ERMC goes above and beyond call of duty for family safety

Though it got off to a slow start, tornado season is well underway in the Chattanooga area. However, ERMC offers one of the most advanced alarm systems in the industry that includes smart home services that provide families with advanced warnings and extra time to get to safety.

"A lot of people purchase smart home systems that end up being very expensive and difficult to use, so they end up not utilizing their system that much," said Jennifer McFarland, ERMC's executive director of security. "Our system is very affordable, and the basic system starts out around $199 installed; is extremely user-friendly; and offers a home or business alarm system that will communicate with you via your smartphone, iPad or email."

She added that this system allows owners to easily manage users, codes and notifications. It doesn't require a home phone since it utilizes built-in cellular technology, and a homeowner can easily pay for their monthly alarm monitoring with the money they save by not needing a home phone anymore, she said.

"You can add cameras inside and outside the home and view them with your smartphone, iPad, computer or whatever device is best for you," said McFarland. "The cameras will record any time there is motion or an alarm. The system also controls smart home devices that allow you to control your lights, door locks, garage doors, thermostats and even allows you to monitor your home energy usage through the energy management module."

While there are other devices on the market that do similar things, most only allow owners to control the one device and nothing more, she noted.

"Our system gives you a 'your home in your hand' kind of feel since it allows you to control multiple systems in your home, like the alarm, energy, locks, garage doors and more, through an app on your

smartphone, tablet or computer," said McFarland.

"With our region of the country entering some of the most dangerous months of the year for severe storms, it's nice to be able to say that our system provides severe weather alerts that give customers advanced warning of impending severe weather in their area," she added.

These services track severe-weather warnings issued by the National Weather Service and provide realtime alerts to customers when a warning is issued near their home or business. The alerts are then integrated with a proven technology platform and delivered directly to the customer's security control panel, giving them additional time to seek protection from dangerous weather conditions.

"I think that's a very attractive feature, since many people are caught off-guard in severe weather situations because they are not listening to the radio or watching TV when a weather warning is issued," McFarland said. "Severe weather alerts ensure that if a person is inside their home or business, he or she will be forewarned when a tornado is headed their way."