Do you use a home security system phone apps? What about ADT?

Parent Cafe
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<p>I mentioned last week in another thread that our home was burglarized, and unfortunately, although we’ve had ADT for over ten years, we never got into the habit of arming it at night, or when we are away during the day. That all changed this week, and we are very comfortable with how it works and are using it all the time now.</p>

<p>When I was on the ADT website, I saw that they have an ADT Pulse Voice App that allows you to use your smartphone to arm/disarm the system, control lights, adjust the thermostat and lock/unlock the doors. I had to call ADT to request another sign for our yard (to have one by the backdoor, too) and asked them about the Pulse Voice App, and was told installation was $99, and the extra services would add an additional $10 to our monthly bill; it also includes the installation of two video cameras. </p>

<p>I only know a couple of people who have home security systems with phone apps, that allow them to control all these home services, and the people I know really like being able to do these things from their phones. But I’m wondering if it’s something we’d really use. </p>

<p>Anyone here have something similar? If so, do you use it? Not use it? Only use certain features?</p>

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<p>We use the app to arm/disarm, and our girls also have the app on their smartphones so that they can also do it if necessary. When we’re away, our security company checks on the house daily and anytime they arm/disarm the alarm (they do it on the keypad), we get an automatic email notification. We have six cameras which we can access remotely, too.</p>

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<p>Not ADT, but ours has the phone app that let’s us lock and unlock doors, check that the garage door is down, see who opened the door in our absence (different codes for different folks). We like it. I’m about to disable the “send me a text when door is opened”…after my phone, DHs phone and both our iPads bing every time we lock or unlock the door…gets old.
On the whole, we love it. And our Nest thermostats.</p>

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<p>We have had adt for years, and use it all the time, but we have no extra app. I think our bill is already close to 50 a month… Don’t need to spend any more. </p>

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<p>Teri, just wanted to add that our system is not ADT, and also our camera system records on a 14 day loop.</p>

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<p>Teriwitt, our private security service offers remote access but dh refuses to get it. He’s concerned about it being hacked or otherwise compromised. He feels the same way about the keypad locks that can be controlled from a smart phone. Oh well. I keep our system armed to “stay” whenever we’re at home and to “away” when we leave.
The company increased its monitoring fee from $250/yr. to $300/yr. this year. It’s worth the expense to me, especially since dh travels for work an average of once a month.</p>

<p>I’d like a notification feature. Before a recent remodel, I secured a portion of the house internally and then rekeyed the entrance door to that area. It would have been nice to get a text or email whenever the subs came and left.</p>

<p>We do have security cameras around the perimeter of our house that are motion activated and record to a large storage device. Depending on the amount of activity, it holds about 10 - 14 days. I expected it to cover a longer time frame, but the cameras are often triggered by insects and birds. We had an odd incident a few weeks ago and the Sheriff’s investigator said he was impressed by the quality of the video clip I emailed to him. (That system is a Lorex that I bought at Costco.) </p>

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<p>Right now we have several people who have our garage code, who could go in and out as they pleased if they ever wanted to - dog sitter, cleaning lady, contractor, etc. It would be nice to know when they’re going in and out if I’m not here. When we travel, we set a couple of lamps on timers, but anyone could easily figure out that they’re coming on at the same time every night, if they paid attention and had any reason to observe the house for whether people are in it or not. I like the idea of having an app that would allow us to turn a couple of lights on and off at different times of the day while we’re not here. Makes the place look more lived in. </p>

<p>I hadn’t thought about the possibility of an app being hacked. Will have to give that one some thought, and perhaps ask the reps from ADT if we ever decide to get into a conversation with them about adding these features. The security camera portion of the upgrade is probably the one thing that doesn’t excite me. I think they may be good deterrents, but they’re not going to catch someone in the act and call the police for you. It’s more for capturing images of people who might commit a crime, or identifying them afterwards - although had we had video of our burglary last weekend, we would be able to tell if the prints they lifted off of our back door were his or not based on where the video showed he placed his hands. </p>

<p>1214mom - yes, our bill is just under $50; after last weekend, I’d pay an extra $10 a month if it was really going to give me an increased sense of security. I think some of the features are just conveniences (thermostat control), but others might provide a bit more security (being able to turn lights on/off at different times when away). But I also don’t want to give myself a false sense of security with features that may not matter.</p>

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<p>I’m starting to answer some of my own questions… after my last post, I headed upstairs to bed, and once I was all ready and about to tuck in, I realized I had not reset the thermostat to a cooler temperature for night - yes we have a programmable thermostat, but lately we’ve had some very reasonable summer days, so I’ve turned the AC off during the day and opened the doors/windows - problem is, when it’s time to go up to bed, I sometimes forget to turn the AC back on until after I’ve already started to settle in upstairs. </p>

<p>Also, got up here tonight and it occurred to me that I didn’t remember hearing the beeps of the alarm system go off when it’s armed, so I asked H if he had armed it - and he had forgotten (hmmm… much shorter memory span than me, because last week’s break-in is still pretty much on my mind most of the time). If I had the phone apps, I could have done both from my bed, since I sleep with my iPhone next to me. Yes, those are conveniences, and not necessarily safety issues - we easily fixed each one by going back downstairs, but it would be nice if we didn’t have to. </p>

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<p>You may want to look into adding a second keypad for your security system in the master bedroom. We have four keypads in our house, one of which is in our bedroom. They do make it more convenient to keep the system armed.</p>

<p>There are controllers for lamps that work randomly instead of on a set schedule. We have one on a lamp in a guest room that faces the street. When the room is in use, I just turn off the controller so the occupant can use the lamp normally. In reviews I’ve read that others use them for TVs and/or radios when they leave town.</p>

<p>Also, the company that does your seasonal HVAC service might be able to install another thermostat upstairs for you. At the same time, they could look into zoning the system. Relatives recently had to replace their central air system and instead of putting in two, which they thought they needed for their new (to them) two story house, the company zoned the system and put in two thermostats. I don’t know the details, but they said it saved them a great deal and now their upstairs is much more comfortable.</p>

<p>It could be that the phone apps are much cheaper, but I thought you might want to consider some alternatives.</p>

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<p>This house had an old hardwired window and door alarm system which bit the dust when we redid those. We recently got the ADT system but did not spring for the extra charges for the extras such as the app you describe. We do set it for “stay” at night. Locally a house was entered at night recently so I’m glad we have gotten into the habit of alarming it like we did up north. We have chimes for opening doors which at first annoyed me with the hardwired setup but I did miss it and like knowing when H comes and goes outside again.</p>

<p>It may be worth it to you- but it wasn’t for us, even when the cost isn’t an issue.</p>

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<p>I would be concerned about using apps with my home security system. Recently, I watched a show that detailed how easy it is to hack into those. </p>

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<p>Am bumping this thread back up to let people know what I decided to do, in case anyone else is considering a security system upgrade. I finally got the ADT guy here today, and am pretty happy with my decisions. After all the upgrades are installed, I will feel very safe. </p>

<p>First off, I asked him about being able to hack into the apps, and he said the encryption system ADT uses is on the same par as banks. So at that point, I felt safe going forward with extras. We will have two keypad locks put on two of our doors, a video camera outside the front door, and one inside the house on the main level. Also adding: a flood detector in the basement next to the sump pump (our sump pump goes off often), and window sensors on all the first floor windows, so if the alarm is armed, it would go off if anyone tries to open a window; two window shatter detectors on the first floor, so if anyone breaks glass (back patio door, or first floor windows), it would detect the sound of glass breaking and go off; one overhead light in the front hallway and front door/garage outside lights will be hardwired to the IHub, which allows us to control them from any internet connection; replacing smoke detectors (which I didn’t know should be replaced every seven years or so) and adding carbon monoxide detectors on two floors (we just have a plug in one, now); two lamps in the house will have adaptors that allow us to control the time they come on/off remotely (you can set it to random so that they come on/off at different times at night if you’re away on vacation); will also have two key fobs that we can swipe in front of the main panel by the garage door as we come and go so we don’t have to enter codes every time; also adding something like a ‘remote’ cell that, if someone were to cut our phone lines to try to work around the alarms, the alarm would not only still go off, but a call could still be made to ADT to alert them that the phone line has been cut - they would automatically send out the police, not even wait to get in touch with us first. </p>

<p>Yea, it’s a lot, and I could have gotten a lot more features (more cameras, more lamp controls, etc.) but it’s what I need at this point in my life to feel safe in my home. In our discussion, I forgot to tell him I want the thermostat control, too, but when he calls me back this afternoon to confirm the install date, I will tell him then. The equipment was costly, of course, but the monthly monitoring fee only goes up $10. </p>

<p>I was surprised to hear that daytime burglaries are far more common than night time, like we had, so I will need to get into more of a habit of arming the system when I am in and out during the day. He said front doors are the most common entry point, too. People just pick locks after ringing a doorbell and waiting to see that no one answers the door. With the new system, if someone rings the front door now, and we are at home, we can pull up the video on our iPhones (or anything with an internet connection) and see who it is before we decide to answer the door.</p>

<p>FWIW… the police did find H’s wallet about three weeks after the burglary; it was about three blocks from our house in a park. We have not gotten it back yet (they were going to dust for prints), but do know the cash is gone (it wasn’t much); we’re not sure what else was taken or left in it.</p>