The Path Into Your Home

Controlling who has easy access into your home is the first step into a secure lifestyle.

Access control in the home is a broad topic that covers keeping undesirables off your property completely, through to detecting intruders in your property but before they enter the house, and finally, as a last resort, detecting intrusion and raising the alarm when criminals are inside your house.

Over the next few pages we will be examining some of the primary detection mechanisms in use today, ending with the newer technologies that are only now finding a place in the home. In future editions we will expand on this to include other products and solutions that make up a complete security implementation. This article will look at issues outside your house. To begin, we start at the gates.

Gate Security

Your gate is the first point of entrance to your property. South Africa's high crime rate has literally rendered it mandatory for most homeowners to have some form of remote motorised gate control as well as an intercom screening system. Homeowners often do battle with their gate motors. If they're not sticking due to weather conditions or sabotage, they are at risk of being stolen or hit by lightning.

You need a gate and a gate motor designed for South African conditions. Beware the 'cheap-and-nasty' options, they're not worth it as they can cost far more than the purchase price. When deciding on a gate, bear the following in mind:

Quality: Choose your brand wisely -it could save you a lot or money and time. There are many cheap and nasty brands imported from the East; some have no credibility and no backup system should things go wrong.

Support: Make sure the brand you buy is supported by your installer and that it has local representation in South Africa.

Installation: Must be top quality as this is your most used and trusted form of security. You do not want to be fiddling around at a gate because it won't open, this in itself is a serious security vulnerability.

Maintenance: Look after your gate. (Francois Malan).

Can your gate be opened in an emergency?

Product manager for Elvey Security Technologies, Valerie Bingham, warns that residents barricade themselves into their properties in defiance of criminal activity, but in doing so they often overlook the fact that they are also cutting off vital access for their armed response companies in an emergency.

"Crime control today is not just about installing physical security measures," she says. "Armed response reaction times and the ability by security personnel to enter the premises to investigate the cause of an alarm are critical elements of protection. It's not much use for them to respond to an alarm in an instant, only to be unable to get on to the property."

Francois Malan, director of Camsecure, a security solutions provider in South Africa, strongly recommends including a key pad at your gate and intercom access so as to allow security companies access to your property should you not be there. In addition, cellular technology is also changing the way we access our properties. There are many affordable cellphone modules readily available on the market, set up to operate your gate remotely. Closing and opening your gate has never been simpler.

Furthermore, cellphones enable early detection of interference with your gate, via software which enables your gate to automatically send an SMS to your phone should your gate open while you are away.

Cellphone modules retail anything upwards of R1000 and homeowners can purchase these from any good alarm supplier or local security providers.

Many residents access their homes via their garage door, but there is a downside to garage doors: they offer easy access for opportunistic criminals. Coroma, a manufacturer of both garage and industrial doors, gives the following tips to help you avoid your garage being an open invitation to criminals:

Keep your garage door closed at all times, particularly if it has an internal door leading into the house or is used to store tools and gardening implements 1hat criminals could use to break into your home. way into your garage, an escape lock should be fitted, enabling you to manually override your motor from outside your garage. If you don't have an external key release, make sure you always have your front door keys with you when you leave home!

Garage doors should be fitted with battery back-up to avoid being stranded outside an automated door during power cuts. Alternatively, ask your supplier to provide you with inverted power supply at minimal cost, to convert your 220 V operator into a battery back-up unit.

If your automatic door is struggling to open or your manual door feels heavy, it's probably out of balance and springs need adjustment. Call in the experts for help as they will be able to rectify this common problem for you as well as perform routine maintenance to keep the door operating at optimal level.

Garage Security Doors

Many garage doors are fitted with the bare minimum of features in order to save costs. items such as weather seals and safety cables are omitted, leading to early wear and tear or compromised safety. Get a professional to check your door's features and fit these safety precautions if necessary.

Make sure you know where all your remote controls are. If one of these is lost, ask your garage door supplier to reset the rest to avoid potential theft. Never leave the remote controls jn your car as some thieves are able to record your transmitter's signal and open the door without stealing the control. Also, insist on encrypted coding or code hopping transmitters and receivers to optimise your security.

Some garage door designs can be fitted with safety glass panels that allow you to see inside and avoid any nasty surprises.

Check whether your garage door has an external key release. If so, keep the keys handy for situations when you may have to open the door manually. Should your garage door be the only way into your garage, an escape lock should be fitted, enabling you to manually override your motor from outside your garage. If you don't have an external key release, make sure you always have your front door keys with you when you leave home!