The Informer, 1 B04418 | ACR–1750531 Summer 2013

Did you know that every single reason to avoid false alarms can be boiled down to two categories?

Ener–Tel Services, Inc.

4512 Adobe Drive | PO Box 5290San Angelo, Texas 76902325-658-8375www.ProtectTexas.com

Provided as a public service by The False Alarm Reduction Assoc. & Ener–Tel Services, Inc.

THE INFORMER

Summer 2013

Each quarter, Ener–Tel Services generates a false alarm reduction newlsetter as a service to you, our customer. We hope to provide valuable information that will protect you and your home while adding value to your current home security system.

In this issue, look for:

Let’s Talk Monitoring, p. 2

Featured Product, p. 3

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The Informer, 1

False alarms cost you money. In some municipalities, you can be fined each time your system sends a false alarm.False alarms waste resources and delay responses. Responding to false alarms costs the city. Additionally, responding to false alarms results in slower response times to real alarms.

Budgeting Crying WolfFalse alarms cause complacency. You have heard the term “cry wolf”, right? It applies here. An alarm that is constantly going off desensitizes the community to actual incidents. Frequent false alarms tend to make responders complacent.

What Can I Do?Do not worry. There are easy steps you can take to reduce their likelihood. To save money, to ease the strain on San Angelo’s resources, and to protect your home and family, follow these steps.

Train all users. Make sure that everyone who will be using the system knows the operating basics. If you are unsure of how to properly use your system, give us a call. We would be happy to show you.

Fix problems immediately. If your system is acting up, schedule a service call with us.

Got a key? Get a code. If you give someone a key to your home (house or pet sitters, cleaning crews, landscapers, extended family) give them the passcode as well.

Let us know about any environmental changes. Any new pets? Are you rearranging your furniture or hanging new drapes? All these factors could interfere with the operation of your motion detectors. Call us and one of our team members can quickly assess how your alarm system can best accomodate the changes in your home.

The Bottom Line... You see, your alarm system is your first line of defense. Each step you take toward reducing false alarms increases the value of your alarm system. Sure, it saves you money. But more importantly, it keeps you, your family and your belongings protected.

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Let’s Talk Monitoring.A huge debate in the security world revolves around monitoring. Some people insist that their systems be monitored by central stations in the same area code; some are satisfied with using a central station in the same state. Others, still, do not care where their central station is as long as the monitoring service is top-tier.

The truth of the matter is that it makes no difference where the central station monitoring your alarm is located. Whether in San Antonio or San Francisco – when the agents at your central station receive your alarm, they call your local police, no matter what.

The difference lies in the quality of service your alarm monitoring company offers. Our central station boasts the technology to receive an alarm signal in a matter of seconds; a staff of attentive, continuously-trained agents; and a redundant server, so that a power or technological failure is never a concern in terms of receiving alarm signals.

We have taken great care to implement the newest technology so that your signal is immediately received. Our monitoring agents are known for their fast response to alarm signals, and our system employs 100% redundancy, which guarantees the receipt of your alarm signal.

In any debate about monitoring, these are the things that really matter, and Ener–Tel is proud to provide them to you. If you have any questions about monitoring, please give us a call. We would be happy to talk to you about our top-tier monitoring services.

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Now, for a little housekeeping.In case of an emergency, we need to be able to reach you. When your system sends an alarm signal, an agent from the central station will call the numbers on the contact list you provided.

Please take the time to call our service department to ensure that all of the phone numbers on your contact list are current.

If you accidentally set off your own alarm, do not wait for the central station to contact you. Please call 866-658-8375 and let an agent know that yours was a false alarm.

Doing this will save you money, will protect your city’s resources, and will allow emergency personnel to respond to real alarms. See? Budgeting and crying wolf.

210-491-3400. In the event of an alarm, you will receive a phone call from this number. It is not a just another telemarketer calling you at an inconvenient time; it is an agent from our central station attempting to verify your safety.

Store (210) 491-3400 in your phone as “Alarm Alert,” and always try to answer when they call.

To-do list: Update contact list with Ener–Tel

Be proactive when false alarms occur

Store central station number in phone

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Featured Product

Picture this. You’ve left the house in the morning, and just as you pull up to the office, that feeling hits. Did I close the garage?

Leaving your garage door open is like asking people to take your stuff. Your lawn mower, a (likely unlocked) car, electronics, power tools, seasonal decorations... Your garage has turned from a safe place to store your posessions into a free-for-all in one moment of forgetfulness.

You’re already going to great lengths to protect your home. To help secure this vulnerable point, Ener–Tel is now offering a garage door tilt sensor, which detects when the garage door is open. As a part of our home automation package, the garage door tilt sensor can send an alert when your garage is not closed. Knowing your home is secure is much better than hoping your home is secure. Of course, you could always take it a step further: integrating the sensor into your home automation gives you the ability to automatically close the garage door after arming your system.

The sensor is not a contact alarm. Why should this make a difference to you? Well, it’s windy here. With a contact alarm, if your garage door moves in the wind, you risk setting off a false alarm.

Now, picture this. You’ve left the house in the morning, and just as you pull up to the office, that feeling hits. Did I close the garage? No. You didn’t. But don’t worry. With home automation from Ener–Tel, it closed itself.

Call us today to see how you can integrate the garage door tilt sensor into your home automation.

Transform your home. Turn your living room into your dream

theatre with the help of the experts at Ener–Tel.

(we do more than just...)

The Informer, 4 B04418 | ACR–1750531 Summer 2013

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San Angelo, Texas

Permit No. 240

Angie’s ListDo you have an Angie’s List membership? If you do, we could use your help. We would love to be able to give Angie’s List members special offers, but we can’t do that until a few people have reviewed our services.

Would you mind doing that for us? Your review not only helps your neighbors know which businesses to trust, but it will also help us to improve every aspect of the way we do business. That sounds like a win-win to us!

Plus... One of our reviewers will win free monitoring. If you’re an Angie’s List member and wouldn’t mind the chance to win a month of free monitoring, follow the link below. (Thank you, in advance!)

Our CustomersWe take pride in the relationships we build with our customers. They trust that we will protect their homes, families and businesses, and we take pride in proving them right, year after year.

If something is not working like it should, we want to know so we can make it right. And if something is working like it should, we don’t mind hearing that either.

I would like to say a big thank you to Ryan for taking time out of his busy schedule to help with my education in regards to our Fire Alarm System. Ryan is always available to us no matter what the problem, big or small. His generosity of time and professionalism has been a great support in keeping us compliant. He has proven many times that our Fire Alarm System is important to him and service to us is his main priority. Please pass on our thanks.

Light Commercial Customer

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