The evolution of the Bell Box

Over the years, there has frustratingly been a lot of ingenuity in robberies.

It may be a strange thing to say but to a certain extent, we can be thankful for this creativity because it has helped to push the intruder alarm market forwards. It has meant that home and business security systems have had to constantly evolve and adapt to the creative new ways that burglars have come up with to work around your properties security.  One of the best examples of this is the bell boxes for intruder alarms.

The original bell boxes, known as vented bell boxes had one weakness.  And that was through the vents on the side of the bell box.  Thieves would use builders expanding foam injected directly through the vents of the bell box to muffle the sound of the alarm bells within the device from ringing.  These older bell boxes still used actual bells to generate their alarm sound so the expanding foam massively reduced their ability to ring out loud.

Commonly referred to in the trade as ‘Stuff & Cut’; the bell box would be stuffed with foam and the phone line to the property would be cut so that the alarm didn’t ring to the police. Even bell boxes made around this time that didn’t have vents were susceptible to this attack. Only with these non vented bell boxes, the burglar had to drill a hole through the box with a handheld drill to fill the inside of the alarm with foam.

Over time, this problem was rectified (to a point) with metal bell boxes that burglars were unable to drill through (without creating enough racket that the alarm wouldn’t have been required anyway). However as many owners of these types of bell box will well remember, the metal cases rusted causing an unsightly aesthetic on the side of their property.

What we now have in the intruder alarm sector is a bell box that has evolved to overcome the creative attempts of thieves to beat the system.  An illuminated, shatterproof polycarbonate construction with 3 way tamper protection, drill proof protective inner casing, weather proofing and high performance 104db audible alarm have all been designed to create a bell box that can fend off unwanted intruders.

Crime unfortunately is a daily fact of life. With burglary a major factor for home and business owners, knowing that your property is safe and secure should not be taken lightly. Modern intruder alarms have been developed through real world experience over the decades to provide a vital deterrent against burglars.

At HF, we can design your alarm system to suit your homes needs and offer you the very best in home alarm system services.  We offer a fully customisable home alarm system design, installation and maintenance package so that your home, your possessions, your pets and your loved ones are secure.

Modern intruder alarm systems operate on cloud servers and as well as providing a deterrent to burglars, they can connect with smoke alarms, detect flooding and control smart devices such as Ring Door Bells. All while being easily managed via mobile apps.

If you would like to know more about home or business intruder alarms, please contact us today.