Be on your guard

They are in your area!

by Paul Alcock

We received a call this afternoon from one of our customers. They had been approached at their home by a 'Rep' who stated he was there to change out their security system since they had bought out our alarm company.

The customer felt that something was not quite right and asked them to return another day. Then she called our office to see if it was a legitimate call.

This approach has been tried numerous times and is well documented in the Alarm Industry News. The idea is a simple one, or should I say 'two'

Here's the first scenario: A guy knocks on your door, wearing a cap that looks like it belongs to a security company rep. When the you answer the door, the 'rep' informs the you that their company bought out your old alarm company and the new one needs to update the alarm system. If you agree, then they come into the home, make a change to your alarm panel, provide you with a new contract that requires a bank or credit card payment and off they go. You have just been 'Slammed' and now you are in trouble!

You now have two payment responsibilities: Your existing alarm company and the new alarm company that will be charging you. So now you are liable for two payments. Not a good spot to be in.

Here's the second scenario: In this scenario, the guy knocks on the door and following the same ruse, he gets inside your home.. can you spell 'Burglar' because your home has just been 'entered' and your valuables are likely to be missing when he leaves.

Both of these scenarios have been reported in various Alarm Industry News all over the country. 

So be aware. 

If a sales rep visits your home, the probability is that they are legitimate sales reps. But you can ask for their ID card. All alarm system sales reps in Florida must carry their Alarm Certificates. 

No legitimate alarm sales rep will approach you to upgrade your alarm system because your old company was bought out!

Thanks to the mindful home owner in this article, she was not taken in by this scam and did not fall for it.

Hopefully, reporting on this incident will assist other homeowners. So please share this article with your friends and neighbors.

For more information, call us at 954-7956-7070 or visit our website at ACT-Security.com

Look under the bed!

Question ... When you come home alone, do you do a search of the house to make sure no one is there?

by Dale Burger.

I was shocked to learn that for 10 years after our friends house was broken into, my wife was afraid to enter our home alone. My wife and her best friend walked into her friends home and there was 3 burglars in the house. They ran out the front and the burglars ran out the back. From that point on every time she came home from work she went through a routine of checking every room, looking in the closets and under the beds before she could relax and change her clothes.

I changed careers and went into security system sales. We had a security system installed and a couple months later my wife told me it was so nice to come home, turn off the alarm system and know that no one was there and no one had been there. That was when she told me about the routine she had followed for 10 years and it made me realize how I was actually helping people. That was 23 years ago.

Since then I have asked this question or told this story to many couples only to find that many women go through this type of routine and their husbands are totally unaware.

Please share your experience with us.

Reduce your risk of Burglary

by Paul Alcock

Really! 

With years of experience in the alarm industry, we have seen how burglars have broken in to homes and we have learnt how to reduce the risk of them doing so without detection.

So here are some of the most effective things you can do to reduce the risk of burglary at your home:

• Don't advertise that you have new stuff!
• When you get that awesome 60inch Flat Screen, Internet Ready, HiDef TV from the local discount store.... Don't put the box out with the trash! It's just an Ad to your friendly neighborhood burglar.. "Brand New TV here! - Come and get it!"
• Lock your doors!
• When our grandparents left the house to take the buggy into town, they could leave the front door wide open! Not today! Burglars will brazenly walk up to the front door and knock. If no reply, they will see if the door opens. "Thank You"!
• Lock your windows!
• Think about it. The Oliver Twist days are long gone, burglars today do not want to get cut squeezing in through the narrow opening of a broken window, but if they can pull the window open, that's a "Thank You"! It's easy to lock your windows. Most home hardware stores carry window locks that only cost a dollar each. 
• Display your alarm system notice at the front and back of your home.
• This is often thought of as advertising for the alarm company. The big sign at the front is readable from a passing car, and the window stickers around the side and back entry points are certainly visible to would be intruders. Every deterrent reduces your risk of being burglarized.
• Use your alarm system!
• We learn of so many home owners that were broken into while their alarm system was disarmed, even when the home owner was at home! News programs often report how a home was broken into while the home owner slept. Use the alarm system even when someone is home.
• Test your alarm system!
• So many home owners are getting rid of their land line phones and switching to VOIP or just using their cell phone. This saves a lot of money, but does their alarm system still work? Testing your alarm system at least monthly ensures you are getting the service you are paying for, it also helps you sleep better at night, because you do 'Use your alarm system!' right?

They messed up my house!

By Paul Alcock

What actually happened during the burglary!

Over the years, we have found there are two times when people buy a home security system: While a sales rep is sitting in front of them, and after they have been burglarized. 

We receive a lot of referrals from our customers and many of them are after they learn that a friend was a victim of a burglary. During the review of their needs, we ask about what happened during the burglary; what was taken, damaged, disturbed and left behind. Very often, the family recount not only the details that they figured out, but also the report that the police made after the burglary.

In one instance, the mother recanted how 'he was a Professional', and how 'he' broke in through the back door and  'he' went directly to the rooms where the valuables were stored, and then 'he' urinated on the carpet in the living room. Pretty awful events to live with.

Then we offered our interpretation of the burglary:

• Probably not 'Professionals' - Pros tend to go for the really high end properties where they know they will find extremely high value jewelry and valuable collections.
• There were probably two or three of them, and most likely they were kids/teenagers or drug addicts.
• They probably coerced one kid to help them, they need someone to lookout for people arriving at the house. That kid probably had never done anything like this before, and got spooked and probably peed in his pants, and that's the source of the urine on the floor.
• Even the young kid that breaks into a home knows that you don't go in through the front door! Anyone might see you. No, they normally break in around a secluded side or back door. If there is a sliding glass door, that is their first choice of entry.
• Once inside the house, they would quickly look for anyone at the home and for ways out! Just in case someone does arrive. 
• Then they will head to the master bedroom. That's where most home owners keep their jewelry, cash, and guns!
• Off the master bedroom they will look in the master bathroom for drugs, especially high level pain killers.
• They'll look in the closet, an obvious hiding place for more valuables, they'll also probably joked about the lingerie they found there too.
• The bedside drawers will be pulled open, they are looking for weapons and jewelry, but they find lots of other personal stuff there too.
• Before they leave, they'll check the living room for easy to grab electronics; Video recorders, Cameras, Video game controllers too. But don't think that big flat screen TV is safe! They probably have a buddy waiting in a car on the end of a cell phone, and he will pull up in front of the house, everyone pile in with whatever they can carry and they are off!
• They were probably in the home for about an hour, undetected, the memories of the burglary will probably last a lifetime.

Most homes require a unique solution to their alarm needs, we take the time to determine the most appropriate solution that fits in the home owners budget and meets their protection needs. If you would like us to provide a no-obligation review of your family's alarm system needs, then please contact us.

Have you been the victim of a burglary?

The more we learn about what happened during a burglary, the better we can protect homes and families, so please let us know what happened.

Thanks.

Paul Alcock

ACT Security 

954-956-7070

It was a beautiful day

By Paul Alcock

Jamie waited outside the schoolyard searching for the face of her daughter as the kids piled out enthusiastically from school on this warm spring day in South Florida. Dozens of kids screeching and yelling playfully as they looked for their Mom's or Dads in the waiting line of cars parked like a row of snails in their shells.

Among the melee, Vicky spotted her Mom who smiled as she scrambled into the back seat of their car, loading up the empty space behind the driver's seat with the collection of books and bags from the day. School was out, time to head to the Yogurt garden for her favorite desert with sprinkles.

Vicky quickly began to recall her busy day and show Jamie the pictures she had drawn. Her favorite was the picture of their home. Typical kids picture, quirky boxes for windows, scribbles for the curtains, and a stick figure dog playing in front. She had stuck some cotton wool over the house to look like clouds, and a big yellow star for the Sun. It was a beautiful day.

Jamie finished her yogurt first, Vicky was picking out the red sprinkles on hers between detailed stories of how her class had fun during their lunch break. Nearly time to head home and beat the traffic. It had been a long day at work and Jamie thought about how Vicky would dash out of the car as soon as it stopped in the driveway and loudly call 'Scruffy' before she even reached the side door. It was a beautiful day.

Bags in hand, Jamie followed Vicky but something was up! Vicky stopped at the door, she didn't rush in as usual, and there was no excited Scruffy to greet her. "What's up honey?" it came out a bit shaky. "Where's Scruffy?" Vicky quietly complained. Jamie put the bags down and moved towards the door, she noticed the splinters of glass by the doorstep. This was more than a bit scary! Quickly, Jamie scooped Vicky into her arms and headed back to the car. "Hang on honey! we better go look for Scruffy, he must have run off. We'll find him" and Jamie backed the car down the driveway a little quicker than normal.

Once on the road, Jamie called the police. It 'was' a beautiful day!

By the time Vicky was tucked in bed later that evening, the Police had left and Jamie had searched around the house to see what was missing. Both of the jewelry boxes in the bedroom had gone, the pain killers in the master bathroom cabinet were gone too. Her closet had been ripped apart, several pieces of her best lingerie were strewn on the crumpled bed. The bag with the video camcorder in the living room was missing, so were the memory cards with the videos that Jamie had taken when Vicky graduated 1st grade.

The side door was now reinforced by a piece of plywood from the garage, Jamie had jammed a piece of wood between the now broken handle and the floor, just in case 'they' should return.

The police officer was very sympathetic, and followed Jamie as she went around each room of the house "Just want to make sure 'they' are not still here". It only took him about ten minutes to write out the report and provide a copy for Jamie "You'll need that for the Insurance Claim" and "'they' would not have had so much time to rifle through your home and belongings if you had an alarm system. Probably a good idea"

Then Jamie and Vicky were at home, alone. Not the best of beautiful days!

Jamie wondered how Vicky would draw pictures of their home next time!

What would you have done?

What Jamie did right:

• She did not enter the house after realizing there had been a break in. 'They' might still be inside.
• She took action to make both herself and her daughter safe.
• She called the police once safely away from the house.
• She let the police officer accompany her as she surveyed the damage 'they' had done.
• She contacted an Alarm company the next day.

The things we see - Rip Off #1

By Paul Alcock of ACT Security.

Where you work is what you see!

If you worked in a hospital, you would meet a lot of sick people, so no big surprise, we meet a lot of people that worry about their home security, and we learn about a lot of people that have been ripped off.

Just a short time ago, we received a call from someone that was not happy with their existing alarm company. Let me describe the situation, I would really appreciate your comments.

Jill rented her home and had previously been broken into and wanted a new alarm system for the house she was renting. So, two and a half years ago, one of the top alarm companies charged over $5,000 for the system on a 3 year contract. Now the system was pretty good, not a run of the mill system, it certainly had all of the features that Jill wanted to secure her home. However, it was pretty expensive! We would have expected the system to be around half that price up front.

When Jill needed to move to a new home, she called the company asking to have the system moved. It was a wireless system, so no need to pull cables or install new cables at the new apartment, this is a pretty straight forward job. This should take just a few hours to do the move and test everything to make sure it's working in the new house.

What would you do?

It took multiple phone calls to Jill's alarm company before she could reach a human and then they told her that they could do the move 'next month'! What!
Understandably, Jill was a little 'upset', NO KIDDING!
Ever have that problem, you know, the one where you have to press 1 thru 10 in a multi-layered voice menu and then have to leave a message? Would you stand for that?

I'm curious! Have you been ripped off by your home alarm company? Have you ever been lost in voice menu nightmare?

They're hard to find - Good Employees

In support of the idea that there is nothing new under the sun, enjoy the following quote:

“Teenagers these days are out of control. They eat like pigs, they are disrespectful of adults, they interrupt and contradict their parents, and they terrorize their teachers.”

Written by Aristotle in the year 350 B.C.

Science and Technology have made huge advancements in the last millennium but human nature seems to stay about the same. I might be becoming a little negative here but it seems that people in general are not willing to do what it takes to improve themselves. Specifically I'm referring to the segment of our population that are in the “Unemployed and/or Underemployed” positions.

Recently our government released statistics that show our nation having a 7.5% unemployment rate. Some in our government state that the number is more like 14% when you include the people that have stopped trying to find work. Stopped Trying??? That's like saying you're tired of breathing so ...

What has happened to our country's attitude toward work? Referring to the word “work” means taking the personal responsibility of working on developing the skills needed to become proficient at ones job or profession with the attitude that you will succeed. Somewhere along the line it seems people loose sight of what is important. There is dignity and a good level of pride when a job is done well. When your work life is going well, usually everything else seems to go better too.

I had lunch with one of my customers who owns a company that makes marble and granite counter tops along with other kitchen and bath upgrades. He has 6 locations and 90 employees. He knew I had hired about 22 salespeople in the last 8 months and he asked how they were working out. When I told him that none of them worked out he just shook his head. He said he just placed an ad that morning for a laborer that would help stock his locations and drive a company truck. In three hours he had eighty Email resumes. He showed me on his tablet what most of these resumes looked like.

The resumes were horrible. I swear that when my stepdaughter was in third grade she could have written better resumes. During our conversation my friend and business owner made a statement that I had not considered. He believes that more than half the people looking for work are UN-employable. Most do not possess the basic written and verbal skills needed to be hired. The ones that do, half of them don't show up for the interview and most of the ones that show up either can't pass a drug screen test or only want to know how much they will be paid and how many days off they get.

Is this a problem nationwide or is it just a South Florida problem? What have you experienced when trying to hire new employees? I'd like to know.

Putting negativity aside, if you have good employees, cherish them. They are few and far between. I wish you all good luck and good fortune in your business ventures.

Extract from the Alarm Association of Florda

President's Newsletter August 2013