If you are thinking about the security of your home but cannot afford to splash out on everything then you may have to consider if you would prefer a house alarm or a CCTV system. These are both different ways of protecting your home and often work in different ways at preventing a crime or catching the people responsible. Traditionally, most people had a house alarm. This alarm was not really there for the owners as much as the people around them. If the owners where away and the alarm sounded, then hopefully one of the neighbours would hear it and call the police. Now a days, so many alarms go off for reasons such as power cuts of power surges that often a house alarm is ignored unless it has been going off for a long period of time. Sometimes seeing that a house has an alarm fitted is enough to put burglars off initially, so the alarm can act as a deterrent. CCTV systems can also act as a deterrent but they also can record valuable evidence that can help convict a criminal in court. Although lots of people see CCTV as a way of catching the people responsible it can also stop the crime taking place. If you have one of the CCTV systems that informs you of any movement, you may be able to call the police and have them caught before they have been able to get away with any of your belongings.