THE holiday season typically fills our heads with images of family, friends, chestnuts roasting on an open fire and Jack Frost nipping at your nose, and private security organizations in Costa Rica will make sure it stays that way while you’re away from home, with a wide variety of services and equipment to monitor everything that has to do with your home and investment.
Security cameras, motion detectors, fire alarms, investment maintenance and fraud protection are all services and products being offered by home security systems in the country.
And it’s not too late to set up your package before the holidays.
OFFERING security systems that include 24-hour monitoring against theft and fire, the internationally renowned home and business security company, ADT Security Services, Inc., can have your new system installed and running within two and a half days of receiving your initial order, said Camilo Quintero, general manager of sales for ADT’s Latin American operation.
“We have lots of foreign customers – customers from the United States, Canada and Europe – and a lot of them leave for December,” Quintero said. “(Our customers) can call and inform us of their plans and what the status of the houses is…and we will be monitoring.”
ADT, which has been in Costa Rica since 1998 and has more than 30,000 clients in the country, is even providing a special Christmas discount package for new customers this year: customers choosing the installation of their home security system and signing on to one year of 24-hour monitoring services will get the 13th month free.
ADT’s 24-hour specialists monitor the house for break-ins, intruders and fires. If a real alert occurs, ADT immediately contacts the local police, and if you reside in the Central Valley, the company will send out its own team of security specialists to check on the house.
ALTHOUGH ADT cannot send its own personal security crews out to the Caribbean and Pacific coasts, it will monitor homes in those regions 24 hours a day and contact the local police if necessary.
Those planning on leaving the country can even sign up for e-mail or phone notifications anywhere in the world to update them about news concerning the security and status of their property.
ADT’s staff speaks both English and Spanish fluently and can even install custom systems that include panic buttons and remote-control access to the security system to prevent robberies that take place in the immediate vicinity outside the home, such as carjacking.
“This is the best way to prevent something from happening,” Quintero said.
“People from America, Canada and Europe are very conscious about the security of their homes, and at ADT we are always there to watch over their homes.”
For more information, call ADT’s main offices in San José at 295-6547 or visit www.adt.co.cr.
IF it’s a more complete security and maintenance system you’re looking for, Administración y Desarrollo de Conceptos Inmobiliarios (ADCI) offers “360-degree protection” for your property, according to Juan Ubilla, ADCI general manager.
Offering services and equipment to monitor your property 24 hours a day for fire and theft prevention, ADCI goes a few steps farther by providing protection against “real estate fraud… (and) natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods,” Ubilla told The Tico Times.
“Our goal is to minimize the risks associated with the property,” he said. “We will be here to manage all aspects of (our clients’) property in their absence.”
The organization works alongside investors to protect everything that has to do with preserving their real estate investments in Costa Rica, Ubilla said.
Other services provided by ADCI include arranging for real estate legal consultations, regular property and grounds maintenance, rental administration and home remodeling and expansion management. ADCI will even provide 24-hour, trained, bilingual, on-staff security personnel to reside within the home.
Although installation time depends largely on the scale of the security services being installed and the size of the property, Ubilla said that customers should expect to be set up with 24-hour security monitoring within three days of finalizing the sale. Everyone on staff speaks both English and Spanish fluently.
ADCI can be reached at 234-8032 or via www.adci-cr.com.
