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Home Safety

How to Secure Your Home While Away on Vacation

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By: Gilbert Cho
June 9, 2015
19 comments

How to Secure Your Home While Away on Vacation

Vacations are a time for fun, rest and relaxation. But sometimes that’s easier said than done, especially if you’re constantly worrying about the safety of your home during your trip.

We want to make sure you have an awesome time on your getaway, and that means helping you have peace of mind. Here are a few safety tips to keep your home secure while you’re on vacation this summer.

Avoid Social Media

As tempting as it may be to share every moment of your trip, it’s best to avoid social media as much as possible. Many burglars are monitoring social media to select their targets, looking for people who may be leaving their homes empty for a few days. Be careful even if you’ve mastered your privacy settings, you never know if a sketchy friend of a friend is looking for an opportunity.

- Don’t announce your trip on social media

- Avoid tweeting about what you’re doing, posting pictures on Instagram, checking into places on Facebook, etc.

- If you have kids, make sure to monitor what they’re doing on social media

Make Your Home Appear Occupied

Do all that you can to make your home appear like it’s occupied while you’re gone – or better yet, get a trusted friend to housesit.

- Double-check to make sure your doors and windows are locked before you leave

- Close blinds and drapes on first-floor windows

- Stop mail and package deliveries (the post office can hold them for you), or arrange for someone to pick them up

- Use Wireless Light Controls (or any other device with a timer) to have lights periodically turn on and off throughout the evening

- Allow a friend or a neighbor to park a car in your driveway

Count On Your Security System

The whole point of a vacation is to get some R&R, and that’s not happening if you’re constantly worried about what’s going on back home. Count on your security system to do its job, after all, isn’t that why you got it? However, I understand if you do insist on checking up once in a while, and here’s how you can:

- Check sensor and system activity via MyFrontpoint.com or the mobile app

- Stream live videos through your cameras, or view motion-activated recordings

And if the worst were to happen at your home while you were gone, you’d know about it instantly via text and email. We’ll also call to make sure everything is okay, or if we need to send the authorities.

Enjoy your summer vacation, we’ll make sure things are safe back home.

 

This blog was originally posted on June 5 as part of the customer newsletter.

 

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Comments
Richard Pinner
June 4, 2015
It seems to me a really super feature might be the ability (a setting) to let you folks know that you ARE gone and don't expect anyone in your home. That way you'd know up front that an alarm may likely be real and reason to call authorities. I suppose you can't do that because there are a lot of dumb folks in the world but it would sure be nice for my wife and I who have no kids or people with access to our home when we are away.
Reply
Valerie Saponara
June 4, 2015
Richard, actually this is something you can do! If you're going away on vacation or going to be away from the home for a couple days at a time, you can just give our Support Team a call with those dates you'll be gone. They will then forward those dates over to our Monitoring Team who will note on your account when you're gone, and if an alarm does go off while you're gone, it should be responded to immediately. Please give us a call if you'd like details on how to do this.
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Martin Liss
June 5, 2015
I had no idea that I could do that. Thanks.
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Janice
June 4, 2015
Totally agree about social media. Save up your photos and share them after you return home, and be sure state that you are now home.
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Ryan
June 5, 2015
I have called Frontpoint prior to a vacation and let them know about my away dates. They were more than happy to take extra precaution during my vacation. Thank you Frontpoint!
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Charlie Walsh
June 5, 2015
Good suggestions all. The second one - having the lights turn on and off - is my favorite. Unfortunately, FrontPoint hasn't yet figured out how to do the one thing that would make this super easy. Imagine how nice it would be if, whenever you set your system to Alarm Away, the lights would turn on and off when you set them to. How cool would that be? A real no-brainer here, and I've been suggesting this for over a year, but with no results. This would be a great feature for current customers and a terrific selling point for potential customers. What do you think, Frontpoint?
Reply
Jeff
June 5, 2015
Unless I'm misunderstanding your suggestion, the system can do exactly that by setting schedules through the website. It's how I have mine set up. http://www.frontpointsecurity.com/equipment-overview/cameras-and-home-automation/light-control
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Charlie Walsh
June 6, 2015
Jeff, You might think this is possible, but the problem is this needs to be a Rule, not a Schedule, having the lights turn on and off at specific times when the system is Armed Away and only then. Not sure why this isn't offered, because it seems like such a good feature to incorporate.
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K Reddy
June 6, 2015
We have a video camera sending numerous false signals during vacation time. Frontpoint is not able to solve this headache of receiving false video clips sometimes more than 200.
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Terry Cook
June 6, 2015
Great tips. I love and Trust my Front point system.
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William
June 6, 2015
Wish Front Point had a barking dog alarm. Home Depot has one that uses radar, but the dog bark(s) sound artificial and tinny.
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Cynthia Bymaster
June 8, 2015
I recently went out of country and came home to discover $350.00 in False Alarm citations (5) from the local police dept. I did not know my cell phone would not work in the country I was going into and would not be able to call out of that country to check on things at home. Apparently, my 7 lbs cat triggered the same interior motion detector - 5 times. I thought the MDs were not going to register anything under 40 lbs. Big difference there, guys! That police bill could pay for over 7 months of Frontpoint security!
Reply
Valerie Saponara
June 9, 2015
Cynthia, we apologize for you coming home to find those false alarm fines. Generally we suggest you only get the Motion Sensors if you have a pet under 40lbs because they won't be tall enough to walk past that sensor and set it off. However, if you have a cat that has the tendency to jump up onto shelves or tables, they might just appear to be 5-6 feet tall to that sensor which naturally will go off. We are happy to see that you've recently been in contact with one of our Support Specialists and they were able to explain this, as well as address the cost of those false alarm fines to make sure you weren't paying that amount of $350. We completely understand that sometimes phones don't work outside of this country so we want to make sure we take care of you. Thank you for your feedback and we know you'll be speaking with that Support Specialist again soon!
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Jody
June 10, 2015
It's crazy how many people broadcast their vacation plans on Facebook and the like. It's not that hard to be the friend of a friend and see those updates, even if you have your privacy settings enabled. Perfect time to break in and take their time finding your valuables! Hopefully, some of them read this and see the light.
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Nicole Swartwout
June 17, 2015
This is really great, I agree that we should avoid telling our plans in social media just to make sure we won't attract any bad people. And its better to make it a private matter between your family or relatives. Thank you for sharing this article.
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Drew
June 26, 2015
Avoiding social media when you plan on leaving town is great advice. It is way too easy for someone to take advantage of that kind of information. Thanks for the great tips.
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Ninz Miller
July 15, 2015
Great , I read your all the tips and found it very interesting. Totally Agree about your points . Thanks for sharing.
Reply
Judy Wilson
March 1, 2016
I liked what you said about how important it is to have a home security system installed before leaving on vacation. You're right about how it's difficult to relax on vacation if you're wondering if your home is safe. A security system would most likely alert police if there are any break ins, so that would be a good way to get piece of mind when you're out of town.
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Mark David
December 4, 2016
Never to share anything on social media or tell to any one while going on vacation.
Reply
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