If someone tries to force entry into your business premises, a commercial burglar alarm will provide a quick response to get the situation under control. Commercial burglar alarms work by alerting staff members on-site, passers-by or the emergency services that an intrusion is taking place. But how do you choose the right one for your business? With so many on the market, it can be hard to know where to start. The IDS Security System experts have put this guide together to help guide you.
Audible Alarms
Audible alarm systems work by, you guessed it, making a lot of noise until someone does something about it. They're designed to be so loud and piercing that the intruder won't be able to stand it and will vacate your property immediately... if you've ever heard one, you'll know what we mean. Generally, these alarm systems will continue to sound until they're manually switched off... not ideal if you live miles away from your business and it starts going off over the weekend!
We don't usually recommend audible alarms for commercial premises for a few reasons. Firstly, they rely solely on the actions of individuals that are in or near to your commercial property. If no one is around at the time of the break-in, then the chances of it being reported to the police are pretty slim. Besides, if these alarms are triggered accidentally, they can cause a real disturbance for surrounding businesses.
Having said that, there are a few commercial properties that might benefit from an audible only alarm system. For example, if you're a small business and you're friendly with the neighbouring businesses/homeowners then you can be fairly confident that they'll report a disturbance to the police and notify you straight away (they're also likely to be less disgruntled if it starts going off accidentally). These alarms are also good for 24-hour businesses (where someone is always on the premises), or for business owners who live very close to their businesses.
That being said, this wouldn't be our first recommendation if you came to us looking for a commercial burglar alarm system. Nowadays, there are much more sophisticated systems on the market which will provide you with a higher level of security and control.
Monitoring Service
Commercial burglar alarms that are connected to a remote monitoring service are highly effective! Nowadays, most commercial property insurers will specify this level of alarm system as a minimum, so look out for this if you're a new start-up business.
These commercial alarm systems work by contacting a monitoring service when the alarm is triggered. The monitoring service will then take a look at the situation and decide whether or not it's a false activation. If it's not a false activation and a break-in is occurring, the monitoring service will notify the relevant emergency services straight away. By filtering the activations, monitored alarms help to make sure that you're not wasting police time unnecessarily.
The response time is very quick and completely automatic which ensures that someone attends the property even if you, the business owner, are unable to do so yourself. Monitored alarms are perfect for all kinds of businesses, but are particularly beneficial for companies with multiple locations across the country or vulnerable businesses that might be targeted by professional/skilled burglars.
Our Monitored Alarm Service >
Here at IDS Security, we work with commercial businesses to create a burglar alarm system that suits their needs exactly. To choose the right commercial burglar alarm, we'd recommend thinking about your businesses security needs and tailoring the system to suit you!
If you're looking for a commercial burglar alarm system, don't hesitate to get in touch with our technicians for a free quotation today!
