Friends home broken into - Homeless man held at shotgun point!

[Cameramonkey]

Thanks for the information. My system has its own cellular connection. Maybe someone else's system sent the wrong phone number or address.

Just make sure if you also have VoIP that the panel isnt connected to that line. Most companies would still connect to the phone line and set the cell as a backup communication path. A residence can be cell only under NFPA code.

If you still pay an old-school RBOC like ATT for a POTS line (traditional analog phone line) that is OK. Its the switch to services like Comcast Triple Play that is screwing people.

 

[Doug]

My system is cellular only; a phone line is optional, but I don't use it. SimpliSafe.

 

[KittySlayer]

Sure. Southwest, within a mile of the Fort Wayne Country Club.

Now I know why I heard all those sirens up the street waking me up from my post breakfast nap.

 

[foxxie02]

two to three days late.. this was in the ft. wayne paper today.. hopefully more people learn from this..

 

[Libertarian01]

New information for everyone.

While the front door may(?) have been unlocked, we are not 100% about that. It would appear that the garage door track was dirty and when they left for church the door started down but didn't completely close. So the guy came in through the garage door between the home and the garage. That door is never locked and wouldn't matter even if it was. A 12 year old could break down that door. It isn't designed for security.

Here is a link to the article that made the paper: No charges for stranger caught napping in home | Police and fire | www.journalgazette.net

They were being monitored by Pinnacle, but Pinnacle sold a list of clients and they are now monitored Monitronics. The wifey was telling me that she thinks Monitronics must have done a data dump and the first four (4) telephone numbers are their home, cell phones and work numbers. As I am number five (5) on the list me and everyone below me is no longer listed. They are going to correct that. The company is contacted by cell phone and battery so powering down or cutting the lines wouldn't matter. I also found out that the outdoor alarm hasn't worked in a while and she said they are going to address that issue.

The security company came out for free yesterday and repaired the security panel, so all is back up and working now.

She also wishes that her dear hubby had consulted with her about not pressing charges, but he was outside with some officers and she was inside speaking to another. Apparently the officers speaking to him indicated all that would happen is jail time with no hope of help for the guy, so he was of mixed feelings about how useful that would be for anyone when the guy needs more help than pure incarceration. His general thinking NOT MINE!

So, I hope this clears up a bit and is a learning moment for those who believe a security system will solve all problems. I know that doesn't apply to INGO members, but now you have a good second hand story to tell about the guy who broke in in broad daylight and stayed for as long as he could.

Regards,

Doug

 

[CTS]

My "internal speaker" is loud enough to be heard from the street. Not to be confused with the puny beepers that are on the keypads. But I can understand the logic of a layman thinking what they are seeing on the wall by the front door IS the alarm, not just a keypad.

You have no idea how correct you are about wrong house. I have given a presentation to fire inspectors about panels dialing over VoIP lines. Long story short, DONT. They are not completely compatible, and while you will test OK 99% of the time, its possible for the central station to interpret your signal as having a different customer number. I have several documented instances of this. One of the most egregious: A building caught fire in Indiana. It went into full alarm with smokes, heat sensors and sprinkler flow sensors reporting. But when the panel dialed out the voip line hiccuped. The central station received the signal, but two digits were transposed in the signal. That garbled customer/site number just happened to be a legitimate site ID in OH. Multiple fire battalions were falsely dispatched to the site in OH while the ACTUAL site in IN burned with no immediate response. So we had dozens of firefighters risking their lives rushing to the scene for no reason, while a customer's store went up in smoke. Literally.

IF you run VoIP (comcast, brighthouse, etc) and your panel dials out over that line, Talk to your alarm company about one of two add-ons to fix it; An internet communicator, or a cellular communicator. Either will fix the problem. And most alarm companies are either ignorant, oblivious to the problem, or arent taking it seriously.

My company deploys VOIP systems and I can definitely back this up. Emergency lines for things like alarms should definitely be kept on POTS lines.