Panic Button , audible or silent ?
Serge Williams
Should i program a Panic Button in a Master Bedroom Audible or Silent,
Any advice would be appreciated . Thanx in advance
Serge Williams
wil...@videotron.ca
RobAZ1
>From: "Serge Williams"
>Audible or Silent,
There are many feelings on this issue. I for one always recommend that any
emergency device sould be Audible for two resons:
1. Silent, although the police have a better chance of apprehending the perp,
does nothing to scare away the perp. The audiable sound may be enough to stop
the intruder and force a retreat. With the silent alarm, you are hoping that
the victim can hid, evade, or ward off an attack by the intruder. Too big a
gamble.
2. If set off by accident, the user knows they set it off resulting in a chance
to cancel the alarm or at least make notification to the authorities that it
was a mistake. Silent eliminates that option and always results in police
response. Police seldom remember many burglar alarms that were false, but
seldom forgets a duress/panic alarm that was false.
Rob-
hol...@heselectronics.com
In article <E9SY.3992$Sw1.1...@weber.videotron.net>,
"Serge Williams" <wil...@videotron.ca> wrote:
>
> Should i program a Panic Button in a Master Bedroom Audible or Silent,
>
Silent. That's the function of a panic button in a residence. It's a
holdup button in a commercial application.
You may think, wait, I want to scare any intruder away. But if your
panic button makes noise, how will you know what is going on after you
push it? It's just to noisy to know what to do next.
<H>
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Mark Leuck
Figure it this way...
1.Burglar breaks a window and attempts to enter
2. Customer hears sound of breaking glass and hits the panic button
3. Silent panic trips alarm and sends signal, burglar is unaware of this and
continues to enter home
or
3. Customer trips the Audible panic button thus sounding the horn, burglar
figures he'd better get the hell out of Dodge.
my choice is the 2nd #3
Serge Williams wrote in message ...
Mark Leuck
>
>Silent. That's the function of a panic button in a residence. It's a
>holdup button in a commercial application.
>
Possible but if your an old lady and you have no 357 Magnum in the drawer
I'd think you'd rather scare em off
>You may think, wait, I want to scare any intruder away. But if your
>panic button makes noise, how will you know what is going on after you
>push it? It's just to noisy to know what to do next.
>
Well with a silent panic you could easily hear them walking through your
house, kicking open the bedroom door and possibly killing you, a silent
panic would definatly be benificial here. :>
joke
Fightcrime
>>In article <E9SY.3992$Sw1.1...@weber.videotron.net>,
>> "Serge Williams" <wil...@videotron.ca> wrote:
>> Should i program a Panic Button in a Master Bedroom Audible or Silent,
>> Any advice would be appreciated . Thanx in advance
hol...@heselectronics.com wrote:
>Silent. That's the function of a panic button in a residence.
Sorry but I have to disagree with that statement, any residential panic button
whether in a bedroom, by a door or wireless should be audiable for exactly
the reasons the other person stated. Burglars don't like noise, pressing an
audiable panic button will in most cases scare off an intruder. The only thing
that should be SILENT is the DURRESS code from the keypad. Keep in mind
this is purely my opion and that of my employers but the ultimate decision is
that
of the homeowner.
> It's a holdup button in a commercial application.
I agree with that. Commercial panics/holdups should be silent.
David J. Rosso - Affordable Home Security Systems
== http://members.aol.com/fightcrime ==
DickinMass
>Should i program a Panic Button in a Master Bedroom Audible or Silent,
So now you've had one for silent , one for audible. You need a tie breaker. I
go with audible. If the intruder doesn't know anyone is in the house and the
person can hide until help arrives, a silent panic may be a better choice. But
it's an unlikely circumstance. You go with the odds. the odds say that an
audible panic will frighten the intruder away.
Matt Wald
Serge Williams wrote in message ...
Please, please, please make it audible. From a false alarm perspective, all
panic or medical emergency alarms should always be audible. In study after
study, 99.9% of silent panic alarms (especially residential) are false.
This is because people accidentally set them off and *have no idea that they
did it!*
In addition, all panic (audible) and duress/holdup (ok, these should be
silent) alarms should be activated only by simultanious double action or
codes dramatically different from arm/disarm user codes.
They don't like to admit it, but law enforcement *does* treat panic/duress
differently than a passive activation (more backup, quicker response), so
our industry has an even higher obligation to avoid false alarms in these
areas.
Bob Dolph
You want to make the bedroom panic audible. Sound will typically force a burglar
to flee. Programming the button for duress (silent) may get the police out to the
house while the burglar is inside but will possibly create a hostage situation.
This situation you , and the police, do not want. If you have good perimeter
security, you will not wake up looking at a burglar in your bedroom anyway. The
only place that you may want to have duress capability is with a remome
arm/disarm/duress key fob that you would use entering and leaving the house. Or
possible a duress code in your keypad. Just make sure that the code is destinct,
easy to remember, and not similar to the arm/disarm code.
Hope this helps........
Bob Dolph
no...@my.net
Serge Williams wrote:
>
> Should i program a Panic Button in a Master Bedroom Audible or Silent,
>
>
> wil...@videotron.ca
It should be audible.
Few if any police agencies would ever recommend that you deliberately or
willfully confront an intruder. The "recommended" course of action, if
you are able, is to flee the premises, thereby reducing the threat of
harm to yourself. Even if the law says that you don't HAVE to flee, why
embrace trouble.
An audible panic in many instances would scare off the perpetrator,
reducing the imminent threat to yourself. It would also, presumably,
attract attention on the part of your neighbors, who may take better
notice of any unusual vehicles, or get a better glimbse of anyone
fleeing the scene, helping the police with their apprehension.
Finally, consider the situation where a homeowner activates a very loud
audible panic alarm, and the perpetrator, rather than being driven off,
remains, or advances on the homeowner.
The homeowner now knows, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the perp means
serious business, and things are about to get nasty. So the homeowner,
having failed to scare off the perp with an alarm loud enough to wake
the dead, and realizing the gravity of the situation and the continuing
threat, takes out the perp with a .357 or 870.
In spite of state laws which say that a homeowner may use deadly
physical force to terminate a burglary in their residence, shooting an
intruder is a very serious matter, and apt to cost the homeowner tens of
thousands of dollars in attorneys' fees in an attempt to prove that
deadly physical force was necessary.
However, if someone broke in, you hit an audible panic in a reasonable
attempt to scare them off, and you shot them only as a last resort when,
in spite of sirens blasting, they still kept-a-comin' at you, that will
weigh heavily in your favor when the Grand Jury examines the evidence.
MSIAlarms
In article <6h3cqi$3eg$1...@nnrp1.dejanews.com>, hol...@heselectronics.com
writes:
>Subject: Re: Panic Button , audible or silent ?
>From: hol...@heselectronics.com
>Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 17:37:06 -0600
>
>In article <E9SY.3992$Sw1.1...@weber.videotron.net>,
> "Serge Williams" <wil...@videotron.ca> wrote:
>>
>> Should i program a Panic Button in a Master Bedroom Audible or Silent,
>>
>> Any advice would be appreciated . Thanx in advance
>>
>> Serge Williams
>>
I agree that residential panic buttons, if used, should be audible but I think
it is also a matter of customer preference and if the customer wants a silent
panic, we will do it that way for them.
I personally believe that panic buttons are oversold. Like, "just keep this
button by your bed, ma'am, and if a burglar comes in just press the button".
Homeowners should be reminded that the alarm system is an emergency response
device, i.e. it can call a central station and signal an emergency. The
central station then calls the police and asks them to dispatch for you.
They should also realize that the quickest way to the "target" of the emergency
response is to dial 911. This connects the homeowner directly with the police
and obviates the need for the panic button in the first place. Most 911
centers will lock on to your phone number and they know your name and address.
Most will call you back if you hang up and many have a "911 Hangup" dispatch.
If they can't figure out why you called, they will dispatch a policeman to your
home.
If you just hit the panic button first, the alarm system is going to seize the
line and you wouldn't be able to use the phone until the alarm transmission is
completed. I would personally rather be able to talk to the 911 Center and
tell them (maybe in a whisper) what my situation is and maybe even keep the
line open while there is a suspected intruder in my house. Then, if I felt
that I was running out of options and the intruder was about to nail me, I
might decide to set off my Audible panic in hopes that it will distract the
intruder and make them leave.
Hope this helps.
W. Allan Edwards
Monitor Systems, Inc.
Great Falls, VA
J'mes Pallack
>I agree that residential panic buttons, if used, should be audible but I think
>it is also a matter of customer preference and if the customer wants a silent
>panic, we will do it that way for them.
thats what I like. As where I live. I can play my music blasting
outside and no one will hear it. (I live on a mountain). So there not
going to worry about noise.
>They should also realize that the quickest way to the "target" of the emergency
>response is to dial 911. This connects the homeowner directly with the police
>and obviates the need for the panic button in the first place. Most 911
>centers will lock on to your phone number and they know your name and address.
as you said MOST. Vermont doesn't have E911 yet. I think it's
planned to be done next year. Both the address that would show up
might be RR #, box #### and whom knows where that is. So most of
Vermont had to rename there street names and lots of a cases new house
numbers.
>If you just hit the panic button first, the alarm system is going to seize the
>line and you wouldn't be able to use the phone until the alarm transmission is
well... if the phone line is going to be cut. the alarm system only
takes a few seconds to transmitt once connected. Second one can get
the wireless type (Cell?) Or lots more people these days have
multiple telco lines. So just put it on the data/fax line.
Also presumes there is a State Police officer to call in the first
place. In Vermont..there are none after 2am. So if in trouble..just
will have to wait till 6am. Sometimes there is someone on duty. But
s/he has to cover the entire state. A few weeks ago one was on DUTY
and wanted backup. Took over an HOUR.
So here..one might be better off calling a friend or two whom own GUNS
to come help.
>that I was running out of options and the intruder was about to nail me, I
>might decide to set off my Audible panic in hopes that it will distract the
>intruder and make them leave.
perhaps install two pannics. One audible, one not. And one where one
might hide if they have a chance.
__O
_-\<,_
(_)/ (_)
#=======#
__O __O __O |__|__|__\___
_-\<,_ _-\<,_ _-\<,_ | _| | |_ |}
O / (_)/ (_) (_)/ (_) (_)/ (_) "(_)""""""(_)"
~~X~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
O \ J'mes Pallack wond...@super.zippo.com
P.O. Box 151 HAM: N1PEC
Bristol, Republic of Vermont Voice: 802-453-6073
05443 Fax: 802-453-6666
MSIAlarms
James:
Some very good points in your response to my post. We don't all live in the
big city. There are so many variables with panic alarms. One of them is
whether the bad guy is going to retaliate against you even further for making
the noise. Some will respond to the noise by leaving "a pair of boots and a
wet spot" as a friend of mine puts it. Others, well, you know what can happen
when you irritate someone who's already fully tilted off center. It helps for
the homeowner to know the three truths they teach people in self-defense
classes.
1. Know your intruder
2. Know your situation
3. Know yourself.
You can't always depend on close police response, even if you call 911. Some
advance training would be highly recommended but most homeowners will not
invest the time. Too bad
Regards,
Allan
Barry May
Alan:
I like your response
Panic buttons are made for homeowners who hear the start of a break-in. Pressing a
button, audio or silent, after you are confronted will many times result in injury
or death. Using an audiable panic button when you hear someone in the back yard
will scare the intruder away.
The false alarm consequences of a silent home system is too prevelant. Miss-use by
an uninformed residence could be dangerous or an annoyance, depending on how the
homeowner uses (or miss-uses) the panic button. When I owned a central station, I
had one lonley customer who would push the button just so she could speak to
someone.
Silent holdup buttons are generally reserved for business that are exposed to
robbery. Again, using the button while confronted can be dangerous. I have sold
many store owners out of putting a button behind the cash register counter but have
sold them on portable holdup buttons, buttons in the employee restroom (many store
employees get handcuffed to pipes) or remote counters within the store.
I guess the previous I have written is why I like your response:
Know your intruder
Know your situation
Know yourself.
I'd like to add:
Know your outcome
We need to have a plan when something goes wrong. When things go Bump in the
night, our customers need to know what to do and how they want it to end. Save the
cash in the register is what a holdup button is used for but if you neglect your
own safety in the process, the results will be less than desired.
Many stores like 7-11 have policies designed to insure the store employees safety
while protecting company assets. Their proceedures are spelled out in detail. If
you remember, a Texas youth was fired at a 7-11 a few years ago because he
apprehended the holdup man. Store policy dictated no confrontation.
We don't like to let the bad guy get away but we do need to focus on our future and
how we want a situation to end and we need to pass that knowledge onto customers.
On a personal note, I'll give you a call during the week. The Virginia show was
very well attended. Now I have my work cut out for me with followups. I'm
looking forward to my next visit to your state.
Barry May
Security Consultant
AES IntelliNet Rep
ba...@security-zone.com