Specific Facts and Components of Great Security

Key Points:

Access Control
Video Cameras

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ACCESS CONTROL should be simple, easy to use and effective. It can also be fun. Comtec systems not only provide controlled entry and management information, they can also be programmed to turn on office lights, start the computer and the coffee pot, and bring the elevator to the proper floor when the boss swipes his card!

Basic access control systems provide controlled entry. A simple example is pushing a code into a keypad to open or unlock an entry point such as a gate or door. But watch out! Who has the code?

COMTEC keypads provide many user changeable combinations and stainless steel weatherproof full throw buttons. COMTEC also offers a keypad that scrambles the number locations each time it is used! Since the numbers never line up the same (like the normal telephone keypad), the number cannot be stolen by someone watching.

COMTEC offers Window based and networkable systems. With these systems you can control when access is permitted and store all sorts of ‘who- when- where information.

Authorized users: pushing a secret code into a keypad or swiping a card is easy. But who wants to stick their arm out of their car in the rain or snow to open the gate?

COMTEC offers a supervised ‘clicker’. This device lets you open the gate from over 100 feet away and if it is lost you simply delete it. You can even be given notice if the invalid ‘clicker’ is ever used to attempt an entry!

Visitors: One of the most popular ways to open a gate or front entry is accomplished using a simple button that calls a preprogrammed telephone number. In multi-tenant applications, a list of 3-digit numbers representing a different phone number for each tenant is used. Actual phone numbers are invisible to the person requesting entry. After a voice conversation for verification, a simple touchtone number from your phone can cause the entry point or gate to open.

COMTEC offers systems that require no (costly) additional phone line. It will make your phone ring distinctly different from a normal phone call. An essential operating feature if you are out at the pool or a guard on perimeter patrol.

Emergency personnel: Provisions must be made to let the fire police or medical authorities in if they are responding to an emergency. Unless, of course, you don’t mind the damage incurred by a large fire truck ramming through your gate.

Emergency exit: Free exit of any room, area or building must be provided in an emergency situation! Even during power failures.

Video confirmation: A camera can provide more information for remote entry requests and enhance security. COMTEC systems can include on-line video files of authorized personnel and pictures can even be up-loaded for remote site applications. For a residence, the camera is modulated to an unused channel of your television so you can tune any T.V. to view the gate without having to purchase expensive monitors.

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VIDEO CAMERAS FOR SECURITY are becoming very popular. Partly because of the deterrent capability implied in seeing and recording criminal activity.

Video cassette recorders can be used to record over 900 hours at a time, unattended. However, if you’re used to seeing true motion pictures like a television (and who isn’t), you will not get the required 30 frames per second if the recorder is set on extended record times.

Multiple camera applications that require recording should be processed digitally at some point. This allows all cameras to be recorded together on a single tape. The recordings can be reviewed as a full screen picture with no degradation of picture quality.

COMTEC knows that for residential applications it is important to have pictures shown on your televisions rather than monitors scattered throughout your home. For a camera at the pool to watch the kids, you can use the picture-in-a picture feature and still watch the ballgame!

False Alarms

Key Points:

The Difference Between a Security System and a Burglar Alarm
False Alarms

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SECURITY SYSTEM AND A BURGLAR ALARM. When investing in the proper system, whether we spend a dollar or a dime, quality is very important. A quality system will be your best friend and create a feeling of trust and security, a poor system will be a nightmare.

First of all, who is this salesperson and what credentials do they possess to design a system for protecting your property, loved ones and possibly your life? After all, the system will only be as good as the design.... and you are depending on them to provide this.

Are they successful, and if so, is it because the company they work for spends a lot of advertising dollars and offers a ‘low installation fee’ that has lots of tiny little fine print on the contract that they don’t mention but obligates you to pay monthly payments for 5 years and you never really own it?

Do they provide good advice or are they just good at ‘closing the sale’.

What makes them qualified. Ask these questions.

1. How long have you been in the security industry?

They should have a good history and a state alarm license preferably a technicians license.

2. Have you ever installed a system yourself?

This is a great way to tell whether they know which end of a screwdriver to pick up let alone how all these devices work. This is essential if you are going to trust them to pick and place detectors in the proper places.

3. How long have you been with this company?

This is the person you should always be able to call when you have a security need or question. If they jump companies you can find yourself just ‘another account’.

4. Do you have this system in your own home?

Why not!!!!?

5. How loud will my outside siren be and will my neighbors hear it inside watching television?

Sirens are like speakers they come in all different volume capabilities. Although most systems are monitored to call the police, the siren is your first chance to scare away an intruder and offer instant relief to an emergency.

6. How loud is my inside sounding device?

Many companies use an inside siren that will sound like a squad car in your living room. Think about how long it will take you to stop shaking after being jerked out of a sound sleep in this manner let alone make a good decision on what to do now when seconds may count.

Some companies disguise a puny outside siren with a loud inside one. An inside sounder should be about as loud as a battery operated smoke detector and require only a small draw from your system’s power supply. It must be U.L listed if you have a fire alarm too.

7. What size is my back up battery, how long will it support my system during a power outage, and if it goes bad will my system let me know?

There is only a few dollars difference between a small battery and a large battery. Since any microprocessor (including your control system) acts like an inebriated human when starved for power, it should be illegal to have a small battery foisted upon the unwary consumer......or to have to ask for and pay for a larger one. It is also very important for your control panel to be smart enough to check the battery constantly under a power load and tell you if it will fail if needed!

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FALSE ALARMS the ‘down side’ if you purchase a lemon is more than wasted money.

This isn’t a toaster that burns the toast once in a while or a television set that flickers some, or even a phone line that crackles a little during your conversation. When your alarm system triggers it is designed to create a response in the neighborhood and with local authorities! Therefore when it malfunctions it can create a strain on you, your neighbor and our tax supported resources (police and fire departments).

A quality security system designed and installed by competent professionals will rarely cause a false alarm condition. And if it did, a quality system will point to what caused it to trigger and allow it to be easily located and repaired.

WHAT SYSTEM IS RIGHT FOR ME? There are many brands and many companies. It can get confusing.

Avoid:

• Any system that cannot be worked on by others.
• Any fine print on a contract that says you don’t own the system when it is installed.
• Any long term contractual obligation.
• Any system that does not have at least a one year warranty included and an extended warranty (preferably one that doesn't increase in price as your system gets older).
• Anyone without the proper state license.

Keep in mind:

You want the company to respond to your security needs! If you are contracted to make payment for a long time, or never own it, or the equipment is proprietary (only available through one company), you will have lost control and be subject to slow service and expensive prices that increase.

Comtec provides quality service on all types of systems. If you have a security system that is not working right, call us. We can repair it.

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Copyright © 1997-2004 by Comtec Security. All rights reserved. OK License 0174.
Last modified: February 14, 2004