Though summer is coming to a close, thousands of families in the Portland metro area will take this opportunity to leave for vacation.  Whether it be for a weekend getaway to the beach or a two week road trip with the whole family, leaving your home vacant can make it vulnerable to break-ins, which makes this the perfect time to consider a local Portland home security system. Once installed you can leave your home for any amount of time and feel secure knowing your home and belongings are safe and sound.  When shopping for a home security system here in Portland, these are some very good questions to ask. 1.  Is the company local? Secure Pacific is a locally owned and operated company with offices in Portland, Seattle, Tacoma, Everett and Boise making us the largest locally owned home security company in the Pacific Northwest. 2.  Does the company have its own monitoring center? Most security companies out there contract out their monitoring to a major call center across the country somewhere.  At Secure Pacific we own and operate our Verification Center located in Everett, Washington that is staffed with the best operators in the industry. 3.  Does the company provide ‘verified security’?  Secure Pacific is Portland’s leading expert in offering verified security service: using video or audio verification, we can verify a crime in progress and can eliminate annoying and expensive false alarms. 4.  Is the equipment installed new or used?  Many security companies will cut corners and install used equipment that they have on their shelves and pass it off as a new system; Secure Pacific always installs new in the box equipment for residential customers to ensure quality and longest life of the system. 5.  Is my system custom to our home or was it created using the ‘cookie cutter’ method?  Unlike many other companies that use the ‘cookie cutter’ method, Secure Pacific takes the time to create a custom home security system for every customer. Every home is different and poses different security challenges, so this custom approach ensures that each client gets the best home security system for their dollar invested and they are 100% satisfied with the end result. 6.  Does your security company offer any guarantees? Secure Pacific offers our Peace of Mind Guarantee to all of our clients, which includes a 6 month satisfaction guarantee, parts and labor service guarantee, emergency service guarantee, false alarm fine protection, and a $5,000 performance warranty. These are just a few of the many questions to consider when dealing with a security company. If you have questions that I didn’t cover feel free to give Secure Pacific a call at 503-233-8220 and schedule a free, no hassle security consultation for your Portland home today.