Yesterday afternoon I received an email from Anne, our receptionist (familiar to any of you call our office), with a link to an article about home security on Yahoo! Homes. We care greatly about home security matters, so we like to stay up-to-date with what people are learning about how to make their homes safer. The stories about home security that I sometimes see spinning around the Internet are typically based on fear tactics and sales pitches, but the article Anne sent was actually pretty good—it touched on the difference between cellular and broadband systems and went into detail about home automation and keyless entry for the home. On the whole, I would recommend it as a good starting place for someone looking to find out more about home security. That said, there were a few things definitely missing from it; namely, home alarm verification. Nowhere in the article was there a mention of alarm verification – or the false alarm issues that it prevents. I agree that there are a lot of important options to consider in a security system, including connectivity and interactivity, but the most important factor should be whether or not it works in terms of preventing and stopping break-ins.   By ignoring verification, the article makes it seem like all home security systems are the same, which is just not true. In fact, it even goes as far as to say “the basics are the same: a control panel or console, magnetic contact switches, motion sensors, a siren.” We see the difference that verification makes; that’s why we created our Verisafe line of home alarm verification systems. Another important piece to touch on is the inclusion of DIY alarms. While it’s true that installing your own alarm system would save you money, there is just no way you could install a piece of electrical equipment to the same standards as a professional electrician. Anyways, if your alarm system is that easy to put up, it’s probably pretty easy to take down.   I don’t want to sound completely critical. The section at the end of the article has ten very good tips for enhancing home safety without a security system, such as “Always keep garage doors closed, even while at home, so thieves are not able to spot items they may want to steal.” The more people know about home security options, the better decisions they can make. Hopefully we’ll see more articles about home alarm verification in the future – it would make such a difference for drained police departments and homeowners sick of false alarm fines.