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What do you value in a brand?
Is it
When it comes to home security, we at Strand Security believe that ALL of these are important! When it comes to our own family, and our customers, we want the best systems for the best pricing. We want you to have access to the latest technology and we want it to be affordable.
We love Honeywell Total Connect! Many of our customers have a home security system that allows them operated their smarthome and to check in from afar using the Honeywell Total Connect app.
As we live in a hurricane prone zone – the coast of South Carolina – having a remote app to check in on our home when we can’t be there provides peace of mind during a stressful time like a mandatory evacuation during a hurricane.
Honeywell is a reliable brand, integrates well with other products and has been around for a long, long time.
We stand by these products.
Newer to our Strand Security family is the brand Alarm.com.
Much like us here at Strand security, the folks at Alarm.com protect and trust their own family with the brand Alarm.com.
We think differently at Alarm.com. For more than 20 years, we’ve been pioneering smarter solutions that deliver total protection for millions of homes, businesses, and families – including our own. What’s the difference? Get to know us and some of our customers here.
Whether you need to secure your family, your home, your business, your assets like boats, commercial real estate or motorcycles, trust Alarm.com to be there when you need them!
What’s NOT to love about URC Smarthome automation?
The URC company is on the cutting edge of technology, adding more and more of the latest and great tech innovation to their products. They have become a trusted brand for us at Strand Security, not just on the Home Security side, but on the Commercial Security side as well. Check out this story of a commercial install in North Myrtle Beach, using URC!
For your home, URC will change automation once and forever.
Do you think that voice commands to change the setting on your thermostat is exciting?
Wait until you learn more about window shade automation! If you dream it, you can automate it.
No matter what your home or business needs, trust Strand Security to help guide you to the right system and the right brand for your budget and needs!
Give us a call to get started.
Who doesn’t love home automation?
Smart home Automation means automating recurring tasks in your home.
That includes things like:
With the latest technology, you can pretty much automate any appliance or system in your home.
Automation doesn’t just happen, or is only possible from within the house!
We’ve entered hurricane season!
When the next hurricane hits the Myrtle Beach area and you need to evacuate, using smart home technology you will be able to watch-in-real-time and take care of your home while away, from a distance!
Security cameras and smart home technology will enable you to keep an eye on your assets during a mandatory evacuation while you are safe and secure away from the storm, during the next named storm.
Today, we are going to show you the latest (and super cool) automation!
Window shades!
What is Alexa?
Alexa is Amazon’s voice-based AI-powered digital assistant that powers an entire smart device ecosystem. Alexa can reply to simple queries and perform various tasks or commands that one gives.
Alexa is a lifesaver for people with disabilities.
For example, someone who is visually impaired can use Alexa and voice commands for tasks like
Check out this awesome smart home window shades demo by one of our Strand Security technicians.
At Strand Security, we have being installing Smart Home Technology, Smart Home Systems as well as Commercial Smart Technology in local, Grand Strand homes and businesses for many years!
Technology advances and brands change. We at Strand Security will always be on trend with the latest technology and the best brands to provide you with the best customer experience and the best smart home or commercial automation system available.
No matter what home security system you have right now, chances are you can keep (part of) your current system and add smart home technology to make all systems work together.
Here are some brands we work with:
Give us a call if you want to learn more about home automation, like these window shades!
If you are ready to take ‘the plunge’ and enter the world of smart home technology, believe us when we say we know it can be daunting. We know because we work with families, individuals and businesses like you to install smart home systems for their home and offices, too.
If you are looking for find a smart home installation company (and especially if you live in the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina area), you’ve come to the right spot. We’ll be happy to guide you!
Here are the five steps we recommend you take when you need to find a smart home installation company.
Know what you want and what’s available. Search for the latest technology from your favorite brands and don’t forget to ask your friends what they have installed in their homes.
Next, identify what your needs are. What do you want your smart home to be able to do, what tasks do you want to automate? Not sure, again, search online and ask friends to show you their smart home systems.
Know what you are willing (and not willinging) to spend on the smart home tech components, installation and recurring cost for the system to function. Always add a bit of extra wiggle room because you might find some amazing gadget or functionality you must have to add to your system last minute! 😉
Before deciding what you want, take stock of what you have and how that has worked for you. If you currently have a security camera, a security system, a home theater or some form of alarm system, installation might just have gotten a bit easier! Consult your smart home installation company to find out what will seamlessly integrate with a new system.
Last but not least we recommend you check online, using a Google search, for both positive and negative reviews. The absence of reviews don’t mean as much as the presence of negative ones. We invite you to check out our reviews right here.
URC Total Control Smart Home System
Smart Home Integration Options with URC
Honeywell Smart Home Security Systems
How To Convert an Old Home Into a Smart Home
Smart Home. Safe Home. Secure Home.
Smarthome technology has been around for a while!
Smarthome technology allows you, the homeowner, to automate recurring tasks in your home or office space and control electronics and appliance tied to your home.
Automations can include
With URC, your home can perform many tasks you never thought you could automate.
That includes lighting, comfort, shades, security and high-definition audio.
In fact, let us show you what you can control!
Another way to increase your home’s intelligence is to connect everything with Z-wave!
Z-wave control can be added to just about anything electronic in your home, even devices that you would not think of as intelligent.
Z-wave is
Z-wave has many uses. Here are some things to automate with Z-wave:
No matter how old your home is, adding Z-wave can seriously increase the intelligence of your home!
Think of Honeywell Total Connect as the brain of your home!
Smarthomes need a center of intelligence!
The brain of the home with with Honeywell Total Connect is the technology behind this product.
“Whether you are running an errand in Myrtle Beach, at work along the Grand Strand, or on summer vacation in the upstate of South Carolina or elsewhere, you will have full access to your home and/or business through our app. You will love being able to check in from anywhere, at any time! Once you have Honeywell Total Connect™, you will fall in love forever.
With the tap of a finger, our app lets you control your security system, receive push notifications, text messages and email alerts, control thermostats, lighting and locks, locate vehicles or assets — even view live video and see, hear and speak to visitors at the front door anytime, anywhere on compatible smart devices, including iPhone, Android and iPad.”
What system is right for your neighbor or friend might not be right for you. Therefore we highly recommend you come talk to us at Strand Security.
A lot depends on what systems you have installed in your home, and how ‘smart’ your home is currently! We recommend using what you already have if the technology isn’t outdated!
Come talk with us!
If you live on the Grand Strand, you might have seen our ad in Sasee Magazine this past summer or this fall!
We are spreading the word of our services to homeowners new to the area, to those who want better services, and to those who want to switch and save money!
In case you missed the magazine ad, here it is.
What you are not seeing is the brands we work with here at Strand Security!
If you are looking for the latest technology, the best service, the best brands and technology, Strand Security has you covered.
Here are the best security and technology brands we recommend to our customers in 2021.
We install and service Honeywell Security Systems. Whether you live in Georgetown County or Horry County, we’ve got you covered. This is a trusted brand with many options for both home owners as well as commercial use.
Smarthomes and smart business owners use URC total control! We love the technology of URC and we have many happy customers who can attest to this effectiveness of these systems!
When installing security cameras, we look to Dahua for a wide range of options to offer our customers! They are a one-stop-shop for all things video!
Abiding by the philosophy of “Innovation for All”, Dahua offers a wide portfolio of security-related products, ranging from IPC, NVR, HDCVI cameras, HCVR, PTZ cameras, thermal cameras, Access Control, Video Intercom, Alarms, Mobile & Traffic products, display & control, VMS and so on. Dahua products are based on an open platform that features easy integration with third party partners through a standard SDK.
Ubiquiti is a multi-application network operating system. It connects all your networks, locations and gives you “Simple IT that just works”. Ask us about ubiquiti if you are a small to medium size business owner!
Home sound systems and home theaters use Sonos speakers to bring the music to the party! We love and use Sonos right here at our office. Feel free to stop by for a demo anytime. Don’t forget: we don’t just sell Sonos speakers, we also install and service them and integrate these speakers into existing smarthome systems!
No home theater is complete without an Onkyo receiver and sound system!
From their website:
(Onkyo receivers are) affordable and versatile home theater centerpiece tailored to deliver a best-in-class entertainment experience for your movies, music, and next-gen gaming systems.
Denon home sound bars are an affordable choice for a home sound system!
No matter what Denon system you chose, be confident that Strand Security can install and service your new system for years to come.
Master the art of listening with Marantz. Marantz products include
Z-Wave is the smarthome control you need when convenience and ease-of-use is paramount!
Z-Wave is the leading wireless technology behind many of the secure, trusted brands that are working to make everyone’s home smarter and safer. With Z-Wave, smart home products can communicate with each other no matter what brand or platform they are built on using a central smart hub.
The leader in security camera solutions is HikVision. We use and trust HikVision to keep our own family and business location safe and secure.
Winter, Spring Summer or Fall…🎶
Who doesn’t know this James Taylor song? It does not matter what season it is, adjusting your thermostat at least 4 x per year, to work with the season, is always a great idea.
Therefore, the best time to adjust your thermostat is… now!
As seasons change, so does the barometric pressure, average temperatures and humidity levels. Weather changes rapidly and seasonally. Even in South Carolina where the weather seems to always sway between warm, hot and super hot, it is important to adjust your thermostat according to the seasons.
Before you do, grab your utility bill!
You will want to know
Did you know that setting your thermostat at 1 or 2 degrees higher (in summer) and lower (in winter) can lower your overall utility cost? It’s important to understand what you are paying for!
It might seem obvious, but here is a good guide to understanding who should adjust your thermostat, or to whom to look to adjust your thermostat. It is usually someone who spends a lot of time at home, or someone who is frail, old or sick!
Keeping an eye on those at home in-real-time, with security cameras is a great way to assure the temperature is set right!
Here are some things you should not do when it comes to adjusting your thermostat.
The BEST way to keep as many people in your household comfortable AND at the same time be energy efficient it to let smart technology help you out! Strand Security works with brands like URC and Honeywell who can take a lot of the guesswork out of this task. Use thermostat automation to dominate your home thermostat!
If you can’t remember the last time you checked your thermostat, do it today. Have a family meeting and involve everyone. Ask them how they feel and if they are ever hot or cold.
If your family can’t agree on a temperature that is ‘just right’ consider adding ceiling fans to bedrooms to cool off someone who is often hot, and buying robes and winter slippers for someone who is frequently cold!
Simple changes like that might make a big difference in the comfort you get at home.
Kids are going back to school and that means parents who work outside of the home, will have help with caring for their kids after-school.
Whether it’s a babysitter, family member, neighbor or whether your child teenager is old enough to come home to an empty house, it’s important to go voer home safety rules every so often. Take the month of August to reevaluate your family safety plan.
Being aware of potential danger is the first stop to preventing harm!
School bus safety and rules come from the school district. Take the time to go over the school bus rules with your child so that they know what to expect. It is important to tell your child(ren) to let you know that the ride to and from school isn’t safe any longer for a variety of reasons (bullying, unsafe driver, unruly students, heat or cold)
If you child walks home alone, or with a group of friends, make sure you have a system set up to check on them each day right after they arrive home. Go over the rules (no lingering, don’t bring friends home) so that you both know what to expect!
When is your child ready to stay home alone after school? It depends on each child as well as the area you live in, technology you currently have installed in your home, the maturity level of the child and the state you live in (law)
Read more about how to know your child is safe to stay home alone after school.
If you think your child might be ready to be home alone without a babysitter or after-school care, read this!
If you do need to give a babysitter, tutor or neighbor access to your home, it’s important to have a security system installed with a mobile app so that you can have a visual of what’s going on at home!
Hiring a babysitter should not stress you out , instead focus on creating a back-to-school family safety plan!
Tips about how to handle a stranger at the door, from a previous article here on the Strand Security Blog. We suggest you share the following with your teenager who might be home alone!
1 Take a look at the Stranger.
Try to get a look at who is knocking on your door. You may need to find a window in the house that makes your front door visible or use the peephole if you have one. You must have a way to see who is at the front door without opening it!
2 Keep Your Phone on You.
Have your phone visibly on you for the knocker to see. If a situation should occur you will have easy access to call 911.
3 Call Out to Someone in the House.
“Can someone get the door?” or “I’ll get it”
Maybe you are alone but the knocking stranger does not have to know that! Make it evident that there are others in the house with you. This can deter any planned unwanted activities.
4 Do Not Ignore Them.
Sometimes the first reaction is to just ignore a stranger’s knock all together. However, in doing so, you are silently announcing that your house is empty and now is a good time to break in. So, it is better to say something no matter the time of day. A majority of break-ins occur during the day when people are thought to be at work.
5 Request Their Identity.
If a utility worker knocks at your door, ask for them to prove their identity with the company they work for. You can always call the subject’s company to check if they have sent someone to your house.
6 Do Not Share Information.
Strangers may take advantage of you by saying they are in trouble, hurt or in need of help. As much as we all would like to help our fellow citizens, it may be a better choice to let them know you are calling 911 and help is on the way.
Technology can help in this situation! Read more about which devices can help here.
THIS is the time to talk to your kids and teenagers about online safety: cyber security! Not when they start to act strange, not when they are upset, scared or sad. Talk to them before leaving them home alone for extended periods of time!
Cyber safety and security should take an important, prominent place in your back-to-school family safety plan.
Set rules, boundaries and check in often!
Last but not least… house rules are house rules whether you are home as a parent, or not! Make sure you instill a sense of responsibility in your child or teenager, to build mutual trust. Respect goes both ways. Always be sure to tell the kids you’ll be checking the cameras remotely if they are home alone. They need to know you can see them or talk with them.
Safety rules about pool usage, opening doors for strangers or or operating dangerous tools are all important enough to warrant a frequent reminder!
Your house, your rules, and that includes rules for friends and rules for pets, too!
We wish you, your family, your kids a fantastic 2021-2022 school year. We are here to help you navigate it all. If you need smarthome solutions to keep your family safe, need (additional) security cameras, or a panic button for your employees or elderly parents, we can help you with all of that!
If you are thinking a home theater would be great to have at home, we can help with the design, installation and servicing for that as well! Just give us a call!
As we write this article, springtime is quickly taken over by summer weather, and summer activities are here to stay for the next few months in South Carolina. Myrtle Beach is a great place to work and live and even if you don’t travel far to take a break, there are plenty of gorgeous places to visit on the Grand Strand.
Last year, during our 10th business anniversary, we highlighted South Carolina and the Grand Strand on grand scale! We love this community : we live and work right here alongside you, our customers.
Summer is one of the best times to ‘play’ and be out and about. But before you do, make a safety and security plan. There is no sense in going out to play only to come back to a home that’s been burglarized or vandalized!
In this recent blog article on the Strand Security blog, we gave our readers and customers 5 ways to prevent a break in while away on vacation. Preventing a crime is always better than a clean up afterwards.
A home invasion, or a burglary will bring forth all sorts of headache, least of all the feeling of your home and privacy being violated by criminals.
Take these 5 actionable tips before going away this summer!
When you do go away this summer, due to a vacation (or an unexpected hurricane!), monitoring your home from any location will give you peace of mind.
In order to monitor your home, you will need security cameras installed – Strand Security is happy to consult with you on what type of cameras are best for your home, or business.
Wouldn’t you love to know what’s happening in-real-time in and around your home?
You can!
Isn’t it time to check out all you can do with the Honeywell Total Connect 2.0 App? Download it today to control and remotely manage your garage doors, thermostats, lights, locks, video doorbell, cameras, and more.
Do you have questions about Honeywell, smarthome technology or any other integration? Our doors are always open. We will be happy to help you monitor your home from afar, or we will monitor it for you!
We want to wish you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving. No matter how different this year’s celebration looks due to the pandemic, if you are with family and healthy, you are lucky and blessed!
We are thankful for so many people in our business.
We are thankful for our staff and our suppliers, and we are thankful for you, our customer! As we come to the end of a year-long celebration of our 10th anniversary, we are so very grateful for the ability to continue to serve the Grand Strand community of South Carolina and keep residents in Horry County and Georgetown County safe and secure!
Today, let’s look at some of the latest security technology we are grateful for during this crazy 2020 year.
We love our URC smarthome technology. We have installed numerous systems like this during this past year in the Myrtle Beach area, on the Grand Strand in both homes as well as commercial locations.
The possibilities are endless with URC technology and we are grateful to be able to help solve problems for our clients with this amazing system and related products.
Learn more about URC here.
If nothing else, we’ve all learned to “let go” this year! Many of us have had to go to work and leave teenagers and kids at home for remote schooling whether they we ready for this, or not. Some of us have elderly relatives who are at home in self-imposed isolation to stay safe from COVID-19 and because of all this, how thankful we are for remote access to our home security cameras and systems!
No matter where you need to be, the ones that are left at home can be reached in an instant with remote access to your home security system, how comforting is that as a parent or caregiver?
Last but not least, now that we know through science how germs are spread, using voice activation to control your home, your smarthome, gives you an added buffer of security and safety against an invisible enemy, COVID-19.
No more touching and retouching light switches, curtains, temperature controls, garage door openers, windows, locks, sound systems, home theater controls… With URC smarthome technology everything can be controlled by voice and thus by default becomes touch-free and germ-free!
We are thankful to be able to offer this to our Strand Security customers, both homeowners and families, as well as our commercial customers like restaurants and Grand Strand business owners who need a new way to keep customers and staff safe!
We wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but here! We don’t just work on the Grand Strand , we live here, too. We are thankful to be surrounded by businesses who, like us, care about their customers’ safety and security, and we are glad to be working on several URC integration projects right now to give those businesses that added buffer of safety.
Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Strand Security to you and yours!
A home security system can stand between a homeowner and a happy outcome when disaster strikes. On the South Carolina coastline in the Grand Strand area, a disaster might mean the occurrence of a hurricane, or a flood.
In other parts of the country, disaster might include tornadoes or earthquakes.
For everyone, no matter whether you live in South Carolina, Myrtle Beach or elsewhere, a fire or medical emergency can quickly turn into a disaster if help is not immediately dispatched.
Today, let’s celebrate 10 reasons to love monitored security systems.
First and foremost, when an intruder, thief, or burglar invades your home they have nothing but bad things in mind. If you are home when this happens, you are now in physical danger.
With a monitored security system, help is dispatched whether you are able to communicate with emergency services, or if you are incapacitated!
The same is true when someone in your home has a medical emergency. With just the push of a button you can summon help! Seconds can make the difference between a good outcome and a disastrous one especially when the emergency is a matter of life or death like during a heart attack, a near drowning or a lightning strike.
Do you sleep soundly at night? What happens when your fire alarm goes off? Do you call the fire station, rescue your family, rescue your pets, rescue your belongings? What if you ONLY had to think about rescuing your family and pets, knowing that the fire department is already on their way? That is what happens when you have a monitored system! The fire department is dispatched while you are getting out of the house!
Time is of the essence during a fire emergency. A monitored system will give you that little bit of extra time!
Carbon monoxide poisoning is deadly – and silent. Installing carbon monoxide detectors is step one to home safety, having these alarms hardwired to your monitored alarm so when you are incapacitated due to carbon monoxide poisoning, is even better!
With a monitored system, the burden of always looking over your shoulder for danger is not on you. Having a second set of eyes on your home, your car, your pool area, your business is the best way to protect assets you care about.
With monitored alarm systems like Honeywell Total Connect or Alarm.com you also have remote access to your home security cameras, allowing your to monitor what is going on in real time.
With a monitored security system even if you can’t reach someone at home during an emergency, the monitoring company will do their best to reach someone or send help immediately!
Did you know that most insurance companies offer discounts to homeowners who have a monitored system because they know that a monitored home is a safer home?
A monitored security system gives you peace of mind when you are home – alone or with your family. You can go about your day and know that if someone enters your home unexpectedly, or is a fire starts, that help is on the way! this is especially true for night time!
At the same time, peace of mind comes when traveling if you have a monitored security system. The monitoring company will replay any issues to you in real time, no matter where you are, as long as you can be reached by phone! How awesome is that?
This “10 reasons to love” article is part of a 12 month long celebration of Strand Security’s 10th anniversary!
Read the other article here:
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
We have one more article left in this series. Look for it on our blog in December!