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Over the last year or so, Tommy's Lock and Alarms has been growing. We've hired new people, and they're helping the company do things that it couldn't do before. "Integration" is one of them. But what's that mean, and why do you care? Well, we'll explain that.

Over the past several years, security devices have gotten more sophisticated. Lots of you are aware that some burglar alarms can send you text messages or e-mail when there's a problem. Lots of you know that we provide security cameras, and that our camera products can be viewed remotely over the Internet.

Imagine that you are the victim of a terrible crime, in which

• Burglars come to your house with a U-Haul moving van, then they
• Steal everything inside
• Set fire to your house
• Spread salt over your lawn to kill your landscaping
• Cut down any trees and haul them away to saw into lumber
• Shoot your dog, and then
• Drive away, and
• Nobody saw a thing

Crime won’t go away. The best we can really hope for, as Americans, is that we can reduce the chances that someone will commit a crime in which we feature as the victims. Home security is a matter of finding out where your weaknesses are, and then protecting them from attack.

The first step to understanding your own security needs is to get a firm grasp on the idea that security cannot be perfect. No matter what you do, you’re never going to be 100% safe. If a criminal thinks you have something worth stealing, then you’re a potential victim.

So you need a plan that takes into consideration the Four D’s of Physical Security.

The North American Sledgehammer Fairy (lare malleferens americanis) is a troublesome pest to homeowners and businessmen alike because its mating ritual features the wholesale destruction of unattended private property. Many are the property owners who have left their homes and businesses and returned to find a wreck of shattered glass and drywall, denuded of valuables by unscrupulous passers-by. Between the damage and the subsequent thefts, a visit by sledgehammer fairies can represent the loss of thousands of dollars.

Because our goal is to provide you, the security system end user, with the best possible technology at the best possible price, we recently explored new sources of video surveillance equipment. Sample orders are coming in already, and we're really impressed with the products we have to evaluate. Within the next month or so, we will be able to provide high-definition cameras for your home or business, with connectivity over the Internet.

Most people think of video surveillance systems in terms of the systems that often show up in convenience stores, pharmacies, banks, and other businesses that handle large amounts of cash or other easy-to-steal goods. It's reasonable for people to think about video surveillance in those terms because that is how the technology has been used for most of its existence—most people couldn't afford it for home use.

There is no reason you should. We offer a comprehensive set of promotions which translate into savings for you. There's no contract.

You get a year of free monitoring if you:
• Install an alarm system with us
• Have an existing system for us to monitor
• Switch from an existing monitoring service to us

After the first year of service, billing starts at $19.25/month. But that does not have to mean that you start to pay.

It can be hard to know for sure.

But we found a neat web application that takes local police reports and mashes them up with a Google Maps display to show you where crimes and arrests have taken place. The site only covers major cities, so the only information available on Louisiana citites is limited to Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Shreveport.

There's also an "analytics" feature that shows you graphs of the crime rate over time, so you can see if things are getting better or worse in a specific area of the city. Cool stuff!