iPhone Home Security App

Using this advanced technology, customers can keep track of homes, vacation properties, and even view children and pets in real time. Users can program the system from their phone, turn it off for visiting relatives, or arm the system after leaving their home.

Provo, UT (PRWEB) August 18, 2009 — Platinum Protection is now offering a new application for BlackBerry and iPhone devices – making it possible for homeowners to remotely arm and disarm their security system, as well as allowing customers to monitor their homes through live video streamed directly to their phone.

From the app, in addition to viewing live camera feeds from your home, you can also remotely adjust pan-tilt cameras and review stored video footage. In case of a break in, the system will automatically record a video clip of the perpetrator and immediately send you a text message notification that the alarm has gone off. Once a homeowner receives the notification, they can open the app on their phone and view the saved video clip seconds after the break in occurred.

“Our goal is to provide peace of mind,” said Chance Allred, partner, Platinum Protection. “Using this advanced technology, customers can keep track of homes, vacation properties, and even view children and pets in real time. Users can program the system from their phone, turn it off for visiting relatives, or arm the system after leaving their home.”

Allred continued, “80 percent of new sales are tied to cellular lines rather than landlines which means in the event of an intruder, fire, flood or another event where a landline might not function, our wireless service will alert customers and the appropriate authorities.”

The app works in conjunction with Platinum’s current web-based service called Platinum Interactive. Using the online interface, customers can control the type of text message and email notifications they want to receive. For instance, homeowners can set the system to alert them to floods, power outages or even each time the front door opens.

“Those with elderly family members can set up notifications for medicine cabinets and be alerted if the cabinet doesn’t open, or when a child returns home from school,” said Jeremy Pixton, partner, Platinum Protection. “Our goal is to give customers a complete security solution for their home.”

The app works with a Platinum Protection security system and can be downloaded for free at http://www.platinumprotect.com/PlatinumInteractive/. Platinum is currently offering a promotion to new customers.

About Platinum Protection
Platinum Protection provides home security solutions to more than 100,000 customers nationwide. To find out more about Platinum Protection security products and services, please visit http://www.PlatinumProtect.com.

Contact:
Jacob Nielson
801-477-0401

Protection

You’ve decided to have a home security system professionally installed.  You have done some research to check out the best type of protection for you and your family.  Now you need an alarm representative to explain in detail the protection and services they offer.

Checking with a friend or neighbor who has an alarm system or the local police authority can be a good idea.  If they are satisfied with the protection and service they receive from their alarm company that can be a good referral.

You should be thinking about the areas of your home that concern you most.  This could be a basement window or a door off the garage that is very secluded.  Think about where a burglar might attempt a break in without being seen.  This will definitely be an area you will want the home security expert to look at and give their opinion on protecting.

Be sure to consider the type of protection you will want, (i.e., doors, windows, motion detectors, smoke detectors, panic alarms), a budget for the alarm installation (be budget flexible), and the benefits and services you will expect from the alarm company.

You may know you are only calling the alarm company your friend referred.  If you decide to call more than one company, don’t waste your time calling in 4-6 companies.  First, it may either confuse you by the time you are done with the last company meeting or make you an expert in home security.  Sometimes 1-2 or even 3 companies are sufficient to get a good, quality estimate on protection and service.

There are a number of quality local alarm companies in each community. (Local means they only have one office location).  There are also excellent national alarm companies, who are also considered local, yet they may have  offices located in cities throughout the United States.  These companies usually provide security for large commercial and small businesses and tend to have several sophisticated 24-hour alarm monitoring centers located in various states.

One benefit of having a national alarm company provide your security protection is should you be transferred to another city by your business  – no matter where you go you may be able to have your same alarm company provide your protection and service.

Allow about an hour or so for a complete home security review. Have each alarm company give you a written proposal that includes all of the protection coverage, the cost of the security system, and monitoring services to be provided.

Once you’ve made a decision on the company to provide your security protection, get the installation scheduled as soon as you can.  I always said the first step in the installation process was putting up the security window decals and yard signs!  Do that right away and let the protection begin!

Good luck in your home security selection!

Home Security Tips

Tip #1 Make your home security system like an onion, not an egg. Layers upon layers are not only the best deterrent, but the best defense against break ins.

Reason: It is easy for a criminal to bypass a single line of defense. Multiple layers not only slow him, but serve as a means to alert you or your neighbors that someone is trying to break in. Doing these “layered walk-aways” makes it more difficult for a criminal to meet his criteria of quick and unobserved entry. If, like the tip of an iceberg, enough of these deterrents are visible, most of the time the would-be intruder will simply choose not to even try. If he does try, then the layers he did not see will impede him.

A good example of a layered defense is rosebushes outside the window, double-locked, barred and safety coated side windows and something difficult to climb over inside under the window.

Tip #2 Pretend to be a burglar
Walk around your property and ask yourself: How would I break in? Examine your house from the street, where are the blind spots?  What are the most vulnerable areas and, therefore, likely to be attacked? Stand outside the windows and look in, make sure no valuables, like expensive electronics or artwork, are visible. If you can see your belongings doing this, so can criminals.

Reason: We don’t tend to think of our homes in these terms. So spend just a few minutes doing this. Find where “blind spots” are (areas where a criminal can work without being seen or would be screened from view of a neighbor looking to see what that loud noise they just heard). Also look for “weaknesses” (easy access points) are (for example, sliding glass doors, doggy doors or louvered windows). These are the areas that will be “attacked” by the criminal. That is also where you must focus your defenses.

Tip #3 Consider the area that the lock sits in
A lock is not enough, you must also address the area around it. You need to extend your thinking about security measures to 18 and twenty four inches around the lock itself. That is the area you must protect.

Reason: A burglar doesn’t care how much damage he causes getting in. The best locks in the world will do no good if he smashes the door in. A pinewood door frame will splinter and give way after a few savage kicks. The backdoor deadbolt can often be bypassed by just breaking a window and reaching through to unlock it. Windows can be broken and locks undone. Many locked gates can be opened by simply reaching around and over. A hasp-and-lock will swiftly yield to blows from a even a small sledgehammer.

Tip #4 As well as locking something, you must also protect the lock and its components
A common combination of cheap locks and small construction flaws, that we tend not to notice, often give criminals the “cracks” in security they need to break in.

Reason: Many home doorlocks can be quickly bypassed with a knife or screwdriver slid in the gap between door and frame. After that the criminal can easily work the tongue of most cheap locks out of the door frame. A thin kitchen knife slid between sash windows can “tap” a normal window lock open. Hasps and locks can be hammered or twisted off in a few blows, or simply cut off with bolt cutters. Many sliding windows and doors can simply be lifted out of place.

Door: Look at the gap between your door and your door frame from the inside – can you see the lock’s tongue? All it takes is a flip of the criminal’s wrist while holding a screwdriver while on the outside to break away the thin doorjamb molding and expose that same gap. From there, it is another simple wrist gesture to jimmy the tongue out of the faceplate. Total elapsed time for break-in, about 10 seconds — with minimal noise.

On ALL outside exit doors, buy locks that have locking tongues. Test this by holding the door open and locking the knob. Then attempt to depress the tongue into the door with your finger. Better locks will have a secondary tongue that doesn’t move. The best locks will have entire tongues that don’t move.

Window: Put “window stops” on the first floor and basement window frames. These often functionally amount to secondary and tertiary locks. The best kind are those that go through a moveable frame and lock it into place. Something as simple as drilling a hole through both frames when the window is closed and placing a nail in the hole will lock the windows in place.

Other: Use hasps with protective shrouds. These make it harder for the criminal to hammer away the lock. If for some reason you have an outward swinging door, not only get the best lock possible, but place a safety plate (a small formed sheet of metal) over the tongue so it cannot be seen or easily manipulated

These slow down the criminal and make him work hard to get in. This entails him making more noise for longer periods of time, thereby increasing his chances of being detected.

Utah Food Banks Partner With Platinum Protection for Charity Knock 2008

Utah residents along the Wasatch Front are encouraged to donate food items this Friday afternoon as representatives from Platinum Protection go door-to-door collecting donations for local food banks.

(PRWEB) December 11, 2008 — This Friday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., nearly 400 representatives of Platinum Protection, a Provo-based security company, will be canvassing areas across the Wasatch Front to gather food items for local food banks. To help boost donations, residents in Utah, Salt Lake and Cache counties are encouraged to donate non-perishable food items and toiletry supplies as Platinum representatives come to your door to gather the donations.

Platinum Protection Logo
With the slowing economy, we’ve heard the reports of the food banks running empty and we saw this as a unique opportunity to go to work and help families in need Platinum has partnered with Community Action Services and Food Bank in Provo, the Utah Food Bank in Salt Lake City and the Cache County Food Pantry to coordinate the door-to-door effort in hopes to keep local food bank shelves stocked through the Christmas season.

“We just love to see businesses in the community helping out,” said Myla Dutton, Executive Director of Community Action Services and Food Bank. “Platinum is a great example of what it takes to make our work possible. We are very grateful to them.”

Representatives of Platinum were aware of the need for food at local food banks and saw this food drive as an opportunity to help out.

“With the slowing economy, we’ve heard the reports of the food banks running empty and we saw this as a unique opportunity to go to work and help families in need,” said JeremyPixton, part owner and senior executive at Platinum Protection.

At 7 p.m. Friday, food bank representatives along with Platinum employees will meet at the Thanksgiving Point Barn to consolidate the food into trailers for delivery to the respective food banks.

About Platinum Protection: Platinum is a GE Security authorized dealer. To find out more about Platinum Protection security products and services, please visit www.PlatinumProtectionSecurity.com.

Platinum Testimonials

This is the long vision of the Platinum Protection customer testimonials. Home security systems fall under the classic phrase “its better to have one and not need it, Than not have one and need it”

YouTube Link

Platinum Protection

 

Platinum home security system is one of the briskest selling residential security systems in the United States at present. It is marketed by Platinum Protection, a company based at Provo, Utah. The company, according to a press release, has done more than 55000 installations just the last year alone. With that, the total number of homes protected by Platinum security over the last two years has become more than 90000. The top management of the company cites customer satisfaction and efficiency of the employees as the major factors behind the success of the company. 

If a company can be judged by the companies that it partners with, then Platinum Protection should get excellent rating. The security devices are supplied by GE Security. It provides alarm monitoring service in association with Monotronics, a leading company in this sector. Also, the online surveillance of the package is conducted through alarm.com. But in the long term what the customers say determines the fate of any company. Here is a You Tube video that contains actual customer testimonials about Platinum home security systems.

An Overview Of Residential Security Systems 

If you have watched the video, you might have noticed more than one person relating the “peace of mind” factor. This is the most important aspect of any security and surveillance system for houses. Some security systems end up causing more headache to the customer than when there was no security system. Such systems are either too sensitive or not efficient at all. The surveillance systems that are too sensitive trigger a number of false alarms, which eventually reduces the usefulness of the system. On the other hand, ineffective systems do not trigger alarms at all. In some cases, even when the alarms are transmitted, there will not be sufficient back-up action to provide instant help. 

The mode of functioning of almost all security systems is the same. When the system detects trespassing of any kind, it sends an alarm to the control office. The control office, in turn, alerts the customer, the police and, if needed, the Fire Force about possible foul play. Some agencies also send trained personnel who are well-versed in handling such emergency situations. The functionalities of surveillance systems vary. The basic systems, which are at the lowest band of the price spectrum, trigger alarms when burglars, other persons, or animals intrude into the surveillance area.

The number of functions increases as the price of the system increases. The other notable add-ons include a fire and smoke detector, glass break alarm, motion detectors, closed circuit television (CCTV), surveillance images on PDAs or through the internet, and sensors for doors and windows. The systems at the top of the price band provide functions that are previously seen mostly in James Bond movies: automatic tear gas emitter, compact temporary steel prison that can automatically lock in the intruder, and sensor for chemical hazards.

Functioning of Platinum Home Security Systems 

Platinum security systems also function in the above-mentioned manner. But the devices used are more advanced and sophisticated. The back-up action also is quicker and more efficient. Most of these devices can function in a wireless environment. So, there is no need to drill holes in the walls or dig the floor up. The basic security system of Platinum Protection works as follows. 

The surveillance system can be installed in one or two hours, depending upon the area under surveillance and its topological characteristics. The customer can specify the places or rooms that need to be surveyed. The customer can also provide a number of telephone or mobile phone numbers to be contacted, such as those of friends, neighbors, or relatives staying nearby. In case of an alarm, alerts will also be sent to these numbers, in addition to the phone numbers of the customer and emergency official phone numbers. The customer will be provided a keypad to control and regulate the functions of the security system and a password to start its operation.

The system sends an alarm to the nearest control office of Platinum Protection or Monotronics when it detects an intruder in the surveillance area. An alarm will also be sent when the customer presses the emergency button on the keypad. Then, the operator in the control room calls the customer back and asks for the password. This is to check whether the alarm has gone off accidentally or otherwise. If the call is not answered or the password provided by the receiver of the call is incorrect, the operator instantly informs the police and other emergency services about the problem. The operator will also inform neighbors, friends, or relatives, whose contact numbers are available.

The Advantages Of Platinum Home Security Systems 

Platinum Protection has devised innovative methods to provide cost-effective security solutions to the customers. The company’s main channel of sales is direct marketing through marketing executives. The customer is likely to get considerable price reduction if he is ready to host an advertisement board of the company in the front yard of the house. The board serves two purposes. The first is the price reduction. The second is that it may also chase away any burglars who have already had a “taste” of the efficiency of Platinum security systems. 

If you want to install Platinum home security system in your house, you can contact the nearest company office. They will send direct marketing executives to your house. Most of these executives are friendly and knowledgeable. You can, and have to, ask them whatever doubts you have about the system. The executives will answer most of the questions. When they don’t know the clear answer to some question, they will call the technicians to get it clarified.

The installation of the device can be completed in about two hours. The devices are sophisticated and the customer would need some sort of training to use and control the system. The technicians will provide you with training on using the keypad and brief you about the frequent problems that beginners generally face. Platinum Protection has a good reputation in terms of customer support and after sales service, as some of the customer testimonials in the You Tube video have indicated. In short, Platinum home security system is a good and reliable bet to ensure that wonderful thing we all seek: peace of mind.