Eight Tips to Secure Your Home for Holiday Travel

Holiday travel can be stressful. Whether you're packing for your family, rushing for a flight, or keeping your car-bound kids entertained and happy, the last thing you need is to worry about home.

Help is at hand with Alarm.com, a welcome travel companion in the form of a mobile app that controls your home and its security system from afar. Here are some ways we'll help make your holiday trip happier knowing that your home is safe.

1: Make your home look occupied

Closing your blinds and having the neighbor pick up your newspaper are good first steps, but Alarm.com's automatic light schedules make dynamic adjustments to give your home look truly occupied. With one click your everyday schedule will adjust your lights with a give or take of about 45 minutes.

2: Get rid of that key under the doormat

You've let your neighbors and close friends know about your travel plans, and with Alarm.com's custom access codes they can come and go as they need.

Codes for scheduled visitors like a pet-sitter can be set to only work on certain days and times when you expect them at your home, and you'll always know who's coming and going with real-time alerts to your smart phone. If you need to give unexpected access, you can always lock and unlock your doors remotely or assign a temporary access code.

3: Create a personal solution

Every home is unique, with different requirements and vulnerabilities. Whether you have a garage, basement door or worry about glass breaking on your back patio, a trusted local security dealer can create a customized security solution that's right for you.

Alarm.com Authorized Dealers are dedicated to helping you safeguard your home with the most advanced security technology, tailored to meet your needs. They can even help you set up personal notifications so you are always aware of what matters most back home.

4: Make sure you've got dependable security

In the unfortunate case that an intrusion does occur, make sure your system is ready to respond. Many security systems today are connected through vulnerable phone lines that can easily be cut by a burglar, or by Internet connections that can go down at any time.

Instead, Alarm.com uses a tamper resistant dedicated cellular connection to provide persistent protection. With the our professional monitoring service, you can rest assured someone will respond for you in the case of emergency.

5: Stay informed on what's happening at home

Get updates and alerts about what is happening at your home while you are away. With any smartphone, you can check your system's status, make sure the doors or windows are closed, and search the security event history to spot anything unusual.

You can also be automatically notified through email or text message about activity that matters to you, like when the pet sitter shows up, the back door opens or a there is a water leak in the basement.

6: Keep an extra eye on your home

Alarm.com's video monitoring technology will change the way you see your home. Alarm.com security cameras can stream live video, sense movement and trigger email and text video clip alerts to your smartphone, making it easy to keep an eye on your house while you're away.

7: Control your energy usage from afar

How about saving energy by turning your thermostats down when you travel? Alarm.com lets you manage your energy usage and make smarter energy decisions right from your phone.

You can quickly update your thermostat schedules to an out of town mode, and even get alerts if the temperature in your home drops to a point where it looks like the heater failed and pipes may burst.

8: Sit back, relax and enjoy your trip

Keeping your home secure while you are away is crucial. With Alarm.com, you'll have the ability to remotely control your security system from home or away, get real time updates and alerts, and stay aware of activity back home.