A wireless door alarm is a door alarm which uses a wireless system to determine when a door has been opened, triggering the alarm to send an alert. Wireless door alarms have a number of applications, ranging from home security to allowing parents to keep tabs on their children. Many home improvement stores carry wireless door alarms, and they are also available through security companies and many hardware stores, in addition to Internet retailers.
Wireless door alarms can work in a number of ways. Some communicate with a pair of metal plates which indicate whether the door is open or shut, while others may use infrared beams which trigger an alarm when they detect that a door has been opened or that someone has walked through a doorway. Wireless door alarms may operate with batteries which need to be replaced, or they may be plugged in or wired to the wall.
In a simple wireless door alarm alarm, the base unit attached to the door will sound a chime, buzz, or make another sound to indicate that the door has been opened. The sound may be quite loud so that it can be heard at a distance. Other wireless door alarms may notify a pager, or call a cell phone or wireless device to alert the owner to the fact that a door has been opened. These systems vary in cost.
A classic use of a wireless door alarm is an intruder alert which goes off when someone enters a building. The noise may scare a burglar, and it it also alerts people in the building to an intrusion. Wireless door alarms are also used in retail stores and other businesses so that staff know when someone has walked in or out the door, and some people use them at home so that they can keep track of the comings and goings of guests.
Parents may use a wireless door alarm to alert them when the front door has opened, so that they can be warned that a child may be about to wander outside. Wireless door alarms can also be used to keep track of disabled adults or elderly people with dementia, alerting caregivers when the door has opened and their charges may be wandering.
When utilized as a home security device, a wireless door alarm is usually part of a larger home security system. It may be linked with window alarms and other devices which indicate when incursions are occurring, and it can also be used with deterrent measures like motion detector lights which flip on when someone walks in a security-sensitive area, along with home safes and similar protection measures.