afternoon all,

Came home last night to find that some bottom-feeding scum had kicked in our back door and helped themselves to various items of ours, been through all our drawers, all that great stuff. Wonderful. First time it's eve happend to me, pretty bloody stressful experience. Plod were great about it, but of course it's not likely that the scum will be found.

SO - I am now in the market for a decent house alarm pronto. As I've never had to do anything like this before, can anyone recommend a good company to use in the Milton Keynes area?

Any help here would be much appreciated, looking to get something arranged as soon as possible to the bastards don't come back for a second go.

Thanks very much!

[littlegreenfairy]

Balham do good alarms..dunno if they go outside of london tho (only seen them there, but don't generally look for that kind of thing)

Very sorry to hear about the break-in. Hope that you are all ok.

[J-Skid]

There is a local company - Tickford. Chap is called Colin - you've probably seen the white boxes with the blue "T" on. He knows his stuff and is cheaper than most of the other people around.

Plus he does not destroy your house in the process.

Edited - he installed / maintains my parents system in Turvey



>> Edited by J-Skid on Tuesday 17th January 13:22

[touchingcloth]

Got a monitored alarm system from ADT 3 years ago. Free alarm and installation with sensors in 4 downstair locations, then £27 a month monitoring for minimum of 3 years; not sure if they are doing the same deal now but quite nice to not have to pay a big installation bill upfront. May be way off the mark but think it was otherwise £7-800 for a similar spec alarm and fitting so reckon it was a good deal. Now my 3 years are up I am just deciding whether to keep paying for the monitoring or just revert to using it as a standard alarm.

[ultimasimon]

Sorry to hear of your unfortunate loss.

I used to own an Intruder alarm company. Here are a few pointers which may help you:

1) Make sure your chosen company has either NACCOSS or SSAIB approval. This will ensure you do not have cowboys fitting rubbish.

2) Where posssible ask for a panel which displays the actual alarm condition on the keypad, i.e. it says Kitchen, or Back Door, rather than Zone 4, which is totally useless to read at 4am when you have no idea where Zone 4 is

3) Pay the extra and have an extra keypad fitted in the master bedroom where you can see it and not in the upstairs corridor.

4) A 'Monitored Alarm' (connects via a central station via telephone and they then make a call to the local Police station ) is more expensive than a 'Bell Only' system. The average cost of this is about £1 per day. Well worth it if you want peace of mind and you know your house will be left unoccupied. This is for a system which uses a dedicated telephone line for your alarm to dial out on. This line will have to be installed before the alarm company installs their alarm. This line will by default be 'outgoing calls only'. The other alternative is RED CARE. This is very expensive and only offers you a secure telephone line. The line itself is monitored by BT and if the line is cut, it will instigate a Police call out. If your lines go into your house underground, I wouldn't bother with it. You can also use a cell-phone monitored system, but you should discuss that with your chosen installer. I will not divulge details on here.

5) You have two basic types of alarm system, wired or wireless. The latter will be the quickest to install but require more maintenence. It has batteries in each detector which will need to be changed every 4-12months depending on how busy the detected area is. Wired is the best option but will depend on how good your installer is - ask to see pictures and references of previous jobs. You want to ask for 'no visible wires'. Of course for them to do this they will have to tear your house apart; that means carpets up, floorboards lifted, holes drilled everywhere. On houses with concrete floors this is a royal pain in the arse. If the job is done well you will not even know they have been in your home, other than lots of PIR detectors around the house.

6) ASk them to show you the system thoroughly so you know exactly how the alarm system works and then ask them to disable the RED LED's on all the detectors, so they do no light up when you walk about the house - this prevents someone visiting your house who is checking out the alarm system to work out the coverage patterns for the detectors. DO walk test the system regularly.

7) 'They' WILL come back Be prepared - Halogen security lighting is the cheapest form of putting them off. Keep shed and out-houses locked and included (added) to the alarm system as extra Zones - normally about £50-75 per zone at the going rate. DO NOT USE VIOLENCE ! It is you that will get arrested not the scrote

8) Be extra nice to your partner. SHE will feel violated and in some cases women view a burglary almost as rape, as it where someone has invaded their very private and personal space. I know of people that have moved house due to the traumor of a burglery - mens attitude is just "I'm gonna kill the bastard" and he soon calms down, whereas with a woman, its much more serious. I was often the next to arrive on the scene before the Police got there and have seen the devastation first hand. You should not touch anything in the hope that SOCO can get some prints/DNA and track it down to a local brainless hood.

9) When they fit the bellbox, ask them to fit another one at the back of the house where it can be seen. You have two choices - a dummy or a live bellbox. Some alarm companies only fit dummies with central station monitored alarms.. this is no good, you want at least one real box. My preference is to have two live ones (about £100 each) but do remember this is your insurance to make sure that you limit the damage. Two boxes will cost more to service as they both contain battery backup for the sirens.

10) You are buying peace of mind here for you and your family: There is no point in buying a cheap alarm that false alarms - your neighbours will ignore it after is false alarms once so make sure your know how your system works and treat it with respect. Tell your neighbours that you have been burgled and that you have had an alarm system fitted and ask them to call the police when it goes off - the police have to respond to it by law (although they hate going to alarm 'visits'!)

11) Do not discuss ANY of your chosen alarm options on-line, even which company you go with. Most pro's can disable any alarm if they want something badly enough they will get it. All an alarm does is buy you time - it does not stop a burglary from happening, if installed correctly it buys you time and it detects the intruder - and that is all it does. If a villan has a choice of your neighbours house without an alarm or yours with an alarm, he will go there first plain and simple.

12) If you need any other advice, speak to the Police and ask for the CPO, or Crime Prevention Officer - he will be best to advise you in your area.

13) Don't let all of this cause panick, manage it as you would a car accident and try to stay positive. Paranoia is a very easy slope to fall into after this. Also bear in mind that security IS a paranoia industry so don't let the Security Company reps give you the hard sell, I know I was one once! If you require any other impartial advice feel free to email via my profile (if its working it wasn't yesterday)

Simon.

>> Edited by ultimasimon on Tuesday 17th January 13:57

[oggs]

YHM

[anonymous-user]

Get a monitored NACOSS approved alarm system with Redcare.

Avoid ADT like the plague.

[alexkp]

unrepentant said:

Get a monitored NACOSS approved alarm system with Redcare. Avoid ADT like the plague.

Why? I have an ADT monitored alarm and have found their product and service to be excellent without exception.

[J.P]

You can now also buy some interesting bolt-ons for alarms nowerdays - I have been following a device called SmokeCloak (think its still a bit commercial and expensive at the moment) but it basically fills your house with the equivalent of what you get down your local nightclub - it has quite a good dispersal and works on the idea that the thieves can't see a thing and leggit (if they can find the door)

The only problem I see is how you stop your neighbours from phoning the fire brigade when they see the smoke...

James..

[o.versteer]

Wow - thanks everyone for the answers and insights. It's a great help and very welcome under the current circumstances. Thanks to PH I can now approach the subject of home alarms with a degree of knowledge of the subject, which I didn't have two hours ago.

Once again, fantastic, thanks very much. Following ultimasimon's advice, I will NOT let you know how I get on LOL, at least not in detail, but be assured that this is a great, great help!

[Yugguy]

Personally my opinion is it's best to spend money on stopping them getting in in the first place, and best of all putting them off trying with visibly strong doors and windows.

[motco]

ultimasimon said:

lots of sensible stuff

I, too, used to own a security company but mine was a manufacturer, not installer. Ultimasimon is right on all counts. In my view you have to firstly make your house less attractive than all the others in the immediate area and a bell box with a reputable and genuine installer's name on does that. Dogs are fine but they aren't always there, alarms are. What's more, some dogs are as brave as a gladiator when you are there, but tremble with fear when left on their own. Silent monitored alarms are okay but a lot can be stolen in the ten minutes before Mr Plod arrives so. Far better to scare the bu**er away with a good loud siren - inside and outside - as well as central station calling if that's what you want.

Use your brain and try to think like the intruder and always endeavour to arouse doubt as to whether you're in or not.

Ultima Simon, I assume you used the panel of that name? Not Simon of course . If you're in the business again have a look at the range made by the old owner of the Ultima makers. They are very good value and designed by an old hand at the game.

>> Edited by motco on Tuesday 17th January 17:02