Home security glossary

Central station — the monitoring center that receives your alarm signals and follows a call procedure. Professional monitoring — paying that center to watch your system, priced at $3 to $60 a month per Fixr's 2025 data. Self-monitoring — the system notifies you directly and you decide what to do; usually free or low cost.

Verified response — a police policy of not dispatching to a burglar alarm unless the activation is confirmed by video, audio or an eyewitness. It exists because 94 to 98 percent of alarm activations are false, per the ASU Center for Problem-Oriented Policing. Alarm permit — municipal registration of your system, required in many cities, often with an annual fee and a false alarm allowance of three or four per year before fines.

Cellular backup — a communication path over the mobile network so the panel can still report when your internet is down. Duress code — an alternate disarm code that silently signals the central station that you are being forced to disarm. Glass-break sensor — detects the acoustic signature of breaking glass, used to cover multiple windows in one room.

Auto-renewal — a clause continuing the agreement for a further term unless you cancel within a defined notice window. Early termination fee — the amount charged for cancelling before the term ends, often reflecting unpaid financed equipment. Equipment lease — you use the hardware but do not own it. Assignment — the provider's right to transfer your contract to another company, which is common in this industry.

How to choose

Learn 'auto-renewal' and 'notice window' first

These two together are how multi-year agreements quietly become multi-multi-year agreements.

Ask whether your city runs verified response

It determines whether an alarm signal alone will ever produce a police dispatch where you live.

Set up a duress code and teach it

It is free, it exists on most systems, and almost nobody configures it. Make sure the household knows it.

Confirm cellular backup is active, not just available

Available means they can sell it to you. Active means your panel actually reports when the internet fails.

Look for the assignment clause

It tells you whether the company you chose can hand your contract to one you did not.