Burglar alarm and CCTV questions

We are based in Wigan and cover the borough and roughly ten miles around it: Standish, Orrell, Hindley, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Golborne, Leigh, Atherton, Tyldesley, Westhoughton, Horwich, Chorley, Skelmersdale, St Helens and Bolton, plus the villages in between. Not sure if you are covered? Ring Dean with your postcode.

Dean will. DF Alarms is Dean Foster, a security alarm engineer with 18 years’ experience. The person you speak to on the phone is the person who quotes, fits, services and repairs your system, so nothing gets lost between a salesman and a fitter.

Yes. Quotations are free and there is no obligation. For a new alarm or CCTV system, Dean will usually come and look at the property first, so the price is based on your actual home and not a guess.

Every service comes with 12 months’ free call-out cover for faults. If your alarm develops a fault in the year after we service it, we come out without a call-out charge. Parts are not included, and we will always tell you what a part costs before fitting it.

Once a year is the usual advice for a home alarm, and some insurers ask for it. A service checks every sensor and contact, the panel, the backup batteries in the panel and bell box, the siren and the strobe, so problems are found before they cause a false alarm or leave you unprotected.

Yes. A lot of the alarms we look after were fitted by another company, sometimes one that no longer exists. Most systems can be serviced, repaired or brought back under your control, and if a panel really has had its day we will tell you honestly and quote for an upgrade.

Both work well. Wired systems are very reliable and suit houses where cables can be hidden, such as during a renovation. Wireless systems go in faster with no cable runs or making good, which suits most finished homes. Dean fits both, and will look at your property and recommend what fits it best.

It should not. Pet-tolerant sensors are designed to ignore smaller animals, and where they go and how they are angled matters as much as the sensor itself. Tell us about your pets when you get in touch and we will plan the system around them.

Yes, every few years. Each wireless sensor and contact has its own long-life battery, and the panel warns you well before one runs flat, usually with a message on the keypad and a beep. Batteries are checked and replaced as part of an alarm service.

Usually, yes. Old alarm cabling is often perfectly sound, so a new panel, keypad and sensors can be connected to it without running new cables. Dean tests the existing wiring first and tells you if any of it needs replacing.

Most home insurers are happy with a professionally fitted and maintained alarm, and some give a discount for one. A few policies, usually for high-value homes, specify an installer approved by a body such as the NSI or SSAIB. Check your policy wording before you book, and ask us if you are not sure what it means.

The usual causes are a flat or failing backup battery, a sensor that is dusty, faulty or picking up pets, spiders or a heater, a door or window contact that has worked loose, or damp getting into the bell box. A tamper fault can also set it off. We test each part of the system to find the real cause, rather than just resetting it.

Yes. This is one of the most common calls we get. In most cases we can reset the system and set up new codes for you, then test it so you know it works. If the panel is very old or locked by its original installer, we will explain your options, including an upgrade.

A beeping panel is usually reporting a trouble condition rather than an alarm: a low battery in a sensor or the panel, a wireless device that has lost contact, a power cut, or a tamper fault. The keypad normally shows which. Dean can read the fault, fix the cause and clear it so it stops.

Yes. The cameras we fit record to a recorder in your home, and we set up the app on your phone before we leave, so you can see live and recorded footage wherever you are and get alerts when something moves.

Cameras that only cover your own property are not covered by data protection law. If they capture the street or a neighbour’s home or garden, UK GDPR applies and you have duties, such as having a good reason and keeping footage only as long as you need it. We position cameras to cover what you need while keeping other people’s property out of shot wherever we can.

It depends on the size of the hard drive in the recorder, the number of cameras and the picture quality. A typical home system keeps a few weeks of footage, then records over the oldest. We set it up to suit you, and you can save any clip you need to your phone.

HiLook is a range made by Hikvision, aimed at homes and small businesses that want good cameras at a lower price. Hikvision’s own range goes further on features and picture quality. Dean fits both and will recommend whichever suits what you want to see and your budget.

Yes. Many Ring doorbells can run from a battery or be wired to a low-voltage supply, so they never need charging. Dean can wire it to your existing doorbell transformer where there is one, or fit a suitable power supply, and set it up neatly beside the door.

Not to get alerts and see who is at the door live. Saving and playing back recordings needs one of Ring’s paid plans, which you take out directly with Ring. Dean will set the doorbell up either way and explain what you get with and without a plan.

A Ring doorbell is ideal for seeing who is at the front door and talking to them from your phone. CCTV records around the clock to a recorder at home, covers the drive, sides and back, and does not depend on a cloud subscription. Plenty of people have both, and Dean can fit them together.