WIDENING THE SAFETY NET OF HOME SECURITY
Posted by: electime 15th July 2024
Martin Wilson, North EMEA Regional Director at Resideo, looks at what the survey highlighted as important to homeowners, what this means for security professionals recommending a new system and the opportunity presented by alarms that can be built on and adapted to suit individual customer needs.
Resideo surveyed 1,000 homeowners across the UK1 with almost a third saying they felt more concerned about their home safety following the pandemic. A similar proportion of respondents may also consider purchasing a new alarm.
It probably comes as no surprise to many security professionals that the main driver prompting consumers to opt for an alarm was to discourage unwanted visitors. In fact, nearly 60% cited deterring burglary when they were not at home as the top priority. The results also showed consumers were moving to a more holistic sense of home security, wanting to bring convenience, property, and life safety all into the mix.
With the latest modular alarm systems now available, such as the new ProSeries platform from Resideo, home security no longer needs to function on one level, alerting only to a break-in taking place. Instead, it can be built around individual needs to suit the homeowner, to create a more complete home safety and security system. It can also be extended as these needs change, or the home expands. For instance, by adding additional detectors such as fire, smoke, CO, motion, as well as glass break and window sensors, panic transmitters, and even medical transmitters, as required.
Revisiting priorities
To give a clearer picture of what customers considered important, the survey also delved into UK homeowner priorities when it came to selecting alarm features; providing valuable insight for alarm professionals to discuss with prospects.
The ability to suggest an alarm system that can bring together alerts for different threats under one scheme had real appeal, particularly alerts to the dangers presented by fire and CO. Both of which were mentioned as important to the decision-making process by 41% of those asked.
For many, this increased awareness may be down to regulation updates regarding smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms that took place in 2022. In Scotland, for instance, carbon monoxide detectors were required to be fitted in any room with a carbon-fuelled appliance in all homes, rented or owned.
In England, from the 1st October 2022, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms were required in all social housing properties, with carbon monoxide alarms now mandatory in the private rented sector. Wales followed suit in December for rented accommodation.
The new guidance for England and Wales requires at least one smoke alarm to be installed on each storey of a property, to help alert to domestic fires more quickly, ensuring a quicker evacuation and reduced risk of fatality.
For professionals, systems such as ProSeries, can be connected to a series of smoke, and carbon monoxide detectors, in a ‘one-go-all-go’ set up that means the alarm will go off if one of these threats is identified.
Integration
Equally, as more of us expect to be able to change the temperature of our homes from an app or check the doors of our cars are locked via our phone, the way homeowners want to receive alerts and operate their home security system was raised within the survey. Integration with smart home devices was mentioned as important for two fifths of respondents.
The Total Connect 2.0 app gives ProSeries end-users the ability to view and control the security system remotely. And the Resideo Pro app currently gives installers ability to view the system and connect to the Central Monitoring Station. The platform also supports smart home automation as it works with Z-wave devices.
This platform also gives extra benefits for alarm professionals too. The AlarmNet 360™ platform on which ProSeries is built, gives greater insight to improve business operations, increase efficiency and delivers insights on accounts to identify additional upsell opportunities and ongoing services. Providing the ability to remotely diagnose brings valuable time saving options and avoids unnecessary call outs. It also means the ProSeries panel and peripherals programming can be accessed anytime, anywhere, using the cloud, allowing ease of programming, troubleshooting and account management on the go.
With more time now spent at home, it is interesting to see that customers’ perception of what makes them feel safe has widened. Being able to offer a solution that can tackle these concerns in a single system – with the opportunity to up-scale over time – not only gives the alarm longevity but also means individual needs can be considered during the set-up stage and added to as and when upgrades are required, in line with customer requirements.
For further information on its the latest range of ProSeries modular alarm systems panels and peripherals from, visit: https://www.resideo.com/gb/en/solutions/security/residential-security/proseries/
