As a parent I’m always trying to be aware of what my kids are doing, making sure they are safe and giving them the knowledge they need to make good decisions. Having a security system has been a tremendous tool in helping me accomplish this.
Having a photo of who disarms my IQ Panel is fantastic, and getting a text message if they don’t arrive home by the expected time is wonderful, but the feature I use the most is one of the most simple ones: Chime.
Chime is the beeping sound my panel makes when a door or window is opened. I have door sensorsinstalled over my house, and they provide all kids of great information. I also have the panel tell me which door was opened. If I hear bells with the words “Medicine cabinet open” I know to go check to see if my 3 year old is getting into the band-aids again (what is it with kids and band-aids?) or if my 9-year old is helping himself to the cough syrup (it hasn’t happened yet but my parental paranoia tells me to be on guard always!)
Our 1 year old has just gotten tall enough to pull down on our lever-style doorknobs to access the rooms in the house she previously could only bang the door on, so when I heard “front door open” the other day I was able to rush to her rescue before she ran out into the road and got flattened in like a pudgy pancake.
I’ve also started customizing my chimes to allow different sensors to make different sounds. My front door makes a different sound than the back door, and our safety sensors (our safe, our medicine cabinet, etc) make a different sound too. With 10 different sounds to choose from its easy to identify what’s being opened or closed from a distance, especially useful if I don’t hear the panel’s voice.
How do you use your chime? Any similar experiences? We’d love to hear them! Post your thoughts on Facebook or reach out to us on Twitter. If you haven’t connected with us on LinkedIn please do!