Home Security Blog

Alarm.com now offers a feature called Alarm Mode. When an alarm occurs on an Alarm.com system the user can access a special Alarm Mode card from the app dashboard. With all relevant alarm-related information grouped together, a user can quickly assess the situation and respond accordingly.

Alarm.com is very proactive in its efforts to innovate and diversify its product offerings. In addition to adding exciting new features that utilize existing hardware and software capabilities, Alarm.com constantly seeks ways to increase user engagement without raising the incidents of unwanted alarm dispatch.

Toward that end, they recently rolled out Alarm Mode. Beginning with version 5.4.1 of the Alarm.com customer app, nearly any system alarm occurring on an Alarm.com panel will trigger Alarm Mode. This feature is a segment or card located in the customer dashboard. When you log into the app and tap on Alarm Mode, you can view all activity related to the alarm.

This can include video clips, a link to live video, video doorbell camera information, and door lock status. What you see will depend on which hardware and features you have, and what's happening at, and just before, the time of the alarm. With all the relevant information in one easy to access location, you can make an informed assessment and either cancel the alarm, or verify that dispatch is necessary.

A full guide to using this feature is available here. There are exceptions to which alarms initiate Alarm Mode so be sure to check out the guide. If you happen to have the In-App Cancel/Verify feature enabled on your account, Alarm Mode makes that feature even easier to use. Once you open the Alarm Mode card within the customer app you'll see the buttons to Cancel or Verify the alarm. You still have two (2) minutes from the time the alarm is reported to choose either option.

When you tap Cancel (holding for three (3) seconds is not required), a disarm is sent to the system and an alarm cancel message is sent to the monitoring station. Because the time to process every alarm varies, it is still possible that you will receive a call from the monitoring station, so be ready to provide your verbal passcode to the operator.

When you tap Verify Alarm the system will continue to display and sound the alarm locally and the monitoring station will receive a signal letting them know that a dispatch is requested. They can then contact the authorities to dispatch and they will likely still call you to gather additional information to provide to the responding authorities.

If two (2) minutes pass and you don't choose either Cancel or Verify, the option will go away and will be replaced with a "Disarm to Clear" button. For users who don't have the In-App Cancel/Verify feature enabled, this button will show up immediately in Alarm Mode and will remain until the alarm is cleared. Tapping this button will send a disarm command to the system to silence the alarm. Once the alarm is cleared, the Alarm Mode card will disappear and the app will revert to the standard dashboard.

What do you think of Alarm Mode? Do you agree that Alarm.com works hard to add value to their product and service offerings? Leave a comment below to start a discussion! We'd love to hear your thoughts.

The cyber incident on Friday July 19, 2024 was caused by a code error in an update pushed to Windows machines by CrowdStrike. This was not a malicious attack. CrowdStrike Falcon, the specific product impacted, is a cloud-based product with a small local footprint, designed to detect breaches.

CrowdStrike Falcon is a cloud-based protection product. CrowdStrike describes the product this way: "Falcon is the CrowdStrike platform purpose-built to stop breaches via a unified set of cloud-delivered technologies that prevent all types of attacks — including malware and much more."

A small file, termed a sensor, is installed on the computer. This sensor monitors for viruses, malware, zero-day (emerging), and other types of threats. The sensor communicates with CrowdStrike through the cloud, and if a breach is detected, CrowdStrike can then respond. By keeping the bulk of the service in the cloud, the protected computer isn't bogged down with a resource-heavy software package. The sensor file is only about 5 MB.

CrowdStrike recommends that their Falcon customers use an N-2 update cadence, or at least N-1. This means the sensor file software runs either one update (N-1) or two updates (N-2) behind the current version. Ideally, this allows any issue with an update to be found and resolved before it ever reaches a client computer.

The update that caused the Windows Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) and boot-looping issue last Friday wasn't controlled by the N-1 or N-2 policy that is set up on most systems. The update was to the signature files, which help the Falcon Sensor determine what is a threat, and they need to be updated as quickly as possible. For this reason, they aren't covered by the usual update cadence.

The U.S., Canada, the UK, Europe, and Asia experienced disruptions to various services during the outage. While Mac and Linux computers remained unaffected, over 4,000 flights worldwide were canceled. The financial and healthcare sectors were severely impacted, with many elective medical procedures postponed. Numerous payment systems were also unavailable in the early hours of the incident.

There's much more information about this available online if you want to find it. CrowdStrike has been very transparent in dealing with this issue. But what we're discussing is why this issue manifested the communication troubles some of you saw last week. For that, we'll talk about how alarm communicators are supervised.

Generally speaking, when an alarm system has a signal to report, it does so using whatever channel or channels are available to it. This could be through a POTS phone line, a WIFI or Ethernet connection, an LTE or LTEM Cellular connection, or some combination of these paths. The important thing to know is that when an alarm panel sends a signal, it looks for an acknowledgment that the signal was received successfully. If it doesn't receive that acknowledgment, it will send the signal again (and again) until eventually it either reaches the destination, the retransmission limit, or the time limit, depending on the path used.

At the other end of this communication is the Alarm.com or AlarmNet server. This system receives those signals and processes them. This may include forwarding the information to a central station, to an online platform for logging and distribution to the end-user, or both.

Since the system may never have an alarm, there are measures in place to send periodic test messages from the alarm system communicator to the server. This ensures that all aspects of any communication pathways are open and working. This usually involves setting a communication test interval. For cellular communication in particular, it's desirable to minimize unnecessary signals, so this is customarily a "smart" test.

For example, you may set a system for a daily or 24-hour test. This is a setting at both the alarm panel and the signal processing server. That means every 24 hours, the system will send a test message to the server to verify communication. If no test message is received, the server generates a central station message that the system failed to properly test.

With a "smart" test, any signal sent by the system resets the test timer. So, the only time the server will receive an actual test message is if the system hasn't sent any other type of signal for 24 hours. In either case, based on this example, if the signal processing server goes 24 hours without receiving either a regular signal or a test signal, a trouble condition is generated.

From here, we can only assume that the signal processing server or servers were impacted by the CrowdStrike Falcon update. We can safely assume this because Verizon and AT&T LTE cellular communications were not affected by this issue. The way I see it, this incident was a blessing in disguise.

Though this probably seems like a catastrophic event, it's actually an opportunity. Because this was not a malicious attack, the least possible harm has come from it. Those with robust disaster recovery plans got a real-world chance to put them to use. Those without robust disaster recovery plans now know what's at stake and can plan accordingly. Catalysts for change and improvement are rarely painless, and this is no exception.

It was only supposed to be a simple software update! These words are I'm guessing, being echoed by the cybersecurity giant, CrowdStrike. Over night CrowdStrike pushed out a misconfigured/corrupted update to its customers. This has caused major issues to banks, airports, TV stations, health care organizations, hotels, and you guessed it, the alarm industry.

Early this morning, Alarm Grid became aware of multiple issues concerning alarm systems. Resideo reported issues July 19 at 3:57am EST. They reported All Pro Series and LTEM-P devices failing on all services. Also, TC2 Application notifications and event processing were delayed. They have reported that most systems are already back online.

Alarm.com reported issues July 19 at 1am EST. The reported issues were affecting access to the Partner Portal, Mobile Tech, the customer website, and the customer app, and may cause delayed execution of commands and signals sent to and from customer systems.

CrowdStrike has reported that the fix has been implemented, but that it could take time to get things back up and running. Both AlarmNet and Alarm.com services are reporting improvements.

Please continue to check back here for updates.

UPDATE: As of 10am EST, Alarm.com has reported that all of their services are fully restored.

UPDATE: 3:30p EST. Resideo has reported that most of the systems are back online. And that alarm delivery services are not impacted. Although we saw their service return much earlier than this update.

Thanks for your patience. If you continue to have issues with Alarm.com or Resideo's services, you can email us here.

Rogers has set a date of March 31, 2025 for its 2G/3G network sunset. If you are a Canadian customer with a Rogers 2G/3G communicator, your system will cease to communicate via cellular upon shutdown. At best, you will see a trouble condition. At worst, communication will be cease completely.

Rogers is a large cellular provider in Canada. When AT&T and Verizon announced their respective 2G/3G network sunsets a few years back, Rogers made the decision to keep the portion of their network that is used by alarm communicators active. In the intervening years, it has been working to beef up its infrastructure. The time has now come to sunset the remainder of the older network.

If you have an alarm system with a Rogers cellular communicator you should begin planning an upgrade. This may require that you upgrade your whole system, or just your cellular communicator. Whichever the case, now is the time to begin planning. If your system uses cellular as its only means of communication, and you have one of these Rogers 2G/3G communicators, your system will be left unable to communicate once the shutdown takes place. In addition, you will see a trouble condition displayed on your system that you will be unable to clear.

If you have a dual-path system with a Rogers 2G/3G cellular communicator, then your system will still be able to communicate after the shutdown, but you will have a trouble condition on the system that won't clear until you either disable cellular communication, or correct the problem. In this case, correcting the problem means replacing the cellular communicator. Depending on your alarm panel, this may or may not be possible without replacing the entire panel.

Alarm.com customers who are affected by this sunset will soon begin seeing prompts telling them to upgrade. Starting in October, Alarm.com customers who still have a 2G/3G Rogers cellular communicator will see a trouble message when they log into the customer app or website. The message will instruct them to upgrade their communicator soon in order to avoid a service interruption.

This news may seem dire, but don't worry, Alarm Grid is here to help you through the transition. In future posts, we'll be providing additional information, including special promotional pricing to help you upgrade in the least painful way possible. We'll also be here with plenty of information on how best to upgrade. In the meantime, if you have questions you can send us an email to support@alarmgrid.com.

This year with the holiday falling on Thursday, Alarm Grid will be closed on both Thursday July 4th and Friday July 5th. This break allows our team members to rest and spend time with their families. We'll be back refreshed on Monday, July 8th ready to help you protect your home or business!

For existing Alarm Grid customers, this means that technical support and account activation will be unavailable during the holiday. However, our central station partners are available around the clock to process any alarm signals. If you need to cancel an alarm or put your system on test, you will do those things as you normally would.

If you reside in the US and need to contact the central monitoring station to cancel an accidental alarm, verify a signal, or put your system on test you can contact Criticom Monitoring Services (CMS) by dialing (888) 818-7728 and choosing Option [9].

Canadian customers with the same central station needs can contact Rapid Response at (800) 932-3822. Remember, any time you call either monitoring station, you will be asked for your name, address, and your false alarm password. Providing incorrect information when asked will result in the dispatch of authorities.

If you need to make changes to your account or you have technical support questions monitoring station operators can't help you with those inquiries. Instead, email us at support@alarmgrid.com. Provide as many details as possible about the request or issue. Remember, if you're requesting account changes we'll need your false alarm password or the last four (4) digits of the credit card number we have on file for billing before we can make those changes. Providing this in your initial request will make the process go more quickly.

With hot, dry conditions in some areas, be cautious when using fireworks. Ensure you have proper extinguishing methods available in the event of a fire. Most large scale fireworks displays take place over a large body of water so that accidental fires are avoided.

Also remember that fireworks are likely to scare both pets and wild animals. Many young animals get separated from their mothers at this time of year. If you encounter a seemingly abandoned wild animal baby, contact your local wildlife rescue and follow their recommendations. The Humane Society has a listing of wildlife rehabbers by state.

We hope everyone enjoys a chance to relax this holiday weekend. However, we recognize many will be working. A big thank you to central station operators, wait staff, hospital staff, police, fire, EMS personnel, and anyone else working this holiday. We appreciate your dedication!

Alarm.com now offers a new burglary deterrence feature available from some of its cameras. Alarm Triggered Warning Sounds, once configured, will cause selected cameras to emit a siren when an alarm is triggered. This feature can be activated based on sensors, partitions, or the entire panel.

One crucial note about this feature is that it is only compatible with non-doorbell Alarm.com cameras that support the two-way audio feature. A full list of compatible cameras, with links, is available in our FAQ that walks you through setting up this new deterrence feature.

The requirements for this feature are fairly simple:

• A security service package with Panel/InApp panics enabled by your alarm dealer.
• A video service package with the Audio for Non-doorbell Cameras add-on enabled by your alarm dealer.
• At least one camera compatible with the MTWS feature.
• An IQ4 Panel (IQ Panel 4, IQ4 Hub, or IQ4 NS). You can't do this with a video-only account.

See? Easy peasy! If you have an Alarm.com camera that supports two-way audio, and it's not a doorbell camera, then it likely supports this feature. On general principle, be sure your camera is updated to the latest firmware. For most cameras, the minimum firmware to support this feature is Firmware Version 0.6.7.852+. The exception is the ADC-V515, which requires Firmware Version 0.0.5.476+.

This feature is easy to set up. Just use the Smart Rules Builder through either the customer website or the Alarm.com app available from Google or Apple. Once you log into your account it takes about two minutes to create the rule needed to utilize this feature.

The Alarm Triggered Warning Sounds (ATWS) feature works hand-in-hand with the Manually Triggered Warning Sounds (MTWS) feature. If you have any MTWS capable cameras, then you know you will be able to configure the ATWS feature and vice versa. Manually Triggered Warning Sounds are not automated. Instead, a user must manually trigger the sound while logged into either the app or the website. You can check out how to use MTWS here.

When you manually trigger a warning sound from one or more cameras, the sound duration is 30 seconds, unless you manually turn the warning sound off sooner. When the warning sound is alarm triggered, the duration is five (5) minutes, or until the alarm is canceled by a user disarming the system where the alarm occurred.

Scenario 1: Manual Trigger

You're away from your home or business. You receive an alert that motion has been detected by one of your cameras. You log into the app and, pulling up the live view for your camera see a person or animal in an area of your property where they don't belong. While you're viewing the live video, and assuming this is a compatible camera, you can choose to trigger a warning sound that will hopefully scare the person or animal away. In this scenario the Manually Triggered Warning Sound can be used to great effect.

Scenario 2: Alarm Trigger

You're at home, and your system is armed in the Home mode. While you're asleep an intruder attempts to enter your home by breaking a first floor window. They may have triggered an alert from one of your outdoor cameras, but you slept through it. The window they're attempting to enter through has a glass break detector associated with it and this detector is active when the system is armed in Home mode. The intruder breaks the window, but the alarm goes off. This causes not only the alarm panel, but also your outdoor cameras to begin sounding a siren. The would-be intruder hears the sirens and leaves, preventing an actual break in.

One limitation of all-in-one panels is that they aren't high-current siren friendly. That's not to say that you can't add one of these sirens, but it takes some work and it can get expensive. Not to mention, where do you put the equipment for it? By allowing the cameras that offer siren sounds to use those sirens in an alarm situation you're adding extra sirens to the system at no additional cost, assuming you planned to have compatible cameras anyway. In my opinion, this is a great new feature. It's also an example of how Alarm.com continues to add value to their products without requiring additional investment.

Recently, while writing content about the installation of various add-on modules for the PROA7PLUS, I discovered the "Shutdown system" option. Being familiar with Resideo's definition of "Shutdown" I sent an email to support to find out exactly what this button does. The answer surprised me.

I was looking for a better way of powering down the panel for the purpose of adding hardware. Having to disconnect the battery and possibly unplug the DC power adapter is inconvenient and unnecessarily difficult. I was hoping for a menu option that would allow me to power down without physically disconnecting anything.

When you enter the menu options of the PROA7PLUS, PROA7, PROA7PLUSC, or PROA7C you see an option for Tools. If you select Tools, you'll be prompted to enter a code. Once you enter a valid code, and this includes both the Installer Code and the Master Code (4112 and 1234 respectively, by default) you'll then see a list of additional options.

At the bottom of this list is "Shutdown system". I was hoping this was an option to power down the system. Just above it in the menu list is "Reboot System" but rebooting doesn't help when you're attempting to add or remove hardware. Again, knowing Resideo as I do, I was afraid to simply try out the shutdown option, so I sent an email to their technical support to inquire about what this menu option does. I found the answer a little disturbing.

According to support, when you perform a system shutdown the system cannot be armed. Only 24-Hour emergency zones can be activated, and those alarms are local only because the system's communicator is also shut down. The burglary portion of the system is useless in this state. Access to the "Tools" menu is also disabled.

You might wonder, as I did, if the communicator is shut down, and the "Tools" menu is disabled how the heck do you recover from this state? According to technical support, it is still possible to send a command to the system from AlarmNet360. This is called a "Resume System" command. This option can only be performed by your alarm dealer.

My takeaways from this are: If your system is not registered with an alarm dealer DO NOT SELECT SHUTDOWN SYSTEM from the "Tools" menu. Doing so will likely cause your system to be permanently inoperable. It's unclear if an alarm dealer could register a system after the shutdown command has been implemented, and then send the Resume System command. I wouldn't recommend testing it.

For anyone who may have accidentally hit this menu option and who does have a registered system, contact your alarm dealer immediately. Let them know what happened and that you need to initiate a "Resume System" command through AlarmNet360. They should be able to help you get your system back up and running.

If you're an Alarm Grid customer who finds yourself in this position you can email us at support@alarmgrid.com, or call 1-888-818-7728. Our support team is here Monday - Friday from 9:00 am - 8:00 pm, with the exception of holidays. We will hopefully be able to send the command to Resume System using AlarmNet360.

During beta testing of the Resideo and Honeywell Home PROWLTOUCH touchscreen keypad, the PROWLTOUCHDM desk mount and charging stand offered an LED on top to show when the keypad was properly connected and charging. Resideo removed this feature, apparently in 2020, without informing users.

Of course anything we say about the Honeywell Home PROWLTOUCH is also true of the Resideo PROWLTOUCHC. Both keypads are compatible with the PROWLTOUCHDM. The only difference between the two keypads is the branding shown on the front of the product. Honeywell Home products are marketed toward residential use while Resideo branded products are marketed for commercial use.

What makes this situation somewhat perplexing is the fact that the PROWLTOUCHDM still has the LEDs and the ribbon cable internally that would allow the LEDs to be connected to power. There's just no connector on the power board, so the LEDs can never be successfully utilized.

When we first encountered this issue, we thought we'd found a manufacturing problem. We received several different PROWLTOUCHDMs in our office, and they all looked the same inside. All the bits to make it work, minus that all-important connector.

We reported our findings to Resideo technical support. They had no record of a product change. They escalated the inquiry to the product manager and that's how we all found out about the decision to remove this feature, which took place in April, 2020! Any PROWLTOUCH manufactured after April 2, 2020 will not have a working LED indicator.

The date code for this product is only located on the packaging that it comes in. You can see a date in the first image above. There is no date code on the PROWLTOUCHDM itself. So, if you have one of these and you've already thrown away the box, there is no way to check a date code. If you're just buying one, it's likely that it will have been manufactured after April 2, 2020.

You don't lose much with the removal of this feature. It can be a little tricky to mount the PROWLTOUCH to the PROWLTOUCHDM so that it's lined up correctly to properly charge the keypad battery. The LED was nice for allowing the user to be sure it was properly mounted. Otherwise, users likely won't miss it. What are your thoughts on this feature removal? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think.

Thinking of taking control of your home security system but worried about the wiring? Don't be! Understanding how to make good wiring connections can help dispel some of the mystery and anxiety surrounding your electronic security system. Here, we'll discuss how to properly use B Connectors.

Here at Alarm Grid, we've helped countless DIYers with all sorts of security system projects. From resolving an annoying issue that their previous security installation company failed to take care of to our co-founder, Sterling literally walking a blind customer through a system activation. Once you decide to take your security system into your own hands, you are officially one of our beloved DIYers. In our videos, when we say, "Hey DIYers..." we're talking to you!

There are many benefits to installing and maintaining your own security system. The benefit most folks immediately think of is the money savings. Many customers come to us because their current security company insists on sending out a technician for an expensive service call, even for minor issues.

But the benefit that I think is most important is familiarity. When you wire, program, and service your own system, you become intimately familiar with it. And when you know your system inside and out, you're more comfortable using it, and are more likely to do so. The best security system in the world is useless if you never arm it.

What I want to discuss today is the use of B Connectors when making wiring connections. B Connectors, beanies, or dolphin connectors make splicing two wires together easy. Dolphin® is a particular brand of B Connector, but its use has become so common that the brand name is now synonymous with all such connectors, like Kleenex® is for facial tissues, or Band-Aid® is for adhesive bandage strips.

These connectors are suitable for use with low-voltage systems because we use smaller wire than high-voltage applications. If you try to put larger gauge wire, or more than a couple of smaller gauge wires together in a beanie, it's probably not going to make a satisfactory and long-lasting connection. But normally, for our purposes in the security industry, beanies work just fine.

There are two (2) variations in B Connectors. They come in a dry format, or with sealant inside the connector. Traditionally, dry is meant for indoor applications, where wet is for outdoor wire. However, the connectors with sealant can be used indoors, and the sealant helps to maintain conductivity between the two wire ends, whether indoors or out. When purchasing these connectors, the dry variety is usually white, while the version with sealant is blue.

When it comes to using a B Connector, the process is simple:

1. Strip about 1/4" (6.4mm) of the wire coating from each of the two (2) wire ends you want to connect with each other. Twist the stripped ends together.
2. Insert both stripped ends into the wider opening of the B Connector.
3. Using an appropriate tool such as strippers, pliers or a crimping tool, compress the B Connector around the two (2) wires. It is recommended that you crimp the entire area where the wires are seated. You may have to clamp down multiple times. These connectors are tough, you will need to squeeze HARD to collapse the center area of the connector and make a satisfactory connection.
4. Verify that you crimped the wire properly by gently tugging on each of your two (2) wires, making sure they don't come loose. If you have a multimeter or a tone and probe set, you can also verify continuity on the wire you just spliced.

Inside the beanie, there are metal pieces that will pierce the outer coating of the wire when you compress the connector. This helps to ensure a good and lasting connection. B Connectors are superior to wire nuts in security system applications because they have a smaller form factor and do a better job of connecting and insulating the connection. They also provide for a neater appearance. This is important because we're often working in tight spaces.

On the last Monday in May, we here in America celebrate Memorial Day. This tradition started after the Civil War. Known then as Decoration Day, it was meant as a day to decorate the graves of those who had died in battle. The tradition may have changed over the years, but each May, we pause.

For the younger crowd, Memorial Day means school's out, summer is starting, the pool is open, and there's going to be a cook-out or some other type of food-centric get-together. But the older folks among us know that this began as a more solemn holiday.

On May 30, 1868 the first official "Decoration Day" was held at the newly formed Arlington National Cemetery. It was meant as a way to honor those who gave their lives during the Civil Way. James A. Garfield, Ohio senator, former Union Major General and future President of the United States spoke, beginning a yearly tradition. Below is a portion of his speech:

"I am oppressed with a sense of the impropriety of uttering words on this occasion. If silence is ever golden, it must be here beside the graves of fifteen thousand men, whose lives were more significant than speech, and whose death was a poem, the music of which can never be sung."

At this point, Decoration Day was not an official holiday. However, by 1890, every union state had adopted a Decoration Day. As years passed, and other wars were fought, Memorial Day began to be the preferred name and people went forth on Memorial Day to honor those who had fallen in any war or conflict.

In 1968, the United States passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. This act put major holidays on particular Mondays so that federal employees could have three-day weekends. Memorial Day, Washington's Birthday, Labor Day and Columbus Day were among these Monday holidays. The same act also officially named the holiday "Memorial Day".

We at Alarm Grid pause to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. Our offices will be closed on Monday May 27, 2024 and will reopen the following Tuesday at 9:00 am. If you have a support question or need to make adjustments to your account, the monitoring station cannot assist you with that type of request. Instead, send an email to support@alarmgrid.com with details about what type of assistance you need. Remember that when we return after the holiday, there may be a slight support backlog. Please be patient while we work through any issues as quickly as possible.

Of course, our central station partners, Criticom Monitoring Service (CMS) and Rapid Response, will be available 24/7. All signals sent by your Alarm Grid monitored system will be handled as usual during the holiday, unless you've requested a change beforehand. If you need to contact the central monitoring station, to cancel a false alarm or verify a signal, customers in the US can contact Criticom Monitoring Services (CMS) by dialing (888) 818-7728 and choosing Option [9].

Our Canadian customers can contact Rapid Response at (800) 932-3822. Remember when you call either monitoring station, you will need to provide your name, address, and your false alarm password or phrase. Providing incorrect information when asked will result in the dispatch of authorities.

We hope the weather is beautiful, the food is delicious, and the pool is cool and inviting. Just remember, there is a reason we have this day of reflection. So spare a moment to think of those who aren't here so that we can be. Say a quiet "Thank you" to those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of these United States.