What does an imitation security camera have in common with a small town sheriff? An obvious answer might be – nothing at all. But what if the small town sheriff was not a real sheriff? If we ask the same question, but call our sheriff an imitation sheriff, the two definitely have something in common.
The Need For Inexpensive Law Enforcement – One comes down a rather steep hill when entering our little town from the south. Drivers, especially those from out of the area or out of state, are not in the habit of slowing down at upon entering the town, whereas most of the locals seem to know better. This obviously creates a safety issue in a town not noted for stoplights, and having only a single crosswalk. The solution? The town hired Omar. Omar sits in a marked highway patrol car. He wears a cowboy hat and sunglasses. From a distance he looks like someone you wouldn’t want to fool with, and someone who would be all to happy to give you a speeding ticket. Sometimes Omar is parked at the south edge of the town, sometimes at the north edge, and sometimes outside of the post office in the middle of town. Omar more often than not has a cup of coffee sitting on the dashboard. He is very good about getting drivers to stay within the speed limit. Tourists tend to hit the brakes at the bottom of the hill when they first spot Omar.
There was recently a celebration honoring Omar’s first anniversary as the town’s sheriff. Omar didn’t say too much during the celebration. In fact, Omar didn’t say anything. Omar is a dummy. Every day, his owner drives him in the police car to a particular spot, sits him behind the wheel, adjusts his cowboy hat, and on some days, places a coffee cup on the dashboard.
Fooling The Would-be Thief – What does all this have to do with an imitation security camera? You’ve probably guessed that already. An imitation security camera is definitely a crime deterrent, just as an imitation cop can cut down on speeders. Installing such a camera, indoors or outdoors, or at your home or business, can definitely minimize vandalism, theft, or other criminal or mischievous activity. For one thing, it looks like the real thing. Most of these cameras use the same housings that regular security cameras use. You just don’t have to pay for the camera itself and all of the associated equipment. An imitation camera doesn’t have to be tied into a building’s wiring system, and there is little or no maintenance required. Some cameras are battery powered, some are solar powered, and some are simply empty shells. Some models come with a motion detector and a blinking LED light, giving anyone near the device the feeling they are being watched.
Criminals still rob businesses. They wear ski masks, or at least the more intelligent ones do, knowing their actions are likely being recorded by a security camera. Imitation cameras won’t put a halt to this kind of activity although their presence may make the would be robber think twice. They are most effective when it comes to cutting down on shoplifting in a business or discouraging a prowler around a business site or a private residence. They are not expensive, and definitely worth the cost. In a high crime area or in a business where shoplifting is a problem, an imitation security camera can pay for itself in no time at all.
An inexpensive imitation security camera can pay for itself in a very short time , being an effective deterrent to mischievous or criminal activity.
We had a call her a few months ago from an assisted living facility in New York. Apparently one of the residents who has Alzheimer’s climbed out of their window, in their pajamas, and walked to a local train station, and boarded the train. The person was taking the train to New York City where they used to live. Fortunately someone noticed their appearance and condition on the train and called the police. These stories don’t always end this well. There have been cases where people have walked out into traffic, frozen to death, or wandered never to be seen again. People with Alzheimer’s and dementia walk into areas and are disoriented, scared, and don’t know what to do. As caregivers, this is a stress you face every single day. Many Alzheimer’ patients function well day to day but you never know when they may wander about. It is unpredictable.
Security2020 offers several products to help caregivers monitor the movement of their loved ones and patients to help prevent this wandering affect. Entrance and Exit alerts are such products. In summary, these are products that will sound an alert, chime, or alarm sound when a door or window is opened, this alerting the caregiver. A vast majority of these products do a great job of alerting a caregiver if that caregiver is on premise. However, most Americans do not have the financial means to provide 24/7 care for their loved ones, whether it is in an assisted living program or an onsite caregiver. If the caregiver is not there at night, how would you know if the alert is triggered? What do you do during the day if you have to work and cannot be there to watch your loved one 24/7?
There are cost-effective, do-it-yourself type of products we would like to highlight today. You can purchase these products and install them yourself to give you immediate peace of mind. The product we are highlighting is called the ED-100. This product, without any additional accessories consists of two products packaged together as a kit. The primary, and most important aspect of the product is the Auto Dialer which is included in the kit. The auto dialer, when triggered, will dial programmed phone numbers and play a recorded messages. The auto dialer plugs into a standard wall outlet and included a backup 9-volt battery, and also included a phone cord you would plug into a home phone jack. Available sensors to trigger the auto dialer are available (not included in ED-100) to monitor when doors or windows open, when movement is detected, or just about any other events you want to monitor. All of these products are wireless which means installation is simple and requires not wiring.
The ED-100 also included a wireless key chain panic transmitter. The simple push of a button will trigger the auto dialer to dial programmed numbers. If your loved one falls or feels like they need assistance, they can press the button on the key chain the auto dialer will dial the programmed numbers. As available add-on products, there are window and door sensors and motion sensors available. They are wireless and easy to install. The window door sensors have magnetic contacts and when separated, trigger the auto dialer. Place them on exterior doors and windows so you will get a call if they are opened. You can arm and disarm the auto dialer to make sure you are not getting calls when the caregiver is there. You can also turn off the sound so your loved one won’t hear the dialer calling you and get scared by the noise.
This is a great product I would invite you to take a look at. We are highlighting the unit for the application of monitoring a loved one but the product can also serve as a safety and security device as well. In the next blog, I will highlight the MS-2001 which take the auto dialer to the next level. This product enables two-way communication so that you can listen in or talk to the person after the auto dialer calls you.
Most public areas you have visited have “unauthorized” exits management needs to monitor. These are emergency exit doors, or other types of door that management needs an alarm to sound when the door is opened. Security2020 has recently added the Alarm Lock series of exit alarms to monitor and alarm when unauthorized exits occur. These products are packed with features so that these products will not only function perfectly as a stand alone exit alarm, they can also work together as well as work as integrated products with your burglar or fire system.
Specifically, we have added the PG series of exit alarms. These are easy to install products that will sound an alarm when a door is opened. If you are not familiar with Alarm Lock, they make are most known for the Trilogy line of keyless locks. These are standalone access control systems used all across the world. One of the best things about these keyless locks are the features as well as the quality of the products. Alarm Lock takes a great deal of pride in the quality of the product…they are solid. The same manufacturing guidelines used to manufacture the Trilogy electronic locks are used with their exit alarm products.
The PG21 Exit Alarm products come in two color finishes, metallic silver and metallic bronze. These finishes are available at no additional charge. There is also an optional amber color strobe light available with both finishes. If you choose the strobe light, not only will you get a loud, 110dB siren, you will see a visual, the amber colored strobe light.
These exit alarm products can be activated in two mode; “always armed mode” which means the only way to pull the key out of the unit is when it is in armed mode and “standard arming mode” which means the key can be removed when it is armed or disarmed. The product has a sleek, narrow-stile design and is powered by a supplied 9-volt alkaline battery with an expected life of up to 2.5 years. The product is packed with so many features, we recommend you visit the PG21 Exit Alarms by Alarm Lock by visiting the product page on the website.
My wife calls me a nerd because of how excited I get about our products. Maybe so, but if you are a small business owner and/or are responsible for the physical security of your business or retails store, I think you might get a little excited about this new electronic deadbolt offered by Security2020.com. It’s the newest edition to the keyless locks category, this electronic deadbolt is a great idea for your store securirty.
Essentially, this product is an easy to install electric deadbolt. With the click of a button, turning of a key, or activation of a security device, you can immediately deadbolt or un-lock a door. Here are a couple of examples. Say you want to keep all your exterior doors locked with deadbolt but are worried how quickly employees could exit if a fire breaks out. With the Alarm Lock LEKTROLOK 104RA, the deadbolt stays projected thus keeping the door locked. If smoke is detected through your installed smoke detectors, an “on” signal is sent to the electronic deadbolt retracting the bolt, thus unlocking the door. The LEKTROLOK 103 model is a “fail safe” lock and has the opposite effect. When an “on” signal is sent to the electric lock, the deadbolt locks. So what if you are a pizza company and want to keep the back door deadbolt-ed. This could be cumbersome for the delivery driver because he would have to knock on the back door until someone comes to let him/her in. With the electric deadbolt lock, they could simply push a wireless remote key fob to unlock the deadbolt–now that’s just plain cool.
Available in 24V and 12V models, this product is easy to install. The 12V model is low voltage meaning a simple doorbell transformer, as offered on our sister website, 1800doorbell.com, could easily to the trick. There are also a variety of installation configurations to install the deadbolt. It’s an easy retrofit.
Whether you are the owner or manager of a large or small business, time are now different and you have to provide for the security of your employees. To be blunt about it, there are a lot of crazies out there. Just a year or so ago, an ex-employee walked into a truck rental company just blocks from our office in Kennesaw, GA and opened fire, killing employees. Just a few months ago a guy walked into a hair salon and fired on people there.
Security no longer means stopping theft, security now means providing for a safe and secure working environment. You MUST have a plan to provide for your employees. An often overlooked but integral part to a good security plan is to provide alerts when someone enters you facility. Before we started using them, I cannot count the number of times a sales person has randomly strolled into our office looking to sell something. This just as easily could have been a crazed person looking to get even. If you cannot keep your door locked, a solid entrance alert is a must.
The problem facing most business is they don’t own the building and running wire for an entrance alert or entry alarm just isn’t practical. Let us introduce the DA50L-A by Security2020.com. The DA50L-A is also known as the TX/RX1000A by Rodann Electronics. The TX/RX1000A is an American made, long range wireless entrance alert that uses an infrared based motion sensor and a plug in receiver. The unit has a range of up to 1,000 feet and works great in businesses such as retail stores, convenience stores, warehouses, and offices. This long range entrance alert kit consists of two parts. The TX1000A is the motion based sensor that when triggered transmits a wireless signal to the receiver. It is powered by a 9-volt battery and is small and light enough to mount easily to a door frame, hallway, ceiling, etc. with double sided tape.
The receiver plugs into a standard wall outlet. When it receives the signal from the transmitter, the RX1000A (the receiver) emits a chime sound. The RX1000A is capable of playing one of four distinct chime sounds triggered by the activated TX1000A, Sensor Transmitter, that is sending the signal. The receiver has a volume control knob, a speaker output to add on a speaker, and a live 12Volt DC output to add accessories such as a siren, firebell, strobe light, or counter, or other accessory.
The TX/RX1000A is expandable by adding additional sensor/transmitters (TX1000A) and/or additional receiver/speakers (RX1000A). For additional information on this highly expandable long range wireless entrance alert for business, please watch the video below:
Trilogy DL5200 Keyless Lock with Double Sided Keypads
Like all the keyless locks available in the Trilogy line, the DL5200 is packed with features. This locks is double sided meaning it offers a keypad on both sides of the lock. Rugged, weather proof, and full of rich features, the DL5200 is a great electronic lock for us as a stand alone access control system in hospitals, small and large businesses, schools, or any facility where use access is restricted and security is paramount. For a quick video introduction to this product, please watch the short video below.
Trilogy DL2800 Kepad Lock with Audit Trial Great for Schools
Alarm Lock, out of New York, makes great equipment. This is evident when you take a look at the features the Trilogy products as well as inspect the product and look at the manufacturing quality of these products. When you are looking at security locks and access control systems, you cannot rely on second tier products. In the past, these stand alone access control devices were thought to be used in high-security areas like prisons or government facilities. Since 9/11 events and local shootings, the physical security of your small business requires some form of access control.
Relatively speaking, we work out of a small office and warehouse. In so many situations, all of use are out back and not able to hear when folks come in and out of the front door. On several occasions in the past we’ve had local sales reps wander into the office only to find no one standing there. Many times, these people will wander around our office looking for people to speak to. You can imagine how surprised our customer service manager Lori was when she walked out of the warehouse only to see a complete stranger standing there. We decided to use a keyless access control device for our front door and have not looked back.
The door automatically locks behind us when we enter. We never have to worry about someone walking in the office because the door is always locked. There are also several other benefits as well. I don’t have to issue keys to employees. If we have turnover, I don’t have to call a locksmith out to change the locks. I simple erase the unique access code I had given the employee. I have also found it helpful by not having to provide keys to the cleaning service.
The Trilogy DL2800 is simply a great keyless electronic lock. For a list of features, please take a moment to watch the short video introduction to the product.
Alarm Lock manufactures 17 different models of keyless locks in the Trilogy line. The most popular model is the Trilogy DL2700. If you own your own business, or are responsible for the security and safety of a commercial or business, keyless locks are a low cost, but highly effective standalone access control devices that will dramatically save you time and money.
Before we started using these access control devices in our office, every time we had an employee leave, we had to re-key the entire building, or issue new keys when new employees started. If you have owned your own business or been in charge of something as seemingly simple as key management, having a keyless electronic lock means no more key management. Another added benefit is that you can always reset assured that the door will auto lock behind you. No more turning the key into the deadlock when you leave at night. Simply walk out, make sure the door is shut, and your done.
The DL2700 is the most popular model in the Trilogy line because of its low entry price point and it is packed with features. Here are just a few of them:
available in 7 different finishes
weather-resistant model available
operating temp range from -31 F to 115 F
BMHA grade 1 certified, ADA lever compliant, UL listed, FCC certified
up to 100 user codes (master, manager, basic users, one time users)
powered by AA batteries
many accessories available
Please take a moment to watch this short video below to introduce you to the Trilogy DL2700 Keyless Lock:
Alarm Lock continues to produce quality security products and with one quick examination of the Sirenlock 250 and you’ll understand why. This product is solid, well constructed, packed full of bells and whistles.
By law, almost all public areas must offer emergency exits in their facilities. The problem created was how to offer a quick exit in emergency situations while keeping the door locked from the outside. Imagine the rush of people out of a movie theater (we’ve all seen the emergency exit) all gathered at a door locked from the inside with a deadbolt. Panic bars and emergency exit devices like them were created exactly for that reason. These devices allow doors to remain locked from the outside but from the inside, a simple push of the bar that runs across the inside of the door OR pushing the clapper paddle releases the deadbolt to allow exit. As an additional safety and security measure, most devices on the market today feature a loud audible alarm. This will alert management when these unauthorized doors are opened.
Alarm Lock manufactures a series of emergency exit devices such as the Sirenlock 250. This device comes in weatherproof or non-weatherproof models, as well as other features such as auto reset of the alarm when it sounds, different interchangeable core preps for different rim cylinders, and other accessories and features for situations like double doors, glass doors, or other configurations.
Please take a moment to watch this short introduction video on the Sirelock 250 by Alarm Lock. After this video, we hope you will see what this is a great emergency exit access device:
Many folks add security to the inside of their home but neglect the outside. A driveway alarm adds protection to the outside of your home and can serve as an early warning notice when people and/or cars enter your driveway. If the distance from your driveway entrance to where you would plug-in your receiver is over 600 feet, this is the product for you.
The DCMA-2500 is a long range wireless driveway alarm capable of sending a wireless signal from the transmitter to the receiver up to 2,500 feet. Traditionally most systems top out at up to 600-1,000 feet but using duty cycle technology, this transmitter packs the power most systems simple don’t have. The transmitter for this system is a small (the length of a pen) and olive drab in color making it easy to hid. Using PIR technology, when any movement is detected within the monitored zone, the sensor/transmitter sends a wireless signal to the plug-in receiver. Powered by a 9-volt battery, the life of the battery should be approximately two years.
The receiver plug into a standard wall outlet and has four zones, each with its own, distinct sound choice. This means you can pair multiple transmitters with a zone on the receiver so you can determine which transmitter the signal is originating from. In addition to that, you can add additional receiver to increase the listening range of the system. The receiver also includes a “c-relay” for integration with other systems and also a live 12V DC output to power accessories like a signal bell, fire bell, siren, strobe light, counter, etc.
This is a state-of-the-art system and a best of class long range wireless driveway alarm. For an introduction to this product, please feel free to watch the video below and please do not hesitate to call or email for additional questions:
