YOUR TECH: Cell phone controls alarm system

You see the commercials on television, the fliers in the mail and in newspaper inserts, and you’ve probably noticed the signs in many yards across town: Home alarm services are kind of big these days, and with reason. The recession, it’s speculated, is driving a spike in break-ins and burglaries, so protecting your home and family is important.

Installing some systems seems a bit onerous, but I’ve recently been able to try a rather interesting one, based on some “standard” alarm technology such as window, door and motion sensors, and some new twists, including wireless video cameras and cell phone technology.

The whole concept comes from Alarm.com, a firm based in McLean, which claims more than 800 dealers nationwide. (Consumers generally would go through such dealers; the company worked directly with me for a test.)

The control unit, made by General Electric Co., was linked wirelessly to a variety of sensors in our house on doors, windows and the like. These were augmented by a motion sensor in one part of the house - I’m being vague for what should be understandable reasons - and also were supposed to have been linked with some video cameras, but more on that in a moment.

All the sensors report data to the control panel, which communicates with the alarm monitoring system via cell phone. A number of other home systems are tied into a wired phone network; experienced burglars can cut the phone wires and have free rein. Alarm.com’s David Loftus explained to me that you even can disconnect the Alarm.com control unit from a power source and there’s still enough “juice” to send a mayday to the home office.

In normal circumstances, a break in the sensors would trigger a screeching alarm sure to startle intruders and frighten the pets, as well as send a call for help that’s relayed to local law enforcement. For the purpose of my test, the alarm would go off, but the Howard County gendarmerie weren’t summoned. (Reviewing a product, after all, has its limits, and I want to be on good terms with our area’s finest.)

So far, so good. Except for the cell phone part, the Alarm.com system functions in much the same way something from ADT or a similar firm would perform. But the plus here is that I can monitor - and modify - my alarm system remotely, from a PC or smartphone. That, in this reviewer’s opinion, raises its value quite a bit.

Once, while traveling in Washington state, I received a panicked call from my wife that there was something going on outside the house. I was concerned, but I also was several thousand miles away. Using my iPhone, I set up a three-way call with the police, who went to my house and made sure everything was OK.

Now, if I am traveling and have cellular access, I can get an alert on my cell phone, or via e-mail, or a combination of methods. That’s comforting.

Logging into the Alarm.com Web site, I also should be able to see any video cameras hooked up to my system and even observe what’s going on in a given area. Unfortunately, as Mr. Loftus was installing the test system, we found a hang-up with Verizon’s FiOS system and the network router the firm provides. For some reason, that system doesn’t like to “talk” to the video cameras used by Alarm.com, something I’m sure they’ll work on to resolve. (I have seen Web demonstrations of other Alarm.com customers using the video service, so I have confidence it will work.)

Overall, the hardware installed at my home would cost most users about $250, the video cameras about $200 each, and monthly service ranging between $37 and $47, all prices depending on what a given dealer wants to charge. The prices seem reasonable, and when you factor in the extra safety of the cell-phone-based control unit and the Web monitoring, it seems well worth it.

There’s a link at the Alarm.com Web site to find a dealer, and if you’re concerned about home security, it might be worth a click and some investigation.

• E-mail mkellner@ washingtontimes.com