“Were you born in a barn? Quit cooling the neighborhood! You think money grows on trees?” 

Do you remember these old-school Dad quotes? And cringing as Dad reeled them off? 

But… now that some of us are dads ourselves, we totally get it. 

Just like Dad, we want to protect our families, homes and resources. Unlocked doors can let intruders in. Open windows make managing our homes more expensive with higher AC bills. That money doesn’t grow on trees, you know. 

At least we can have it easier today, thanks to Smart Home Security technology. Here are some ways that Alarm.com helps you, the modern Dad, worry less. 

I don’t think I secured the house properly… 
Nothing nags a dad like the thought of a door left unlocked at night, or the garage door being left open when you all go out to eat. A Smart Home eliminates this worry in two ways. 

First, it’s easy to check the status of your smart locks and garage door through your smartphone app, no matter where you are. If you left something open, you can lock it remotely. 

Second, your Smart Home can remind you when you forget. Our Geo-Services feature will let you know when you leave home without securing it properly. Leave your garage door open and you’ll get a smartphone alert with a ‘close’ button on it. One tap, and you’re worry-free. 

We’re cooling the whole neighborhood… 
You can’t stop your kids leaving the door open with the AC running… but you can stop the energy wastage. 

Our new Smart Thermostat guards your energy bills with an auto shut-off feature that automatically sets the temperature back when a door or window is left open for a certain time. It even sends you a smartphone alert so you know to close the door. When you do, the AC starts again. 

We’ll have to change the locks now… 
Lost door keys are a headache and a security risk. And if you have teens, you know it happens. 

You’ll never replace a lock again with an Alarm.com-powered smart lock on your front door. You can create your own 4-digit code and then change it as often as you like. You can even create individual codes for everyone in the house, with automatic smartphone alerts that tell you when your kids arrive home. 

Burglars will see that no one’s home… 
It’s a worry leaving your home unoccupied, especially on vacations and weekend trips. 

Our smart lighting schedules make your house look realistically occupied when you’re done. You can set your lights to come on at a certain time every day, or at a slightly randomized time for extra realism. You can even have them come on automatically at sunset. 

If a break-in does happen while you’re gone, help will be on the way, thanks to our 24-7 professional monitoring. Trained security professionals assess the situation in an alarm event, and can dispatch emergency responders to the scene. 

I don’t have time to install all of this… 

Take it easy, Dad – our Smart Home technology comes professionally installed and configured by our expert service providers so you can upgrade to a Smart Home in very little time. You can choose a pre-configured DIY system or have a technician take care of it all. And, if something ever goes wrong, you won’t waste a weekend troubleshooting: our service providers will help take care of it. 

To find out more (and relax more), visit www.onestop.biz or call 717-248-4996. And have a great Father’s Day!

Your home security system is a great tool for keeping your family safe. But when the alarm goes off, it can be pretty terrifying. Fortunately, most of the time they’re false alarms and not real emergencies. This is good news for you and your family, but can pose a problem for others if it happens often.

Whether you forgot to turn off the alarm when you let the dog out, or your toddler hit the panic button on your key fob, false alarms can pull resources such as police and firefighters away from actual emergencies. Learning how to prevent them from happening means making sure everyone in your household has proper training on how to use your home security system.

• Know how to use the keypad. False alarms are not uncommon, and there’s no need to panic, as long as you know how to enter your code into the keypad. Make sure everyone in your home knows how to arm and disarm the system using the keypad code.
• Establish routines and practices that work for your household and are easy to follow. For example, all doors and windows should be locked and secured when the system is activated. If you have pets, talk to your home security company about installing pet-sensitive motion detectors.
• Understand the sensitivity of your home security system. Keep objects from hanging near a motion detector, because the slightest movement might be enough to trigger a false alarm. Even blowing dust from a home remodeling project can sometimes cause a false alarm if it interferes with a smoke detector’s sensing mechanism.
• Use good practices to get the best response from your home security system. Test your system monthly to make sure it’s communicating properly with our Alarm Response Center. Update your emergency contact list, so that you or a friend can be reached to determine whether it’s a false alarm or a true emergency.

At One-Stop Communications, we offer home security systems to fit every family’s needs and budget, and we make it easy to keep your information up to date and prevent false alarms.