When you need them,
monitored sensors can be the difference between
a swift response and a serious emergency.
But what about the rest of the time?
How do you use things like entry sensors in your daily life
without crying wolf?
This week on Ask SafeWise,
we have a question from Mike Roberti who wants to know,
"If you're using entry sensors to monitor, for example,
a child opening a pool gate,
how does the system not call the police?"
Great question, Mike.
Clearly, you wanna keep an eye on the kids and the pool,
but not sound the alarm anytime someone wants to take a dip.
So, we have a few options for you.
Let's dive in.
From going off your comment Mike,
it sounds like you only want to use entry sensors
for your pool gate.
If that's your route, we recommend self-monitoring.
Self-monitoring security works like monitoring system
but without the monitoring center.
This means that you're in charge of responding to alerts,
checking your devices, and saving any events
that might occur.
It's a pretty low-key approach to security.
That's great for situations like yours.
You can self-monitor with systems like Scout, Wyze,
Abode, or Ring,
or you can buy standalone entry sensors for really cheap.
But self-monitoring comes with enough pros and cons
that we did a whole video about it.
Basically, you won't have to pay a monthly fee,
but it also means you're on the hook for responding
to any alerts.
So, if you feel like you're vigilant enough
to keep an eye on those entry sensors through your phone,
this might be your solution.
Though, if you are gonna go with self-monitoring,
I do recommend adding a camera
to watch your pool gate as well.
If self-monitoring isn't your jam,
here's a plan B for your specific problem.
Depending on what your pool gate looks like, Mike,
you can add a smart lock
to keep any unsupervised kiddos out.
I say this mainly because smart locks need a little bit more
surface area to work with.
So, if you have one of those thin metal gates,
this might not be ideal.
Smart locks come in many forms.
They can be key pads with a code, Bluetooth-enabled
and linked to your phone, or even fingerprint readers.
We have a list of our favorites on SafeWise.
The good news is that you can still keep your entry sensor
on the gate with the smart lock,
but it might be a little bit redundant.
One of the advantages of smart locks is that you can see
if it's locked or unlocked through a mobile app.
So, if you have one of those
"Did I leave the pool gate open?" moments,
we can fix it in seconds.
If you decide to go with a full security system
to watch your home,
there are measures in place to avoid false alarms.
For example, systems like Cove and Frontpoint
have protections in place to prevent false alarms,
like what you're afraid of.
Cove and others allow you to assign a secret word.
It's like a secret password with their monitoring center
that you can use to cancel any alarms.
And both Frontpoint and Cove use a feature called Rapid SMS
that sends you a text anytime that an alarm is triggered.
With this, you can either confirm or cancel the alarm
from your phone before the police
even know something's happening.
So, Mike, I really hope that helps.
As you can see, you've got quite a few options to go with.
We've linked to a few helpful articles on SafeWise,
where you can find more about self-monitoring, smart locks,
and our favorite home security systems.
Let us know in the comments
if you have any questions by tagging us with #AskSafewise.
You can also ask any questions with the same hashtag
on Twitter and Facebook.
Thanks for watching, and stay safe.