New Mobile Features for Alarm.com: Forget it? You can Still Set it.

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It was 7:35 on a weekday morning a few months ago, I was functioning on limited sleep and excessive coffee, and I was running late for an eight-o’clock meeting in downtown Columbus, Ohio. I hastily showered, dressed myself, and grabbed an apple from the fridge, because all I had time for was a sad facsimile of breakfast. I was on my way out the door when Skip, my wife’s Golden Retriever, whimpered and ran up behind me, prancing and scratching at my leg, his posture and movement signalling the universal K-9 communication for “Please, for the love of all that’s holy, I have to pee!”

Reluctantly, I snatched his leash from the counter and he yanked me down the front steps, my apple clutched between my teeth. I mumbled for him to hurry up, but being a dog, he neglected to realize that both of us had pressing business that morning. It’s 7:57 before he sniffs an acceptable location and finishes up, and I had three minutes to make a twenty minute drive.

I ran Skip back into the house, shut the door, turned toward my car—only to remember that I left my smartphone on the desk inside, and so I rushed to gather it up, bolted out the door, started the car and drove away at precisely 7:59 am.

Frustrated, tired, and focused solely on the presentation, I realized an hour after the meeting that I forgot to arm my security system. Now, I don’t have a multitude of expensive possessions, and I could probably drive home for lunch and take care of it then. It probably wasn’t a big deal, or so I told myself. However, I know that if something were to happen to my wife’s China collection—well, let’s just say I fear the consequences.

I suppose I could just rely on Skip to guard the place.

 

If your life is anything like mine, days like that will happen. Sometimes important routine tasks can be lost in the shuffle of other responsibilities. Alarm.com realizes this, and exciting new features to augment your alarm system offer the possibility of not only automating the security functions of your home, but integrating them with your life, however you live it.

Geoservices is a new feature of Alarm.com created to work with smartphones’ gps service. Forget to arm your system? Well, you could always set reminder notifications for a certain time of day and rely on that. It is a great option. However, with Geoservices, virtual “fences” can be created through Alarm.com, mapped perimeters which when left or entered can send an email or text notification reminding you to arm your system. A couple miles from your home, once you cross the virtual fence, an alert will be sent to your phone automatically.

Best of all, fences needn’t be set up around the system location. Perhaps you don’t want a notification every time you drive to the gas station, or take the dog for a walk, or go for a bike ride. Well, you can instead choose locations such as work, grocery store, family or friends’ residences—anywhere you might spend periods of time can be set up as fences, and once you enter the perimeter, the same reminder will be sent. The system truly works according to your schedule and your choices.

Multiple users can be tied to a fence or arming reminder rule, as well as to the notification recipients. So if I am still home within the fence when my wife leaves, the two of us won’t be notified until we both leave, which is helpful, as it keeps my wife from also reminding me.

With the total integration of your 2GIG alarm system and home automation equipment, a hasty exit when running late or preoccupied will never mean a disarmed system, or unlocked doors, or wasted energy on air or heat.

When paired with the new Geoservices, your alarm system can become true security: a tool you can rely on even when you forget it.

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