alarm

An alarm is a feature of a warning system that is designed to alert people to the fact that the conditions needed to provoke the notification have been met. They often rely on a shrill siren because of its ability to stand out from mundane auditory stimulation and get people's attention. This is especially important for emergency service vehicles like ambulances and fire trucks, who use their sirens to alert other drivers to clear the roads. Other features may include flashing lights, which have also more recently been included in home security systems, so that people who were hearing impaired wouldn't be excluded from the warnings. The loud sounds take advantage of the natural defensive response that humans have to loud or sharp noises.

Most often though, alarms are used for security to guard against theft and illegal entry. Business places rely on these security systems to guard their assets outside of business hours. Home alarms double as protection of assets as well as personal security. Home security systems often feature silent alarms, which notify the homeowner and local law enforcement, but don't alert the criminal that they've been found out. This lowers the probability that they will flee the scene before police arrive. Sensors may be used to guard probable entry points, such as doors and windows. Some detectors use lasers that cross windows or stretch across rooms, providing the real-world basis for the hallway of lasers in popular films like Ocean's Twelve. Some home security alarms are specifically designed to detect smoke or carbon monoxide in the air. These can pose a threat to bodily safety that is greater than break-ins.

The use of video monitoring by private residents continues to increase as pricing becomes more accessible. They add an addition layer of safety by providing a visual record of the criminal's identity for later conviction, removing a lot of the motivation for homeowners to confront the individual. Since sensory can also be set off by the homeowners themselves, many homes have a keypad into which they can enter a deactivation code so that police won't be deployed. Earlier model involved a dispatcher making telephone calls to the home to verify the problem.

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Original Technorati articles tagged “alarm”

• in Android
  Leave Your Smartphone In A Bar? There's An App For That!
  Keeping your personal information secure on your smartphone makes good sense. Just ask the lost iPhone guy.
  by gearheadgal / on Apr 24, 2010

Latest blogosphere posts tagged “alarm”

 

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