Coded Entry Is Not Enough: A Guide to Forced Entry Protection for Your Home or Business

If you’re not taking the necessary precautions to protect your home or business from forced entry, the amount of property loss would be detrimental.

The key is to be proactive, and put security measures in place now that will deter and/or catch any criminals that try to break into your home or place of business.

Keep reading to get some in-depth tips on how you can keep your residence and/or business the safest.

Conceal Wires Outdoors

One of the first things that a burglar does is try to eliminate the security systems and communication systems you have in place. You need to be one step ahead of them by hiding away any wires they can cut to potentially make this happen.

Any wires needed for electricity, security, telephones, or cable should be hidden as much as possible. Some tips to do this include:

• Choose wiring or wire tubing that is the same color as the walls
• Bury cables in the porch or landscaping
• Make the cables run through the property(with the help of an electrician)
• Use cable conduits
• Mount decorative pieces along the wire to make it look like it’s just meant for hanging things

You can also try to go for wireless options if that’s an option. This way, you won’t have to worry about the cords, wires, or cables at all. This is likely the most secure of any method to make sure that your electrical methods are not interrupted at any point.

Install High-Quality Surveillance Cameras

Video cameras around your perimeter can automatically be a great deterrent for the average intruder or burglar. Just having them can make someone decide against trying to break in due to the added level of risk.

Even if they were to still go through with the act you would be able to catch them on camera. You could pair video surveillance with a monitored security solution, such as Swissguard, so that the perpetrators are interrupted and apprehended on-site.

Make sure that when you’re choosing surveillance cameras that the camera is setup for a wide range of view and that the camera has high-quality video. If the picture being captured is fuzzy or blurry it really doesn’t matter how much of the area is being seen or watched.

You also want to consider whether the cameras you are choosing have indoor/outdoor compatibility. Not all cameras will work in the rain, for instance, if they aren’t designed to be waterproof the camera would not be able to be watched and could even be damaged. Then if the area is dark or has a lot of lighting the camera’s picture could be distorted and worthless.

When shopping for your security cameras, always think about motion detection, lighting, audio sensors, and other features that will help make them more effective.

Hire Guard Services

You may already know that having security guard services on-site is generally a good idea for increased security, but it doesn’t come without cost. A lot of businesses aren’t able to afford the cost for someone to patrol and watch over their business, and the same can be said for residential properties.

Armed security guard services especially can be very expensive. For this reason, you should consider off-site guard coverage. This is a service that will still protect your home or business with an extremely less of a hit to your budget.

Swissguard is able to offer continuous real-time coverage of your business site for a very affordable price. Whenever we see something suspicious on the live feeds that are being provided by the cameras, Swissguard will notify the authorities, key holders, and the client right away.

Swissguard continuously watches real-time video of your home or business for you so that you don’t have to worry.

This is a 24/7 service that is provided for multi-home residences and condominiums where there are coded entrances; as well as, warehouses, auto dealerships, parking garages, and many other forms of businesses. When someone tries to force you to enter the code to get into your building or stands behind you when you enter the code and steps inside after you, our service is a highly-valuable and complementary solution to access controls.

If you have security needs, we are here to help you meet those needs with off-site security.

Keep Cash Away From Sight

When you’re leaving for the day, it’s a good idea to take any money, cash, and valuables with you to a secure safe. That way, a burglar that is planning a break-in will know that you actually don’t have much to steal in the hours that no one is there. This is a way to deter them from considering your home or business as a target.

In the event that they do get into your property, you also want to make sure it’s difficult for them to find anything worth taking. Even with the help of Swissguard notifying the police and the response time being fast, it’s still in your best interest to be extra cautious when it comes to your assets.

Choose the Best Locks Available

On both your doors and windows, you need to ensure that you’re using high-quality, sturdy locks that are not easy to break and using extra long screws to help secure them into place. A burglar will try the easiest routes first to break into a home or business, so generally, these ports of entry are going to be the place to start.

If you happen to be the victim of a break-in, your insurance company will want you to prove that it was actually a “forced entry,” and broken locks from forced entry tools are a clear indicator!

Locks to consider are pin tumbler cylinder locks or deadbolt locks. For more secured areas, you need to place even thicker locks so that burglars or intruders aren’t able to access any sensitive information or equipment.

Most importantly, always ensure these locks are actually locked when they need to be. An unlocked door or window is going to make it so much easier for someone to actually get inside.

You may also want to consider investing in forced entry-resistant doors. They cost a little bit more, but they are worth it to protect your assets.

Don’t Risk Forced Entry for Your Home and/or Business

Even with all of the basic protocols in place for the security of your home and/or business, you never know when a perpetrator might try to break in. You need to be prepared beforehand so that your property can handle it.

While it’s clear that no property owner would ever want to deal with a forced entry into their home/business, it happens more often than you may think. Protect yourself by hiring a company that cares just as much about your residence or business’s security as you do.

Contact us at Swissguard today to learn more about our services and how we can help your home or business stay secure all day, every day.