Is your home safe? What about your small business? Is it safe and secure when you

lock up at night? Hey, welcome to the You Ask the Pros Answer podcast. Your

questions answered by the pros you trust. My name is Cole and I am the host on

the show. And I'm excited because today I get to share with you the second half of

the conversation that I started last week with Darren Moore and Chris Maddox of Safe

House is a security company located right here in the Dalmarva area, and I am

thrilled to have them back on the show. Darin, Chris, welcome back. This is the You

Ask the Pros Answer podcast. Do you have questions about an upcoming exterior

contracting project? We've got answers. Welcome to the You Ask the Pros Answer

podcast.

I, uh, so I like gadgets. I like technology. Um, My wife, if she was here,

would second that. So I'm wondering if we could nerd out for a second.

We've talked a lot on this show about how STEM, so science, technology, engineering,

mathematics, is becoming more and more a part of our trade of contracting that gone

are the days of like the one guy in the white pickup truck with this tool belt.

Like it's become more of a professional, respected trade.

So anyway, I'm wondering if we could talk a little bit about the technology. I want

to ask you guys a fun question, and I didn't prepare you for this. So if you have

no answer, make one up. Out of your current arsenal of products that are available

to you, or maybe you've seen something that just came on the market, what is the

coolest or your favorite piece of technology that is part of the security world

right now. Anything fun? You can start. You can start. I have two.

Go ahead. Good for you. So, for me, and this comes from my experiences as more on

the customer side or things that I've run into that I meant, I was like, oh man,

I wish I had that. So, so one personally, a couple years ago,

I had a flooding issue in my house, and we have a device that we can connect to

security systems for this more the home kind of the home management side, the alerts

that you get. We have something called a water detector that, you know, you can you

can place it in certain places around your water heater, your sump pump, your well,

whatever, and if the water hits that sensor, it's going to give you an alert so

you can check on it, make sure there's not an issue, make sure there's not really

a flood going on, or to let you know that, hey, we have a flood situation, I need

to turn off my water so I don't have a lot of damage. The second is when I used

to work in restaurant management, we were always fighting this device or that device

to help monitor our freezers, our cold storage was always a concern because you have

a lot of product, you spend a lot of money on in cold storage. And if you have a

power loss or the device or the system that runs those cold storage units goes

down, you can lose a lot of product very quickly. And so having a lot of,

you know, desire for, hey, I wanna be able to look on my system and know what

those cold storage boxes are running at and make sure they're operating correctly

when I'm not there and making sure that the product we have in those boxes is

good. So those two things are really helpful, I think, and we have the ability to

do both. We can do water detection on your system. We can also do temperature

detection and monitoring on your system as well. And so those things from a customer

perspective, I'm like, those are really neat features that we can add to a system.

You know, if the customer desires that, I think that technology is wonderful.

- So both of those are very cool, very practical, but I'm, Darren,

can you beat it for something? Like I'm looking for like something cool.

Okay. Just in fairness, Chris, very, very practical products. Very useful.

But I'm, I'm like, I want a robot or something. Oh, you're hitting hard there,

robot. I don't know if I can give you a robot. Whatever comes to mind. So I

think, and it's been out for a while, but I think the notification process that the

alarm systems do is, is just neat. And then the AI that's built into camera systems

is getting better and better and better. So when they came out with camera systems,

and they started improving the visual components, the optics, the clarity,

you know, you remember the old video that they used to show that was grainy and,

and people used to make fun of it, like you'll never catch anybody with that video.

So they improve that dramatically. So the only thing to really go after at that

point was analytics and putting programs into the camera and to the NVR and making

sure that now you can get a notification if a human is detected. So if I get a

package dropped off on my breezeway, I get a notification that somebody's there,

I can take a look at it and see the footage and see that FedEx just left me a

package.

If my daughter's home and she opens up a back door and the alarm is not armed,

I've got it set to send me a notification because I want to know if the door

opens up, even if the alarm's not on. Those types of things are amazing. Some of

The AI features that have come into camera systems,

there's even a system out now, and we're doing some research on it, but without

getting too deep in the weeds, they have systems that will detect gunfire.

So they can, if they hear or if they see what looks like a person carrying a gun,

it can set off a trigger to notify somebody that this person appears to be armed.

There's a lot that goes into that type of thing and there's also some liability

that goes into that. So, you know, there are things that we've looked at, but there

are systems that if a person is shoplifting, the certain characteristics that they do

when they're shoplifting, or if they put something in their coat, the camera, the AI

and the camera will notify them that whoever's watching, hey, customer in aisle six,

just put something in their coat. So I think that those types of analytics and the

behind the scenes programming is going to be endless at some point. And it's

constantly improving. You You know, there are there systems in place where if you

have an elderly person Maybe with health problems they can wear a device so that if

they fall that gets monitored and they know that it's falling and they call in

somebody and You know those those types of things that the technology the the AI is

just not going to stop You know, we constantly get trained on that. I think here

in the near future, we have someone coming from Texas, one of our reps, but we're

always getting new training certification to keep up with things. So I hope that was

a little bit more neat on target for you, but, you know, is it nothing exciting,

no robots or paintball shooting cameras yet? Like I've seen on some social media.

You win that one. Yeah. Yeah, so I guess gone are the days where like you just

have sensors that It could be nothing it could be something and there's all this

ambiguity and all that ambiguity Increases response time right and so now you've got

I'm sure lost prevention at retail places are loving this because they're able to

Detect things before it even happens. I can recall my dad was a manager at Kmart.

Chris, are you old enough to remember Kmart? Oh yeah. And he would tell me stories

of how people would shoplift and he and his co -workers would sprint across the

parking lot into the apartment complex across the street. That was before the days

where they told employees, like, just, just let it go. It might be why Kmart's no

longer around, actually.

But Anyway, yeah, as you were talking about all the AI stuff, I mean, we use it

at Pro Exteriors, but it's largely just to be more efficient and the stuff you were

describing, that scratched the technology itch for me. And Chris,

as a guy who has been the victim of flooding and lost many expensive guitars and

instruments, I appreciate the practicality of the moisture sensors as sensors as well.

Alright, so I love talking about technology and all the gadgets, but I also know

that if somebody's house isn't structurally sound to begin with,

then all the systems in the world aren't really going to keep you safe. So I'm

wondering if you could talk a little bit about how exterior features like doors,

windows, and even lighting plays into a customer's or a home's overall security.

Is that something you guys discussed with the customers that you serve? Yes,

absolutely. Yeah, we take that into consideration with every house, especially new

homes. It's interesting and it depends on where you're at with Windows.

Most of your window companies will void the window if you penetrate the frame,

if you drill in the frame. So if you want a hardwired system and you want all

your windows hardwired, you have to check with your window company to make sure that

the warranty's not gonna be void.

And really, we don't like to do that anymore. There's too many other options, too

many ways to do it. It's different with doors and other hardwired devices, but

making

You know, the customers come to us with all different types of windows, all

different types of doors, you know, and keeping in mind that they have a black

window, they want black sensors, you know, that type of thing. You want the windows

to be secure, something that's going to lock and it's going to be hard to access

in the first place. Same thing with the doors. So, yeah, those are things that we

talk about all the time with every customer, you know, and we talk about if the

window is stationary or if it's a double hung or if it's a crank out window, you

know, when we get into attic access, there's not much we talk about as far as the

roof goes or the siding, but they are interested as to getting under the house and

we have devices that go in attics and that type of thing. And I guess depending on

if your roof is vented, you know, is how hot does it get up there? You know, do

you need some type of temperature sensor or a heat detector? But yeah, no,

absolutely. The products that go into building the house are a topic on,

you know, existing and new builds constantly. We talk to contractors and work with

contractors as we're putting systems in. So I know I don't have the statistics in

front of me. But I would imagine that, and it's not pleasant to talk about home

invasions, but we're also we're going to do it. But on an episode like this,

thinking about the front doors of homes and back patio doors,

sliding doors, I've seen videos where it is scary how easy it is to get past like

a single lock. So my front door has one bolt, it's connected to a digital keypad,

which is convenient. What are some of the just some of the tips that you guys

might have or suggestions for front door security and then sliding glass doors?

Like I have one lock on that sliding glass door that flips down, and I'm pretty

sure my 13 year old boy could probably open it if he got locked out one day. Are

there any solutions for that? it's probably going to surprise you. I mean, sliding

glass doors, there's only so much you can do, you know, because I think typically

they're going to try to break the glass. So that's where you want to make sure

that your alarm systems are going to, you know, work for you if somebody gains

access. Okay. If they break the glass and they don't reach in and open the door,

but they rather walk through the broken glass or it's big enough that nobody's going

to get hurt.

There are simple things out there. There's a bar that you can buy that goes in the

track, that keeps the door from sliding open. - Okay. - There are very simple and

inexpensive things you can do for front doors, any door of the house that will help

provide extra security. Looking at how secure the door is, the front door,

how strong is it, what's it made of? And like you said, do you have one lock or

two? Do you want an electric lock on it? What are my options to have that keypad

lock? But maybe I want something extra at night for when we're home. I want to

have that option to set another lock on the door. So those are questions we look

at. But I think simple gadgets, and I hate to say that, but there's some simple

options out there that you can add to both sliding doors and in front doors that

will help you feel secure that's gonna work for you. But most important, if they

gain access, if they penetrate those doors and those entry points, make sure that

your alarm system's gonna function like it's supposed to. - All right, guys, I wanna

read a letter that was sent to Safehouse, sent from the in Volunteer Fire Company.

They said this, "As a Volunteer Fire Company, the safety and security of our

personnel, equipment, and facility is our top priority. We rely heavily on Safe House

for both our security cameras and access control systems, and we couldn't be more

pleased with the results. The installation of Safe House cameras has given us real

-time monitoring, providing peace of mind knowing that our station is watched 24 /7.

The system's remote access allows us to monitor events even when we're out of the

station. The access control features have also proven invaluable. With many volunteers

coming and going at all hours, the ability to control access to restricted areas is

crucial. SafeHouse's system has made it easy to manage who enters and exits the

building at our fingertips 24 /7. Overall, SafeHouse has proven to be a reliable

partner helping us keep our firehouse secure while entering. We can focus on what

matters most serving our community. We highly recommend SafeHouse for any organization

in need of reliable, efficient security solutions, Preston Volunteer Fire Company.

So I read that partly because I just want to give you guys some props.

I know you guys are in an industry that I

would imagine it's easy to only get feedback when things go wrong as opposed to

just hearing what goes right. And here you guys are protecting an organization that

exists to protect our community, which is just awesome. So I want to transition us

a little bit away from the residents for a moment, because you guys, you've alluded

to it already, but you don't just focus on homes. And I know some of our audience

are going to be business owners, they're patrons, You know, they might have

commercial properties. What are some of the other areas that you guys focus on? We

do. We do a lot of commercial business, small, medium,

large. We do a lot of industry. So a lot of the industrial facilities,

we can do large scale projects, heavy industrial. Really enjoy giving back and

working with local communities, towns, police departments, you know,

we do a lot for townships and public works and fire departments,

putting together, you know, systems to keep them safe and secure and systems to keep

the community and the residents of that area safe and secure. So we do a lot of

that. It's really unique. I enjoyed doing it. There come challenges with that. And

it's time consuming and often takes a lot of time to build those systems in that

relationship. But yeah, I think that's probably one of the things I enjoy doing most

is working with towns, communities, giving back to those fire departments. And I say

giving back, we try to keep everything as tight as possible and give, you know,

savings, cost savings where we can. It can be very expensive,

especially when you're doing a whole town, but that's part of, you know, at the end

of the day, when you've got a system to keep everybody secure and you use that, we

testified in court on video.

So we do, we do a little bit of everything, you know, working with small businesses

is great because we're a small business. So I love going into small business and

seeing how we can help them knowing what our own needs are. Yeah, I heard Kara,

who's behind the cameras right now, let me know that when you guys got here, Chris

gave you Darren a tour of our shop and office and I guarantee I'm not going to

ask you now, but I guarantee you guys have some thoughts on on our current

security. So I'd be interested to hear about that later.

I read on your website, and I'm just I'm a curious person. So I want to ask this

It says you also provide services for the agricultural industry as well And that's

that's big in Sussex County and the eastern shore of Maryland And I also know that

those tractors are crazy expensive, but what are some of the applications that you

guys? Handle there Love the farming community. Let me say that first and foremost,

it's huge around here and putting together a system to watch over a farm,

it means a lot at the end of the day. We can watch lanes, back roads and lanes.

We have a device that you can connect to any normally open, normally closed

mechanical device and it will send you a signal, you can you can put it on a gate

anywhere remotely. There's no electric, there's no phone line,

if that gate opens up it will let you know that the gate is open. There's so many

useful tools that we can use remotely and morally we work with other companies and

if you don't have something you need like if you need internet because you want to

look at this remotely, we have options. We can send you to other people, having

eyes and cameras that watch the lanes that come into vast properties and you can't

watch them all, you can't be everywhere. So setting that up and setting up simple

basic alarms, nothing over the top, you just wanna know if somebody goes into your

office on the farm or if somebody goes into the scale office or the feed mills

area, anything like that is all monitored. So that comes back to where it's a

useful tool to manage your operation as well as security.

And we've had video, we've recovered video, we've recovered, the police have recovered

stolen items from farms and because of the video,

because of alarm systems, I and work on farms. We've, we've even been asked to put

cameras on top of grain towers and you name it is as, uh, as difficult as it can

be. We've been asked to do it. We can't always meet those goals, but we can do

just about anything. Um, and I love, like I said, I can't say it enough, the

farming, um, the agriculture community has been great to us. That you just shared a

lot of stuff that I would not have even thought of, we're going to begin to wrap

things up, bring it back to the homeowners that are watching or listening. I wonder

if you could share just a couple of pieces of advice to the homeowner that's

concerned about security. I'll make it really personal real quick. So I love my

family. On earth, they are the most important people in my life. And yet,

as we've been having this conversation, I've been thinking, we have one video

doorbell by a company that I guarantee you could name very quickly. Half the time

the battery is dead in it because I forget to change it. That is our only piece

of security. I'm wondering if you could share just a couple pieces of advice for

somebody like me who I'm a worrier, like I genuinely think about my family's safety

every single day. And yet I do very little about it. So what are some words of

advice for somebody like me? I'm just gonna say one thing. And then I'll, I'll like

Chris talk. I would say to call a professional to at least check with one or two

security companies to get their take on which where you're vulnerable,

what you might need and to give you ideas of what's out there Right, of course

scrolling and looking and talking to friends and neighbors and seeing what they use

You know, I recommend as well because somebody may say hey, this is what we've got

and it works great for us but Getting a professional to look at it and to give

you the overall picture To tell you what things cost and how to fix it What

happens if it doesn't work, ask lots of questions and let them know that you're

you're inquiring, you know, you're building a list of things you may or may not

need and start there, you know, before you make any decisions to do anything.

Yeah, and I think one of the things that people maybe are concerned about with a

security system or a camera system, and Darren mentioned this earlier, but it doesn't

have to be some huge, elaborate system right off the bat. Some of the out -of -the

-box DIY stuff starts to seem that way, right? Like, I'm gonna buy this one or two

device thing or this eight device thing, and I don't know what I really need. I

think a lot of people would be surprised with how minimalistic some of the systems

can be to meet the needs of what they're looking for. It doesn't have to be some

scary, you know, big thing depending on what your needs are and I think that that

goes back to getting somebody to come and look at your home to look at your

property to make some suggestions to do a good evaluation. And then and also

evaluating what are your goals and what what system and devices and technology is

going to meet your your goals, as well as, you know,

what what's going to make me feel secure in my own home. You know, when I go to

sleep at night, I want to know I have peace of mind about what's happening on my

property. And, you know, around my around my home, I want to know my kids and my

wife are safe. I want to know that I can put my head on my pillow and not worry

throughout the night that, you know, somebody's, you know, you're going to make me

unsafe. And so I think, you know, whatever we can do to help meet that need or

that goal with technology and a system or even just suggestions, right? Like there's

things people can do to make their home more safe. You know, whether it needs a

security system, you know, all the devices and whatnot, that's up to what their

goals are. And one of the things Darren and I try to tell our customers is we

don't, we're not pushy with you know hey this is what you need because that's what

we you know want to just get you know get in your get installed in your home we

really do want to serve our our customers with just giving them what they feel like

they need with our recommendations of course you know there's there's things people

may not think about but you know we're not we're not trying to get people to to

buy something they don't need either yeah well yeah thank you both for that because

Option paralysis is a very real thing. You can go to ChatGPT or Google's Gemini and

put in all the prompts in the world, like build me a home security system. But at

the end of the day, then it takes you to link after link. And it's like, I don't

know. I'm at a loss for what to do. For folks like me who are truly caring about

their family's safety and yet haven't known where to go to get help.

What is the best way to reach you guys and the Safe House team? So please check

out our website. That is thinksafehouse .com. Thinksafehouse .com.

Our office is 4106731759. Call me anytime.

Call or text me direct at 410 -829 99196 anytime.

If I miss your call, I will call you back. Yeah. And if you're in the, you know,

Sussex County Beach area, give me a call 443 -205 -5625.

I have my, I'm pretty much completely tied to my phone. So I miss you. I'll call

you back quick. We'd be happy to help you. Absolutely. And all estimates, site

visits, all that stuff is free. Yeah. Cool. Well, Darren and Chris, thank you so

much for your time. I know your time is valuable. It's the one thing in life you

can't buy more of. So I appreciate your time. Thank you for being the pros on this

episode too. Yeah, we appreciate it. Thanks so much. Darren and Chris, thank you

again so much for your time and for your expertise and for sharing what you know

about this incredibly important topic. Hey, for everybody But would you please

continue to help us get the word out about the show? The best way to do that is

to leave reviews on Apple podcasts, follow us on social media, or simply tell a

friend. Also, if you are watching on YouTube, please be sure to like this video and

subscribe to the channel. Before we go, we want to hear from you. What are some of

the questions you have related to exterior home remodeling? The process involved may

be the options that are out there. You can send your questions to info

@askproexteriors .com and place you ask in the subject.

If you are facing an upcoming home project, we hope this episode has empowered you

to tackle it with confidence. Remember, knowledge is power, and a little bit of

research can go a long way. Until next time, happy home owning.

is produced in -house by the Pro Exteriors team. Pro Exteriors is the exterior

contract and division of Empire Construction Group, LLC. This podcast is intended for

informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice. For more

answers to your questions, please subscribe to this channel and podcast so you'll

never miss an episode. Do you have an upcoming home remodeling project? Find more

answers to your questions at askproexteriors .com

Hey, thanks for watching this video. Would you please help us out by hitting that

subscribe button that would be awesome? Also, if you never want to miss another one

of our uploads, please be sure to hit that notification bell. Alright, thanks. See

ya

♪ The bell's fine, we'll see you next time ♪ ♪ Smash like, subscribe, click the

links down below ♪