Crash and Smash Protection

What is Crash and Smash Protection?

No…it’s not a new clause buried somewhere in the small print of your insurance policy. Crash and Smash Protection is the latest interactive line of defense against forced entries where the intruder “crashes’ through the entry door and “smashes” the control panel before a signal can be sent to the monitoring company.

While installing a home security system significantly reduces your chances of a break-in, savvy intruders, intent on violating your home, know that they can defeat your system by either cutting the phone line (or cable) or physically disabling the control panel so that it is unable to transmit a signal.

Companies like Frontpoint have included Alarm.com’s Crash and Smash Protection in all their security systems because they firmly believe that a security system is virtually useless if someone can just come in and destroy the system before it can send a signal. This is just one of many benefits of owning a system that uses the Alarm.com platform.

How does it work?

In nearly all cases, a delay is programmed on the entry door, which allows between 30 and 60 seconds for the user to disarm the system before an alarm is activated and a signal is sent to the monitoring station. This gives the intruder ample time to locate the control panel (which is typically the self-contained unit containing the main keypad) and either cut the lines of communication or, more often than not, simply destroy the unit.

However, systems that incorporate Alarm.com ‘s revolutionary “crash and smash” technology can prevent such a scenario. When equipped with Crash and Smash Protection, the system sends a signal to the Central Monitoring Station, via the wireless cellular connection, when a point of entry is opened while the security system is armed. If a signal is NOT sent that the security system was properly disarmed, the alarm is activate and the police will be dispatched.

Crash and Smash Protection in Action

To clarify…Let’s take a look at the following 2 scenarios.

Scenario One- No Crash and Smash Protection

An intruder takes a small crowbar and “jimmies” open the front door. Your system begins to beep, to remind you (or in this case, the intruder) to disarm the system-allowing 30-60 seconds before the alarm is activated. (your system only knows the door is open…it doesn’t know that the door is destroyed…) This allows the intruder ample time to either:

a. Cut the phone or cable wires to the panel

b. Smash the entire control panel (more likely…as this would normally disable most cellular communication devices, as well)

Having rendered your system useless, s/he is now free to move about your home freely, as the system was never able to communicate an alarm to the Central Monitoring Station.

Scenario Two -With Crash and Smash Protection

The intruder breaks in and presumably “disables” the system as s/he did in the first scenario….and begins to roam the house, feeling confident that the security system was, once again, rendered useless.

However, because this system incorporates Crash and Smash protection, a signal was sent immediately when the door was “opened” (and I use the term loosely). Because the system was destroyed, a signal was never received by the CMS. This time, the system is interactive and detects that the disarm code was never received, the alarm protocols are initiated…and the police are dispatched. Minutes later, the police apprehend the unwary and confused intruder, and cart him/her off to jail!

The Weakest Link-Strengthen It!

You’ve heard the expression…a chain is only as strong as the weakest link? Well…in a security system, the weak link is the lines of communication. Eliminate the means of communication, and you have rendered the security system virtually useless. Crash and Smash Protection takes that link, turns it around, and actually uses it against the intruder. Lulled into a false sense of security…the intruder takes his/her time and instead of leaving with your valuables…the only jewelry s/he is leaving with are handcuffs!