Most common fix:  As with most electronics, rebooting solves many issues.  To reboot modern touchscreen systems, you can follow the instructions in the manual to perform a reboot.  With traditional hardwired systems, unplugging the power and battery of the main controller and then reconnecting, will accomplish the same thing.

If all else fails: If your system starts beeping in the middle of the night, the fastest and surest way to silence it is to unplug its power and unhook it's battery.  This is a brute force approach, but sometimes that is what's called for.  The next morning you can hook it back up and see if the problem is resolved, and if not, you can call the office to schedule service or consult the attached manuals and help videos to trouble shoot yourself.

Low Sensor Battery: The most common cause of beeping is a low battery.  All systems will give an indication of which zone has a low battery, and you can consult the manual to help interpret the problem zone. During the day, our central station will often call you to inform you as well.

Low System Battery: Sometimes the system battery is low, this is usually either the result of a temporary power outage or an old battery.  The power outage only needs to affect the outlet that the system is plugged into, so it could be a tripped GFCI, unplugged transformer, switched off power strip or tripped circuit breaker.  Once power is restored, the system battery will start recharging, as all of them are rechargeable.

Blank Screen: A blank screen is usually the result of two main things.  First, the screen or system could have lost power and once the battery has run down, the screen will shut off. Once power is restored the screen will turn back on. Second, The screen could have powered down from loss of wi-fi or at its power switch.  Pressing its power switch will restore it in this case.

Communication and Connectivity: The next most common problem is a communication issue.  With Cellular based systems, a reboot often resolves the issue.  With land line systems, it could be a temporary or long term phone line outage. For a temporary issue, the trouble will clear the next time the panel successfully communicates.  Long term issues usually result from a change in phone or internet service.

Zone Faults: When a security system won't arm or is bypassing a zone, it is because it thinks that door or window is open.  That is usually the result of too large a gap between the sensor and its magnet, or the magnet missing altogether.  In order to arm the system anyway, you will want to follow the instructions in the manual for temporarily bypassing that zone.

Security Cameras: Security Camera and Door Bell issues are often the result of loss of power or wi-fi connectivity.  If no lights are visible on the camera, then it is often a power problem.  In that case it is good to check where the camera is plugged in.  For wi-fi issues, sometimes a power cycle of the camera solves the problem, but if you made any changes to your internet service or wi-fi, you can follow the trouble shooting videos if you wish to fix it on your own.

DVR Remote Viewing: Commercial Security Camera remote viewing is mainly reliant on your internet router.  Special programming is done when the system is installed, so replacing or resetting the router will often cause the cameras to not be visible from outside your property. You can either google instructions for port forwarding your particular router or schedule a service call for one of our networking experts. Fair warning though, it can be a somewhat involved process.