Recommended safety measures for your home
We have covered safety measures, basic security options and steps to securing your home and loved ones in our other article, “Safety measures to protect your family and loved ones“. Now we invite you to consider several recommended safety measures and security options, which you can secure your home with based on your individual security needs.
Based on each household’s security needs and specifications, these recommended security systems and options may vary accordingly. Please exercise caution when you decide which safety measure and security option would be desired for your home security needs.
We will address recommended safety measures based on categories of different family size and security need. If you find that you and your family do not fall under these categories but are still interested in other safety measures and security options available for you and your family, do not hesitate to check out another of our articles where we discuss general measures that anyone can take to improve home safety.
Young Families
For the first category, young families can be families with young children or a young couple that have just recently got hitched.
Young families can range from as small as two to as large as seven and beyond. For families with only the elderly, those would fall into the next category.
Theft at such homes tend to occur during the day when homeowners are at work, children at school, and no one is home, leaving the house unattended. (Source: 37724-127892-1-PB.pdf (ukm.my), page 8 out of 12 in attached PDF)
Recommendation for young families
For young couples with no children, guarding the home while traveling away, is probably a much-desired priority. Therefore, the safety measures recommended for these families would probably be basic security options offering basic protection, such as equipping homes with alarm systems to notify them of unexpected events that happened to their houses. Remote monitoring of alarms by a security company is also a highly recommended security option.
Surveillance cameras would also complement such basic security options and safety measures as evidence tools and mode of confirmation for these young families when they are away.
For families with young children or teens, home security needs and priorities are probably placed on the safety of their children. Recommended safety measures for these families would then be surveillance cameras, installed at the house doorway, to ensure that children are home safely from school or from night-out activities. Providing these parents an assurance of knowing when their children are home safely.
What can SECOM Smart Malaysia offer for young families?
SECOM Smart Malaysia provides a wide variety of security options for young families’ security needs.
Our door sensors, along with internal motion sensors installed at home can alert young families of unwanted intruders. Indoor and outdoor sirens can also deter intruders. Our alarm systems, paired with various sensor types that could be fitted to different parts of a young family’s house, will allow parents and couples to remotely monitor the safety of their homes and children. We offer these remote monitoring features through our free and digitally encrypted SECOM Smart Security phone application. Sensors that you have armed beforehand, will send notifications to your Smart Security app when the sensors detect unexpected movement. SECOM Smart Security app also provide only authorized users access to the live videos of their SECOM Smart CCTV cameras.
Elderly
The elderly generally refers to those who are 60 and above.
Some households consist of only the elderly. Therefore, their security needs and priorities can differ from those of the young families.
Like young families, the elderly should also take recommended safety measures in securing their homes and themselves in times of break-ins. Elderly are also targets for snatch thieves who see them as easy targets, due to their frail figure and restricted mobility. Therefore, security systems are just as important to the elderly as it is to young families and singles.
Just recently, on the 20th of January this year (2023), a 91-year-old woman was found dead in her home from a suspected break-in. The guilty, a 20-year-old unemployed man with past criminal history was charged for her murder. (Source: 91-year-old woman found dead after break-in, suspect nabbed | TheStarTV.com & Unemployed man charged with murdering 91-year-old woman (nst.com.my))
This would come as scary news to families with elderly living alone without a security system installed. Hence, we recommend alarm systems as basic safety measures and security options for the elderly as well.
Recommendation for the elderly
Firstly, the recommended safety measure for the elderly is to install a panic button for emergencies and unexpected developments. Panic buttons are generally provided by security companies as a security option of their security system. As the saying goes, “Better safe than sorry.”. Investing in a panic button can help prevent further injuries, or even death.
Secondly, door sensors and indoor cameras are basic security options recommended to monitor and stay informed of the occurrences at home. Door sensors can also be placed on medicine cabinet for children of the elderly to monitor if they are taking their medication at the right time. Small occurrences such as forgetful moments in medication consumption by the elderly can be deadly to some.
Indoor surveillance cameras can also help families remotely monitor the elderly’s movements. For example, elderly individuals who are unaware of their movement into dangerous areas in their homes could potentially end up unintentionally hurting themselves. These remote monitoring functions that motion sensors and cameras provide can help prevent that. A professional monitoring service can also check any alarm signal that would be sent by the security systems and sensors on behalf of you, when the system detects unexpected movement while armed, and then check directly with the caretakers of or the elderly individuals themselves to confirm their safety or contact authorities if they cannot be reached.
For the elderly who are not technology savvy, key fobs are also a recommended security option in arming and disarming installed alarm systems. This can prevent false alarms.
All these security options make up an inclusive security system for the elderly.
What can SECOM Smart Malaysia offer for the elderly?
SECOM Smart Malaysia offers all the above security options and services as part of our range of security systems for all family sizes and business needs.
We can provide a physical panic button for the elderly. Our panic button is linked to our 24-hour central monitoring service, which would provide required assistance and services upon confirmation of such incidents, acting as a 24/7 monitoring backup service for you and your loved ones. We have a wide range of sensors including said door sensors. Our door sensors can be installed into cabinets for personalized remote monitoring purposes security needs.
SECOM Smart Malaysia’s alarm system also has a Smart Arming function. Our alarm systems can auto arm and disarm itself based on customization set by users.
Singles
A category that speaks for itself. Singles can range from any age group.
Recommendation for singles
Singles, much like the elderly, also stand a chance of being robbed from snatch thieves. Recently, a snatch thief was caught on camera for trying to steal a single lady’s gold necklace while she is walking to her car. (Source: Caught on camera: Attempted snatch theft in Balakong, Malaysia | The Star/Asia News Network – Bing video). Singles living alone that tend to carry out daily activities alone are also not excluded from home robberies.
Singles, much like young couples, could also prioritize travels or individual safety as their security needs priority.
As such, basic security packages and security systems that offer surveillance cameras and alarm systems should be sufficient in acting as necessary safety measures.
An added recommended safety measure for singles would also be the panic button feature as mentioned previously. Getting the required support when needed as soon as possible is also a security need for singles, because singles are often home alone unless they have acquaintances over. Singles can also benefit from any feature that allows them to operate their home security system remotely, while they are away or otherwise preoccupied with important tasks; these can include security phone apps.
What can SECOM Smart Malaysia offer for singles?
As mentioned, security systems and security options that SECOM Smart Malaysia offers for both young families and elderly, can also be beneficial for singles.
Frequent travelers
This category applies to all the above-mentioned categories thus far. Young families, the elderly and singles are also households that travel a lot depending on each household.
Households that travel a lot tend to leave their homes unattended. An empty house without any installed security system tends to lure burglars in, as highlighted in our other article, “5 things burglars don’t want you to know for your house security”.
In 2020, a family that was away from January 23rd to the 28th, saw their house being broken into twice within 24 hours. When the family returned home to a broken into house, they decided to stay in a nearby hotel in fear of a second attempted burglary. True enough, while driving around their housing area, they saw their home being broken into again. (Source: Robbers hit home twice in 24 hours | The Star). Families that travel often, leaving their homes unattended without occupancy, would be recommended to acquire security systems that allow for remote monitoring.
Recommendation for frequent travelers
Do not take security measures for granted.
While installing fake cameras as deterrence during travel seasons can work for a while, fake cameras may not be enough to deter intruders in the long-term, as the fake devices lack recording features that can discourage intruders; daring intruders may test these fake cameras eventually.
It is always recommended, therefore, to install a fully operational security system that will act as a genuine deterrence against persistent intruders. Recommended security options for those who travel a lot would include alarm systems and surveillance cameras that actively track movement around a house, through devices such as motion sensors, and actively record and securely store footage of any intruders on their property. A security system’s effectiveness can also be improved if there are expert monitoring service providers on hand to handle 24-hour remote monitoring of a property, as they will swiftly identify any armed sensor’s alarms while the property’s owner is away, and to contact authorities if the owner cannot be reached.
What can SECOM Smart Malaysia offer for frequent travelers?
In addition to our range of sensors and surveillance cameras, SECOM Smart Malaysia also provides security services in the form of central monitoring services.
Our central monitoring services act as a backup remote monitoring service for you while you are away. Once your armed security system detects unexpected movement, our central monitoring center will try to contact you to confirm if you are aware of any movement on your property. Upon receiving your permission, our monitoring service will then contact respective authorities.
Other recommended safety measures for homes
In addition to remote monitoring, security systems and solutions mentioned in this article, there are other general safety measures one can take in securing their homes and loved ones. For example, it is recommended to have a checklist on security measures prior to leaving the house, regardless of the time or day. The checklist can include homeowners ensuring that their security systems are up and running and their doors are locked, every time before you leave the house. It is a safety measure that can be easily overlooked during busy times.
Additionally, another safety measure, such as cancelation of delivery of goods during periods of travel, is also a recommended safety measure for all household sizes.
Be wary of changes in your neighborhood and do not take these security systems for granted. Always equip your home with the recommended and necessary security systems; even in the most peaceful neighborhoods, the probability of break-ins, kidnap and assault are never zero.
Conclusion
There are a wide variety of safety measures each household can take. Depending on each family size and security needs, each household should take the recommended respective safety measures highlighted in this article.
We hope that this article has helped you identify the types of safety measures that are recommended for each household size and member.
If you are interested in learning more about how SECOM Smart Malaysia can assist you in equipping your home with the recommended safety measures, security options and security systems that fit your security needs, please feel free to drop us a message anytime, and we will get back to you as soon as possible!
Secure your home with us today!