Smoke and heat monitoring systems are just as important to home security as any burglary alarm. Understanding how fires start and loading your tool belt with strategies to help prevent them is essential to protecting you, your family, and your home. One of the best tools in your arsenal is a 24/7 monitoring service that gives you peace of mind and the protection you need.
Why professional monitoring for smoke detectors?
So why does professional monitoring matter? Having a smoke detector that’s monitored 24/7 by real people can help to save your property and family. It adds an extra layer of security to your fire alarm system.
When seeking out a new home smoke detector, you have the choice of those devices being monitored or non-monitored.
Non-monitored smoke alarms can be effective in providing an early warning of a fire and giving people more escape time. They’re helpful when they’re working properly, as long as you’re at home and alert.
But there are a lot of scenarios where standard smoke detectors can fall short, such as:
- What if you aren’t home when a fire is detected?
- What if your pet is home alone?
- What if you’re a heavy sleeper?
What raises the biggest concern in all of these instances is that all of the responsibility is on you. It’s kind of like that old thinker, if a tree falls in the forest and there’s no one there to hear it, does it make a sound? Well, we’re posing another question that’s a lot less philosophical:
If a smoke alarm sounds in your house and there’s no one there to hear it, who’s going to save your house?
Maybe no one.
Non-Monitored vs. Professionally Monitored Systems
Non-monitored smoke alarms can be effective but there are a lot of scenarios where standard smoke detectors can fall short. For instance, if your alarm goes off and there isn’t anyone who can hear it and call 911, then the fire department may not be notified until it’s too late to save your property.
This is why we recommend professionally monitored smoke alarms over non-monitored systems. After a fire has started, you have roughly three minutes to safely evacuate, according to the Washington Post. Those three minutes don’t leave you with a lot of time to make multiple quick decisions. You need someone to have your back in an emergency. Luckily, there are experts for that.
How professional smoke detector monitoring works
Guardian Protection’s monitored smoke detectors are connected to a 24/7, award-winning monitoring center staffed by highly trained specialists that can notify the fire department whether your system is armed or not. If you are sound asleep or away from home, a monitored fire system will take care of the situation for you.
To explain, let’s use Guardian Protection’s process as an example.
Here’s a scenario that could happen in any home and what happens if you have Guardian’s 24-hour monitoring service on the job:
See the difference? The flow of action screeches to a halt pretty early when you’re the only one doing the monitoring.
Professional Monitoring Saves Lives
Now, imagine that fire started while you were on vacation, at work, or even asleep.
Actually, Megan was asleep when a fire started in her home. So was her five-year-old son.
Megan is a Guardian Protection customer who didn’t know a fire broke out in her kitchen until one of our Protection Specialists called to warn her. He stayed on the phone with her until she and her son got to safety.
Here’s her story:
Every second truly counts. Monitored fire detection will make the most of those seconds. Fire may be scary, but Guardian monitoring can help! We offer free fire and CO monitoring when you have a Guardian Protection security monitoring system. These devices are monitored even when your security system is disarmed.
Our team of experts can help whatever it is that makes your world special — your kids, your home, your business, your pets, you name it. No problem.
