URGENT MESSAGE TO ALL MONITORED CUSTOMERS

If you have made any changes to your telephone service, it may affect your alarm system's ability to dial into the monitoring station.

Internet phone service (also known as voice over IP) conflicts with your alarm panel's ability to dial into the monitoring station. If you have changed your telephone service to an internet provider, please call our office ASAP.

If you have DSL Internet service, a special alarm DSL filter is needed for the alarm panel that is not provided by your DSL Company. Please call our office if you have DSL and have not yet purchased a DSL filter for your alarm system.

If you have switched phone companies from one provider to another and your phone number has changed, please provide us with your new telephone number. We strongly recommend that anytime that work is done on your telephone service, that you test your alarm system to make sure that the monitoring station is receiving signals. Please follow these instructions on how to send a test signal into the monitoring station:

Call the monitoring station and ask to have your system put on test for 30 minutes.

For Alarm Watch customers call (800) 356-2222 all other customers with SETEC call (800) 635-7041.

Arm your system to away and wait for the keypad to indicate that the system is armed.

Open several windows and doors so that the horn sounds for 1 minute, and then disarm your system.

Call the monitoring station back to ensure that the signals have been received.

If the monitoring station did not receive the signal, call us to set up a service call ASAP!

Please print these instructions if needed.

Power Outages

Your system may be susceptible to power outages, especially during the summer months. Although our systems include a rechargeable back-up battery, these too are susceptible to problems. Many homes incur power surges or outages time and time again. Every time you sustain a surge or outage your back-up battery “kicks” on in an effort to maintain power to your security system.  Every time this happens there is a chance that the voltage in the battery cells is draining lower and lower.  Most batteries less than five years old will recharge themselves once the power returns, however, it may take up to 48 hours to do so.  However, if the voltage has reached a low enough level or if your battery is more than 5 years old it may not be capable of fully recharging and may need replacement. To conserve your battery we suggest powering down your system and disconnecting one of the batteries leads from the terminal, either the black or red lead. The back up battery is located inside your control panel.  Our newer systems are being equipped with a low voltage module, which will turn the battery off when the voltage reaches a certain level.  This module powers the entire system off thereby conserving the life of your battery. Once the power returns your system will be up and running again.  If you do not have a low voltage module call us to schedule an appointment to have one installed.

False Alarms

False alarms are a nuisance not only to the Homeowner, but to the local authorities as well. Soon all counties and municipalities will fine alarm users for excessive false alarms.

In an effort to reduce false alarms, you may contact our office to schedule a system inspection with one of our technicians. The majority of false alarms are caused by user error. Some false alarms may be caused by changes in décor, i.e., the addition of plants, curtains, wall hangings, etc., which obscure or are picked up by motion detectors. When air vents come on any movement from a semi-permanent item or fixture may cause an older motion detector to trip. Spiders and small insects like to harvest inside motion detectors and it’s no unusual to find an insect is causing your system to false. Also, car lights and outdoor lights shining through windows have been know to cause a false alarm. Any new or renovated construction can cause wiring damage, which will inevitably cause your system to false. Remember to test your system every now and again. Contact the monitoring operators and let them know that you are testing your system prior to sending in signals. Once you have completed testing contact the monitoring operators again to ensure that all your signals were received.

Please contact our office for a system check-up to eliminate problems before they occur.

Vacation Plans

When making your vacation plans, please remember to let us know that you will be out of town. When calling we will ask for your departure and return dates, telephone number where you or a key contact person can be reached, and if there will be someone coming in and out of your home that person’s name and number also. You will want to update your “call list” with our office and ensure that all house sitters have a password, user code and appropriate telephone numbers to our office and the operating station.

Please visit our Frequently Asked Questions page for other assistance and to download a replacement users manual.