A good alarm system is an essential part of commercial security. Even if you have a small shop, you want to protect your inventory and your building because theft and vandalism could cause you to shut down and lose income. Alarm systems can be affordable and you can choose the type that fits your needs. Here are some options in alarms you might want to consider.

Fire Alarms

A fire alarm is important for protecting your shop, employees, and customers. These can detect smoke or heat so you're notified of a fire and can react quickly if you're on the premises. Some fire alarms are monitored by a service remotely so when the alarm goes off, the fire department can be notified more quickly if the building is vacant at the time. Some systems allow you to monitor and control alarms yourself remotely so you always know what's going on in your store when an alarm sounds.

Intruder Alarms

Intruder alarms protect your store against theft. These work in different ways. An alarm might be triggered by breaking glass, movement outside your store, or movement inside your shop. These can use sound detectors, photoelectric beams, ultrasonic detection, or other forms of technology to sense movement, sound, or even body heat to detect an intruder and sound an alarm. You can place detectors on doors, windows, and at various locations inside and outside your store.

The sound of an alarm blaring could be enough to cause an intruder to flee and save your store from theft and damage. Intruder alarms can be monitored by a service and monitored by you remotely on a smartphone or tablet to ensure you can take quick action in case you need to go to the store to board up windows or meet the police.

It's a good practice to combine an alarm system with video surveillance so you'll have video of the intruder who causes damage to your store. Video can capture footage continuously or be triggered by movement to save on storage space. Having your alarm system installed by a professional is a good choice so the alarms won't be triggered by passing animals or people just walking by on a sidewalk. Proper placement of the alarms is important so the alarms go off as they're intended and don't go off when there isn't a real emergency. Alarm systems can be affordable when you choose a basic system, and the protection they provide is worth the investment because alarms act as a deterrent as well as a notification system when there's a fire or intruder in your store.