HOME SECURITY

Not everyone in the Hamptons has armed bodyguards prowling their estate like Ron Perelman, a billionaire and emperor of The Creeks, a 57-acre property on Georgica Pond in East Hampton. In fact, very few do. But with today’s digital security systems being what they are, who needs big bruisers hanging around making you look like you’re in the mafia.

“There’s never been a more exciting time in the home security industry,” said Paul Romanelli, owner of Suffolk Security Systems in Southold. “The technology’s better and the sensors are more reliable.” One aspect of the new technology is that systems have logic built into them. Nowadays a spider won’t set off a false alarm. Don’t laugh. They used to. With the ability to determine the size of an object and its speed of motion, a sensor “knows” the difference between a 200-pound bad guy and a fruit fly.

The other huge factor in the advancement of home security is the ease of remote access. In other words, you can see on your smart phone whether someone is climbing through a window, if you have video cameras set up, that is. The system’s logic will keep tabs on who’s accessing your home and how long they stay from the pool guy to cleaning crew. Each is assigned a personal code.

For the utmost peace of mind, other than employing a posse of uniformed thugs with semi-automatic weapons, experts advise lining the entire perimeter of the property with sensors, installing motion detectors, infrared and video cameras, glass break detectors, and special alarms to alert you if a copper gutter or valuable work of art is being removed. This is not to forget panic buttons – to be pressed when you are in the house and someone enters or in case of an accident. In all cases municipal police or guards from a private station will be dispatched.

Many high-profile Hamptons residents employ security personnel to man an office on the estate where they can survey monitors 24/7, whether the homeowners are home or not. “Some people worry that someone will stick a bomb on their property when they’re not home and set it off when they are,” said Curtis Cole, owner of Systems Design Company in Southampton. It is not uncommon to order background checks on everyone with access to ultra high-end properties.

Security in the Hamptons means alerting homeowners to all sorts of unwelcome situations from intruders to bursting pipes, the latter being a much more common threat than the former, according to Ed Thompson, president of Bellringer Security in Southampton. Even when security is the primary function of a system, it is being integrated with other home systems from lighting control to A/C. Sergio Aguirre, an owner at ICC Automation in Bohemia, explained how such integrated automation works. Once you arm your security system it not only locks entryways and turns on sensors, it is also “smart” enough to “realize” you’re not home, he said. It will then “tell” its other systems to do their things: turn off the lights, turn down thermostats, lower the shades, and turn off the pool heat.

And, of course, make sure the wine cellar is at its optimum temperature.