When a burglar comes calling, your Yale alarm is quite possibly the only thing standing between you and a real-life horror story; a nightmare on your street.
Many people would be totally horrified if they could track all the burglars who are out on reconnaissance at any given time. In your town, every single street is assessed. Every house is given a 'rating'. Every opportunity to collect ill-gotten gains is considered. As a homeowner, do you need to up your game to keep the predators at bay?
And is an alarm a good deterrent against break-ins? The answer is yes, of course, despite a certain cynicism about sirens which go off but get ignored by neighbours. If you're a burglar, you do not want your illicit acts to be interrupted by 110dB of screechy wailing, alerting the Neighbourhood Watch brigade to your presence. But it's common knowledge that many alarms will not be functioning properly due to their age and a lack of maintenance. And it's often very easy to conclude, even to untrained eyes, which houses are likely to have a fully functioning and effective alarms by the condition of the external sirens.
Surprisingly, having invested in a sophisticated security system, many people never bother keeping on top of the maintenance required to ensure it responds to uninvited guests. When the installer has finished fitting your new alarm, you should always make sure you know how to test it and how to spot any potential problems, without needing to call out the engineer to help. You don't need to know how to fix it, of course; that's normally a job for the professional alarm engineer. But keeping on top of alarm maintenance is an absolute must.
With prices rising for all manner of consumer goods and services, homeowners will be looking to cut costs whenever the opportunity arises, and maybe to put off spending where it's justifiable. Alarm servicing should not be in that category. As an alarm engineer, I've seen so many situations where customers have been diligently arming their home security systems every day when they leave the house and, in the evening, when they're off to bed. Alarm servicing has seemed unnecessary because their alarm appears to be working ok. But as the years pass, so the likelihood of technical issues arising increases, which can radically affect the performance of the alarm.
In a few cases, when I've been servicing a Yale alarm, not one single sensor has been functioning, so the alarm served no useful purpose at all, except for the external siren being a visual deterrent.
All manufacturers of home alarm systems, whether they are for security, fire detection, a carbon monoxide detector or anything else, recommend routine servicing by competent, experienced personnel. This is the only way to guarantee that your system will do the job you want it to - when the need arises. It's also a good idea to test your system regularly by arming it and triggering the sensors so see if your sirens are still ready for action. If you have an internal and external siren, make sure both trigger when then alarm is activated. An external siren is an electronic device which is exposed to the elements all year round so regular testing is essential. The comforting fact is that most wireless alarm systems require modest outlay to keep them fully functional, and even a system which has been hopelessly neglected over a period of years can usually be brought back to full operational status by an experienced engineer.
For frequency of Yale wireless alarm servicing, we suggest that an annual service would ensure the whole home alarm system is working as it should be, possibly leaving it up to 18 months. But with a wireless alarm, although new batteries are always used for the initial installation, we know from experience that some batteries will lose power earlier than others, so your own frequent testing is vital. Your siren battery can lose life quicker than a sensor in an infrequently used bedroom, so it’s especially key to check this. A test every three months should pick up any issues, and if you get warning lights or false triggers then a quick call to us, if it’s a Yale Smart wireless alarm, and we might be able to sort it out over the phone without the need for a call-out and keep you and your property safe and secure.
