Holiday Lighting–Keep Your Home Safe!

Holiday Lighting–Keep Your Home Safe!

Holiday Lighting–Keep Your Home Safe! A 2013 consumer survey indicated that more than 86% of Americans decorate their homes as part of their winter holiday celebrations.  Almost two-thirds of respondents use electric lights in their indoor decorating scheme, while more than half use lighted decorations outside their homes.  More than 60% of those who decorate their homes for the holiday utilize at least one extension cord.

While holiday lighting and electrical decorations do contribute to the splendor of the season, they can also significantly increase the risk of house fires and electrical injuries if not used safely.

Electrical Safety Foundation (ESFI) provides these easy safety tips to help you prevent serious electrical and fire hazards while decorating your home and yard this season:

Holiday Lighting–Keep Your Home Safe

Holiday-lighting Holiday Lighting–Keep Your Home Safe!

Retail Holiday Shopping Security

Retail Holiday Shopping Security

In the last post I shared some tips for Secure Online Holiday Shopping. In this post, I offer three tips you can use to make you Retail Holiday Shopping more secure and safe. Before you venture out to the mall, use these three personal security tips that just might make a big difference in keeping the ‘Merry’ in your Christmas.  These tips come from the Rampartgroup.

  1.   Leave a Communications Trail

If you choose to travel alone to the mall or retail shops, be sure to tell a friend or loved one so that someone close to you is aware and knows your location, arrival and departure time. Or, better yet, communicate your whereabouts, when you arrive and when you leave the location, via text message if you carry a mobile phone. This way, if you do not arrive back home at a reasonable time, your loved ones can contact the police and advise them of your last known location and time of last contact.

  1. Criminals Conduct Scoping Out Victims

Criminals need time to conduct surveillance on specific targets. When you arrive at the mall, the safest parking choice for you and your vehicle, although limited, is valet parking. When you choose to valet park your car you are not only freed up from having to locate that difficult parking space, but you also only have a short walk to enter the mall, thus giving criminals little opportunity to observe you. Plus, your car is parked close by where there is some degree of observation while you shop. If you cannot valet park, make every effort to park in a well-lit area of the parking lot, and preferably close to the mall or retail shop entrance. Again, limiting the distance required to enter the mall or retail store lessens the criminals’ surveillance time.  And, most of all, don’t forget to lock your car! If you have packages from shopping at other retail stores, place them in the trunk of your car where there is no visibility or enticement for criminals to break in and steal.

  1. Be ALERT!

Be suspiciously aware and on a heightened alert to your surroundings from the time you get out of your car, throughout your shopping experience, the return to your car, and your drive home or back to the office. Don’t let your guard down until you are safely at home.

  • If you carry a handbag, make sure it has a shoulder strap that can be placed diagonally across your body and cannot be easily knocked loose or snatched.
  • Zip your bag and do not allow contents to be visible, and never leave your handbag in a shopping cart or on a counter unattended.
  • If you carry a wallet, place it in a front pocket, rather than an open back pocket where it can easily be lifted.
  • Don’t show large sums of cash at the checkout line. It only invites attention.
  • Try to keep the number of shopping bags to a minimum. The more shopping bags you carry, the greater target you become – especially if you did not valet park and have to walk a distance to your parked car at the corner of the mall parking lot.
  • If you have several bags in your hands and did not valet park, maintain your keys in one hand so that you do not have to place your bags on the ground to search a pocket or handbag for your keys.
  • IMPORTANT! If your vehicle happens to be parked with a van next to it where your visibility to see inside the van is limited by tinted windows or full sliding doors, make sure you enter your vehicle from the side opposite the van. It is also best to enter your vehicle while others are in the parking lot and you are not alone.
  • Store gifts in the car trunk and not the back seat where they are visible. This serves you well even if you are heading straight home and decide to make a quick stop at the grocery store.
  • Listen, respond and trust your “inner voice” that warns you of danger, and promptly report any suspicious people or situations to security officers and/or the police.

Be safe with you Retail Holiday Shopping.

Secure Online Holiday Shopping

Secure Online Holiday Shopping

No doubt you are part of the millions of Americans that are doing part of their holiday shopping online.  With data breaches from well know retailers like Target, Home Depot and EBay, you are aware that credit card information can be hacked.  The vast majority of online transactions are secure.  Still, we need to take precautions with our online purchases.  Here are a three simple tips from American Express on ways to make your online purchases more secure.

Be Protected with Fraud Alerts
Most credit card companies will allow you to set up protection alerts on your card.  You can customize these alerts to fit your particular situation.  When you combine your alerts with the credit card company’s oversight, you are spotting suspicious activities very quickly.

Change Your Passwords Regularly
Credit card companies recommend that you change your password regularly to help prevent unauthorized access to your account. Here are some tips to keep in mind: Create strong passwords for your accounts using a combination of letters, numbers and symbols. Use different passwords for all the sites you use.

 Spot a Scam

Fraudulent emails look as if they’ve come from legitimate organizations. If you receive an email you’re your credit card company that does not address you by name and include the last five digits of your account number, you should forward it to the company.  Do not automatically respond to these emails with your personal information.

Conclusion

By following these simple tips, you can make your online purchases and your holiday celebrations more secure.  In the next post I will share some thoughts on making your retail holiday shopping more secure.

Will My Security System Work with VOIP Phone Systems?

Will My Security System Work with VOIP Phone Systems?

Will My Security System Work with VOIP Phone Systems?   Bob from East Atlanta asks, “Can I use my home security system with my Magic Jack phone system?”

Many people in Atlanta have switch from expensive land line phones to phone systems like Vonage, Skype, Magic Jack or other VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) phone systems.  It’s cheaper to run a phone system through your computer system than a stand alone land line.  It allows you to use the internet to make phone calls.

For Bob and others, I cannot make a blanket statement that VOIP systems will be c0mpatible with home security systems.  Many VOIP systems will say in the fine print that they are not ccompatible.  The key area is the VOIP’s ability to connect to emergency services.

There is a significant risk that your life safety system will not be able to communicate an emergcy signal to the central station.  This of course would negate an important part of a home securiy system. Please give us a call and we would be happy to discuss your VOIP system and how it can be connected to a home security system.

We Support Small Business Saturday

We Support Small Business Saturday

Saturday, November 29th is Small Business Saturday. Small Business Saturday has quickly become widely recognized as the day to kick start the holiday shopping season. Anchored between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, small businesses stand out thanks in part to the national media attention Small Business Saturday generates, but also in part to the individual efforts small business owners nationwide contribute to make this day one of a kind.

As a small business competing against national chains in the security business, Protection Concepts completely supports Small Business Saturday.  We encourage you to support your local small businesses.  Here are some things you will find with small businesses that you cannot get from the national chains.

Better Quality Products

The quality of the items available at a small business store is usually superior compared to that in the big corporations. They may be slightly higher in price, but the quality that they offer for this slightly higher price is certainly worth the money spent. Small businesses build products to last, instead of concentrating on selling them at discounted prices.

Superior Customer Service

The quality of service provided by small businesses is much better as compared to big corporations.

Small businesses go out of their way to help their customers. They can be contacted anytime during business hours and they are always there to help. When comparing big vs small business the personalized services that customers get from small businesses are almost never available from big businesses.

Friendly Approach

Another small business advantages is the approach at small businesses is cordial. They are warm and friendly towards their customers, and often know them by name. Customers are usually on personal terms with employees and the business’ owner. More often than not, small businesses make their customers feel like valued friends. This personalized and friendly approach is what appeals to consumers and they keep coming back for more.

Conclusion

The bottom line in big vs small business competition is to identify your uniqueness and small business advantages, leverage them to retain existing customers and to reach out to a larger customer base. Thanks to More Business for these ideas.

 

Holiday Lighting–Keep Your Home Safe!

Happy Thanksgiving Holiday

From all of us at Protection Concepts, we want to wish you and your family a happy Thanksgiving holiday. Thanksgiving day is filled good food, football games, parades but most of all it is a special time for families to be together.  Enjoy this short video on the history of Thanksgiving.  See how your Thanksgiving celebration continues our long history on giving thanks.  Happy Thanksgiving.