Now that you have secured your residence with a state-of-the-art KMT home security system. You saw the stats on how a security system can both deter and detect intruders, protect from fire, and alert homeowners to everything from leaking pipes to broken furnaces. You have researched security providers and found that KMT Systems is local, family-owned and operated, and highly experienced. You have seen that our mission is to carry on the tradition of integrity and quality service that was started in 2005 when KMT Systems was founded. You have come to rely on the convenience of your smart home security solution utilizing devices from industry-leading manufacturers.
What Now?
One of the many benefits of a home security system is that it’s largely independent and self-sustained. Once it’s programmed, it’s mostly a matter of setting the system when you’re not home or ready for bed. However, like any electrical appliance in your home, there are a handful of routine tasks you can perform to help extend the life and efficiency of your alarm system. By performing these tasks regularly, you can help to ensure your system protects and provides as well as it did on day 1.
Perform Regular Communication Test
Communication with a local monitoring center is the central role of a professional home security system. If the KMT Security Monitoring Center is not receiving your signals in an emergency, our operators will be unable to dispatch police, fire, or medical personnel to your location.
KMT Systems monitored customers have their systems programmed to send test signals to our Monitoring Center regularly. If we do not receive a signal at the appropriate time, our operators will call and let you know that there may be something going on with your system so we can find a way to fix it promptly. If you’re heading out of town for an extended period of time or just want to check the general health of your system, it doesn’t hurt to send a test signal yourself. Our team of operators in the Monitoring Center can work with you to put your system in a test mode, which allows you to send signals to them without alerting emergency services. By doing this, our operators can tell you if we’re receiving alarm signals from your system and you can see for yourself how quickly we receive them.
Your field devices – door contacts, motion sensors, and more communicate with the alarm panel as well and also need to be tested. If a glass break senses a shattered window, it sends a signal to the alarm panel, which sends a signal to our Monitoring Center. Therefore, it can also be beneficial to test the individual devices on your system as well. When calling our Monitoring Center and putting your account in test mode, you can go around your house and set off every device individually and check to make sure our operators receive the signal. Doing so ensures your system will function properly in the event of a real emergency and can help to prove your system is still functioning as it should.
Change Out Your Batteries
Newer home security systems often use wireless field devices for less invasive installations and more adaptable mounting options. Like all wireless devices, wireless security sensors run on batteries that need to be changed out every so often. While manufacturers estimate batteries to last three to five years in such devices, some devices that draw a lot of power or are sensing continuously may drain faster. Your KMT Security alarm panel will alert you when a battery in a device is nearing the end of its life cycle and, eventually, when the device has stopped communicating because the battery is dead.
Taking care of the battery issue ahead of time can save you from heartache in the future. What if you’re on vacation and you receive a call from the KMT Monitoring Center informing you that your front door contact is no longer communicating! While you may be able to get away with replacing batteries every few years, switching the batteries out regularly every year, low battery or no can help to prevent device communication loss from occurring down the line.
Sidenote: Changing out devices sends a signal to our Monitoring Center indicating that someone is tampering with your system. Be sure to call our operators before changing batteries out so they can put the system in test mode so we know to temporarily ignore these signals.
Checking For Wear and Tear
When you have changed out the batteries in your devices, it doesn’t hurt to inspect the state of the sensors themselves. Are they still mounted correctly? Are they dirty or dusty? Are they damaged in any way? If a device is looking worn for its wear, it might be time to have an KMT Systems technician out to repair or replace it. Your home’s security solution operates under the assumption that every device will function properly to provide proper coverage, and if even one device isn’t sensing properly or was damaged by environmental factors, it’s essential that the problem is addressed promptly.
Keep it Professional
Performing routine maintenance can go a long way in getting the most out of your security system. At the end of the day, the best way to maximize your system’s longevity is by entrusting routine maintenance to those you bestowed to install it. KMT Systems fields an entire team of preventative maintenance technicians whose job it is to inspect, test, and maintain both residential and commercial KMT security systems. Signing up for preventative maintenance ensures a visit from one of our technicians to check general communication, change out batteries as needed, and inspect your devices to determine if there are any repairs needed.
By investing in a KMT Security System, you’ve created an environment of safety and convenience for you and your family. Secure your investment with a maintenance plan by KMT Systems and years of security expertise help protect your household long into the future.
