Everything You Need To Know About Door Alarms: Standalone VS Hardwired

Door Alarms

A door alarm is critical for keeping your brick-and-mortar business with multiple fire exits safe. Find out what is the difference between a standalone alarm and a hardwired alarm and decide which option would work best for your needs.

Whether your local store has been recently burglarized or your office building has been broken into and confidential files have been stolen, a door alarm is a smart, reasonable solution to keep future intruders at bay. If you are simply interested in beefing up security on your business in general, consider having a door alarm installed, especially if you are hosting more than 50 employees and you also have several fire exits.

Why Is A Door Alarm Important For Your Business?

Door alarms are good at keeping unauthorized visitors from entering or exiting your property or store using back or side doors without needing to continuously supervise these doors. Lots of retail stores rely on standalone door alarms on their back doors to effectively prevent customers or employees from walking out of the store with merchandise they did not pay for using the back door without being noticed. However, there are also homeowners who choose to fit these door alarms on their garages, windows or entryways to their home for more peace of mind.

How the door alarm works: the alarm will go off every time someone will open the door without the right key or key code needed to bypass this alarm. The good news is that the majority of door alarms you can currently find on the market are compatible with most types of doors, so you should have an easy time shopping for one. Installation, servicing, and upkeep should, however, be left into the hands of an authorized locksmith for more peace of mind and a hassle-free process.

Standalone VS Hardwired Door Alarms

There are two main types of door alarms you should know about:

  • Standalone, wireless door alarms that do not require the use of a landline connection to work. These alarms can be transported with ease and they rely on an app for monitoring the premises 24 hours a day, nonstop, from any remote location. If you are a store manager or a business owner on vacation or you are worried about the safety of your building after business hours, a wireless door alarm with round-the-clock monitoring on the go is just what you need. You can use your smartphone, laptop or desktop computer to control your standalone door alarm. One of the main inconveniences when using wireless door alarms is the fact that they need batteries to run and frequent replacement is necessary or else the alarm will not function right.

  • Hardwired door alarms need to use a landline connection to work. Integrating the hardwired sensors, detectors, and alarm to a door is simple and it is usually done on the top corner of a door. A standalone door alarm will chime every time someone opens the door. This way, you will immediately know when someone is going into your store and come greet them while being more aware of the surroundings and any potential thieves and pickpockets. You could opt for a hardwired door contact sensor setup that will help you monitor the open/closed status of a few different doors. Keep in mind some alarms also come with LED indicators letting you know exactly which door is open for more ease of use and convenience. Some people may consider these door alarms more useful for receiving real-time notifications whenever a door opens and less focused on beefing up the actual protection of a store. However, topping a door alarm with a powerful, burglarproof deadbolt or electronic lock will help increase security on your property.

You could also consider a surface mounting door contact that can be installed on a classic UPVC or wooden door, as well as garage doors and even windows. These contacts are made of plastic and

can feature an operating gap of various sizes. A silver screw is used to point to the alarm circuit, while a bass screw is used for spare cables. These contacts are compatible with intruder alarm systems as well as a very wide range of wired burglar alarms. However, for safety reasons, we recommend you to first get in touch with a professional commercial locksmith and make sure you are about to buy a fully compatible and suitable door contact, sensor or door alarm for your building. The On Time Locksmiths team is here for you 24/7, ready to provide you with expert advice fast and cheap practical help with installation, repairs and maintenance jobs.

What The On Time Locksmiths Team Can Do For You

Get in touch with us, let us know what kind of door alarm or security alarm you need help with and we can and quickly reach out to you and assist you with picking the best solutions for your budget and custom needs. Whether you need help with installing a new door alarm on your garage, home or business building, or you are looking for affordable repair services in your area, we are the right people for the job. Our friendly and experienced technicians can also rapidly change the batteries on your alarm for you and instruct you on how to do it on your own next time.

Call now and schedule an appointment with us to have your wireless or hardwired door alarm installed by pros at good rates and fast speeds. We can help you decide upon the best alarm for your exact residential or commercial needs and help you become more aware of your surroundings and the risk of burglary and home or store intrusion.

What Customers Say About Us

Jannie W.
W. 29th street
 

Dave is great! He was punctual and professional. And after installing the new locks on all of our doors, he cleaned up after himself! The same cannot be said for the last service I hired… would definitely recommend and use again!

Adrian Stanton
S Kenton Ave
 

We live not too far from Chicago and I spend about a hour and a half to get to my office. Mornings are always in a hurry for me and a broken door would be the worst I could expect. However, this was exactly what happened. I had no time to lose and so I called 247 Ontime Locksmiths. The expert guy from Locksmiths could fix the problem and I could go to work.

Tim Lewis
E Van Buren St
 

My car door didn’t open at all. Just a phone call to 24/7 Local Locksmiths and in less than 15 minutes I could drive my car again! Good job!