Residential Security: Protecting Peace of Mind in 2023
Learn how to stay safe and tap into long-term value in your home security system in 2023, even during financially and economically difficult times.
In a cost-of-living crisis, it’s understandable for people to look for ways to save money and cut costs across the board – including their home security.
But home security is vital to helping ensure our homes and families are safe. It’s sometimes overlooked that residential security systems should also provide peace of mind that protecting what’s important to you is taken care of.
So, how can you find greater cost-efficiency in your home security systems, without sacrificing the peace of mind they provide? That is a question this article is intended to answer.
We’ll cover the following:
- Protecting your property first and foremost, in the face of rising crime
- Fixing or replacing troublesome or out-dated systems to reduce risks and, potentially, cash too
- Integrating disparate systems to create cost-efficiencies
- Getting started in improving your home security protection today
Protecting your property first and foremost, in the face of rising crime
Rising crime can be the other elephant in the room after higher living costs during difficult times financially and economically. Police have recorded 6.1 million offences in the past year, which marked a return to and exceeding of pre-pandemic levels. Most notably, fuel thefts rose by 89% since the start of 2022.
It’s probably not a surprise to most readers, higher costs can drive more people towards criminal activity to make ends meet. Thus, helping to foster an environment in which organised criminals seem to thrive.
Perhaps you’ve even seen or heard of more crimes happening in your area, which is what lead you to read this article. There is no doubt that it is, of course, important to keep your home and your family protected when crime is on the rise.
But can protecting your home be more cost-efficient? Potentially, and we’ll explain some different ways in which that might be achieved. However, the fact remains, the best way to protect your property and your pockets is to prevent crime first and foremost.
Did you know that a burglary occurs every 106 seconds in the UK? Residents lose £2,856 on average in stolen goods and damage to their property, but of course, those costs can be significantly higher depending on what valuables are kept in your house. There’s also statistically a 25% chance of the burglars coming back for what they didn’t get the first time round or even take the new items you replaced the previous items with.
If you’re doing the maths in your head, you may already be realising the financial value in preventing crime against your home first and foremost.
You see, security alarm systems are one of those things like insurance policies, you’d rather not need either, or you might even consider compromising on them to help save a few pounds. But at CIA, we always reiterate the point that it pays to be protected, especially at a time when crime is on the rise.
That may be with the right intruder alarm systems or CCTV & Video surveillance – it’s usually a combination of the two.
The costs of crime that can’t be counted
There is another, perhaps even more important layer of damage that’s often caused by criminals targeting your property. 85% of victims have reported that they were emotionally affected by burglaries occurring against them – which is no surprise really.
It’s stressful dealing with a burglary against your home and not just because of the time and money you waste in repairing the damage. There is an emotional toll in fearing what happens next as well.
Around two-thirds of the time when a burglary occurs, someone is home and is even threatened with violence, which would only add to the stress.
The good news is that we can provide the advice and solutions you need to help protect your home. What’s even better is that modern advances in technology and services can make it easier than ever to enhance your protection without adding layers of complexity onto you, the end-user.
If you’re starting from scratch in protecting your home or if you’ve just moved house, you can speak to us today about building the right solution to suit your specific needs. Do read on though, as there will be some helpful advice on squeezing even more long-term value out of your home security system.
Fixing or replacing troublesome or outdated systems to reduce risks and, potentially, cash too
There is a chance you may already have a residential security alarm system installed – 32% of homes are equipped with a burglar alarm. Even if that is the case, at CIA, we’re committed to helping to ensure our customers stay protected by keeping on top of their systems maintenance – that’s why many of our clients are long-term partners.
A lot of the new homes we encounter are places where the existing security alarm is simply out-dated or malfunctioning due to their age. Systems like this cannot be relied on to protect your home and your family.
They can even be detrimental to the protection they’re supposed to provide, because thieves will in some cases even look for a damaged alarm system as a break-in opportunity.
Systems that frequently malfunction can also be expensive to run if they consistently need repairs and new parts. So, it is inevitable that all security systems have a shelf life, like any other equipment, and there will come a time when it needs to be upgraded or replaced.
When it comes to upgrading or replacing your security systems, it’s always best to work with a professional security provider and there are several reasons why:
- They’ll be able to create a bespoke solution that fits the specific needs of your property from a safety and security perspective.
- They’ll also use trusted and reliable technology.
- They’ll ensure your equipment is installed correctly, making sure it is ready to help secure your home and family.
- In the case of CIA, you’ll have access to professional security services that are becoming widely adopted, as they offer a cost-effective solution to enhance protection. We’ll cover this in more detail in the next section.
If your security system is no longer protecting your home or if it has become a drain on your resources, then it may be time to rethink your home security. You could potentially kill two birds with one stone by upgrading or replacing your systems to modern solutions.
Integrating disparate systems to create cost-efficiencies
Security technology traditionally used to be singular and disparate in its systems. You might have an intruder alarm system and CCTV installed on your property but they wouldn’t work with each other, and would often rely on miles of cables and bulky equipment too.
Thankfully, modern advances in security technology make it even easier to adapt your system to changes in your property and keep up with modern challenges in protecting against crime. In fact, we would no longer recommend a security solution that relies solely on one system – whether that’s an intruder alarm or CCTV – because we know that modern problems require modern solutions.
You may also have had to work with multiple suppliers who each specialise in a single system. This can be a costly and time-consuming way of managing your home security – which isn’t exactly what we’d call “providing peace of mind”.
The good news is that many once disparate systems can now be fully integrated, monitored, and maintained by a single supplier. Modern technology has enabled to utilise wireless connectivity which makes it easy to integrate and scale new systems and to store data such as video footage in the cloud where it can’t be easily accessed or taken by burglars.
This all makes installation and management of your home security alarm systems run smoother. Plus, as mentioned above, you’d need only work with one supplier, which means one bill, and you could potentially benefit from them bundling products together.
It also enables perhaps the most fundamental enhancement you can include in your protection, professional security monitoring and alarm response. When you connect your home security systems to a UK-based alarm response centre, you’ll have a team of security operators on hand to respond whenever an alert is raised – that’s 24-hours a day.
These high-integrity centres can not only quickly verify whether there is a confirmed threat, they will also use advanced protocols to get the quickest possible response when the police do need to be called.
At CIA, we believe professional monitoring can be essential to the protection of your home and family, which is why our home protection packages can include a combination of intruder alarms, CCTV, and 24/7 security monitoring as standard.
Getting started in improving your home security protection today
Speak to our friendly team of security experts at CIA about bringing your home protection up to speed and helping to squeeze as much long-term value as possible from your alarm systems.
