Getting the Most Out of Your Security System App

Getting the Most Out of Your Security System App

Getting the Most Out of Your Security System App

Before the security system app was created, home security systems used to be very hands-on. You’d have to remember to walk to the keypad every morning and disarm it before letting the dog out (lest you set off the alarm and terrify everyone in the house, including the dog). You’d go through your entire evening routine of locking all the doors, checking all the windows, getting into your pajamas, brushing your teeth and getting a glass of water before snuggling into bed … and remembering that you forgot to set the alarm, which is all the way downstairs.

These days, everything’s changed. Security systems are smart and mobile. You can arm and disarm your system with a quick tap on your device of choice. Forget to set the system before bed? Just grab your tablet from your nightstand. Leave for work without setting the alarm? With an app on your smartwatch or smartphone, there’s no reason to drive back home.

A security system app can do more than arming and disarming your system, too. In order to get the most out of your security system app — and your security system — it’s important to be aware of all it can do.

Control Your Home From Anywhere

These days, a security system app is about far more than your security system. It can also remotely control most of the access points in and out of your house, from locking and unlocking doors to opening and closing your garage door. It can also be used to control Z-Wave devices such as lights and appliances. If it gets too hot for your pets while you’re away, turn your thermostat down from anywhere.

Enjoy the Wonders of Geofencing

In a scene that seems as though it’s out of The Jetsons, today’s modern home is able to monitor the goings-on within and without. For parents who are weary of reminding forgetful children to lock the doors and set the alarm when they leave for school, a geofencing home security scenario plays out like this: your home security system monitors when your children leave a set boundary, or geofence, around your home. When they do, it automatically locks the doors, sets the thermostat, and lowers the shades, and reminds you if the security system is unarmed.

The technology also works in reverse: as soon as a monitored phone re-enters the geofence, the doors unlock, lights turn on, and shades go up.

Geofencing technology can also be used to send notifications when an attached phone has left and re-entered the premises, so parents of latchkey kids will always know when everyone has departed and returned from school.

Create Schedules and Favorites

Do you follow a predictable schedule on the weekdays? Get up at 5:30 a.m. to let the dog out and make coffee, out the door by 7, and home from picking up the kids by 4:30? Using your security system app to create schedules will eliminate some of the household hassles. Tell your downstairs lights to turn on and your security system to automatically disarm at 5:28 a.m., Monday through Friday. If you sleep with the temperature set to low but wake up to chilly mornings, you can also pre-schedule your thermostat to raise the temperature just before you get up.

Programming favorites will let you switch to a different schedule on the weekends or if you’re away on vacation. Choose which devices, lights, locks, and doors you’d like to activate and when you’d like them to do so, create a favorite program, and use it anytime you’d like.

Video Verification

It happens all the time. You receive a call from your security monitoring company. The alarm at your home has been triggered. Should they send police out? If you’re away from home when the call comes, the default answer will be yes because you’re not sure what’s happening. This results in lots of unnecessary police visits due to false alarms.

Video verification takes the guesswork out of home security. When you can pick up your phone and see a live video feed showing that a cat knocked a glass off of the kitchen counter, triggering the glass break sensor, you can rest assured that your home is ok and police need not be dispatched.

Your security system app is an effective tool, but it’s more effective when you know all that it’s capable of doing.


At ProTech Security, we have a strong history of experience, innovation, and customer service. The ProTech Security Advantage is more than 30 years of service in Northeast Ohio and a strong commitment to providing quality, cost-effective protection for homes, businesses, educational institutions and government facilities. To see what ProTech Security can do for you, contact us today.

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