This Is What You Should Do When Your Home Alarm System Goes Off

Current data indicates that homes without security systems are 2.7 times more likely to be burglarized than homes with them. Advances in home security technology within the past few years have also made it easier and cheaper than ever before to equip your home with a good alarm system. But even if you’ve done everything right and your home is outfitted with a state-of-the-art security system, the question still remains: What do you and your family do when that alarm goes off? While the alarm system may provide early warning of an intruder and possibly summon the police, you still need to have a solid reaction plan tailored to your home and your family dynamics.

For the purposes of this article, let’s start with a solid, if somewhat stereotypical, example scenario: You and your family are asleep in your beds when your home’s alarm system goes off in the middle of the night. You’re abruptly woken out of a sound sleep, disoriented, and not sure exactly what’s going on. What do you do, and how do you tell the difference between a violent home invasion and a malfunction of your system?

As simple as this scenario may sound, there is no hard-and-fast response plan that works for everyone. Let’s face it: The response for a husband and wife living in a one-bedroom condo is much easier to coordinate than it is for a family with several children in a sprawling multi-bedroom home. To create a plan that works for your needs, let’s focus on logic and a sound order of operations rather than black-and-white tactics.