Few things will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up and get your adrenaline racing quicker than waking up to the sound of someone in your house. There are several things that you can do, and your approach to this situation likely depends on your personality type. An aggressive person may grab some manner of weapon and charge into the fray; someone more passive may cower under the bed sheets and hope the threat leaves. If you're the type of person who wishes to engage the threat, your first order of business is to identify that the sound is indeed a threat — and not a member of your family, and then contact your alarm company. Here are some ways that you can avoid misidentifying whoever is making the noise.

Use Your Security Cameras

If you have security cameras installed inside your home, this is the perfect time to check what they're seeing. Ideally, you'll have your home security company's app on your smartphone so that you can load the app and monitor the cameras' feed. Without having to leave your bedroom, you can check the view from each of the cameras. Doing so should indicate whether you actually have an intruder in your home or whether a family member or even a pet is responsible for the noise that you're hearing. With the app loaded, you can react accordingly. For example, if you have an intruder, you can immediately notify the security company, which will summon the police.

Account For Your Family Members

Accounting for your family members is another way to assess the situation; if you can identify that each of your family members is where you expect him or her to be, it's a safe assumption that the sound you hear is an intruder. Check for your spouse in bed beside you, and then quietly move throughout the upper floor of your home to check that your children are in their beds. Check the upstairs bathroom, too, in the event that one of your family members is there.

Announce Your Presence

Announcing your presence to the intruder can help to identify who is responsible for making the sounds. This is useful if there's still some doubt — for example, perhaps one of your children wasn't in bed. If you wish to arm yourself in some manner, do so. Then, move downstairs and take a safe position. Announce that you hear the person, that the police are on their way, and that the person should identify himself or herself. If the person in question is a family member, he or she will quickly announce it. If it's an intruder, he or she will likely flee.

For more information, contact local alarm companies

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