What Are the Different Types of Security Alarm Systems?

Security alarm systems have been around for decades to protect businesses and residents from crime and property theft. While some are fairly basic, others incorporate highly sensitive advances that have only become available in the last few years. As a result, facility and homeowners now have a variety of choices they can work with to better match their needs. According to the experts at Alarms R Us, all security alarm systems today, regardless of type, will have certain general components. These include the processing unit or brain, the sensors, keypads for input and control, and the alerting devices.

The most common categories of alarm systems today include the following:

• Passive infrared detectors (sensor type) – Better known as motion detectors, these are often situated high above a room or in a position to scan a traffic area.

• Ultrasonic detectors (sensor type) – Using sound waves like a sonar, these sensors catch disturbances in sound waves that ping back when there is an intruder.

• Microwave detectors (sensor type) – With the use of microwaves, this sensor looks for changes in bouncing back microwaves to identify an intruder.

• Photo-electric beams (sensor type) – Using an infrared light beam, the sensor is tripped when the beam is broken by a moving solid.

• Glass break detection (sensor type) – Lined into the glass of facilities, these sensors are triggered when the surface is broken or shocked enough to exceed an acceptable noise threshold. Window foil was an old method of this approach.

• Strain-sensor cable system (vibration) – Used mainly for chainlink fence barriers, these devices pick up movement and impact when someone cuts through or climbs a fence.

• Passive magnetic field detection (vibration) – Good for catching intruders climbing walls or crossing floors, these systems emit a field that when disrupted triggers an alarm.

• E-fields (vibration/motion) – Using three different wires to generate a field barrier, these systems are good for external perimeter sensing of an intruder, especially across field areas and wide yards.

There are other more complicated systems, but they all work on similar principles of barriers that an intruder crosses or severs, triggering an alarm. The key point to remember, however, is that all of these systems require a good expert to install to make sure they work correctly. Alarms R Us has some of the best trained technicians in the market to handle these unique needs and system designs. Contact us today at (718) 996-6900 for more information or to get a quote.