When we founded Fortified & Ballistic Security all those years ago, it was because we saw a critical gap in the luxury home security market. We’d seen luxury home design and automation from multiple angles, but the security solutions the homeowners were using were far from adequate.
We’ve been doing this for so long — and are coming at it with such a unique background — that we’ve managed to become experts in luxury home security. And when we have our own knowledge gaps, we don’t fake it, and we don’t lie to you. Instead, we call in other experts so we can be sure you’re getting the best service possible.
Obviously, we’re a little biased, but we believe that we’ve managed to solve the security problem for luxury homeowners. Here’s how we did it, why it’s important for you to trust experts (as opposed to jacks of all trade), and how you can turn your luxury home into an impenetrable fortress.
The Unique Opportunity for Luxury Homes
Securing a luxury home is not the same as securing a regular, old, run-of-the-mill home. There are different challenges, more openings (meaning, doors and windows), more places for intruders to hide, and likely, more expensive things to steal. Furthermore, the residents of said luxury homes are wealthy — either because they’re a celebrity, they’re a successful business owner or investor, or because they inherited money. Regardless of the way they accumulated their wealth, they’ve likely attracted the attention of unsavory characters. 
We sometimes work with clients who are looking to fortify their homes to protect themselves against stalkers. In some cases, it’s a former partner with a history of violence. Every instance of this is unfortunate, but we take pride in making sure that we can make them feel safer in their own homes. (Later, we’ll talk about the Sanctuary™ System and how it can get you a better night’s rest.)While people with average incomes can also encounter these issues (stalkers and abusive exes), they can’t afford to secure their home in the same way a luxury owner can. They might get steel security doors from their local big box hardware store and install bulletproof film for their windows, if they really feel it’s necessary. Obviously, not every situation calls for bulletproofing. In most cases, it’s a bit over the top.Luxury home owners have the means to not only secure their homes, but do it beautifully. They don’t have to settle for ugly wrought iron security doors outside of their custom front doors or bars on their windows that block their gorgeous view. No, people that own luxury homes can afford to get something more elegant. More refined. They can get exactly what they want — security without having to sacrifice their aesthetics, and flawless design without having to sacrifice security. Because we understand this unique opportunity, we have specifically built our team to address areas of expertise that suit our clientele. Our architectural design team has worked with multiple different industries that allows them to bring experience in home automation, audio visual installation, and luxury home renovation into the mix. No matter what your goals are for your luxury home security, we have you covered. The key here is that we’re not trying to be something we’re not. We’re not a window or door manufacturer that is trying to sell you security. We’re a security company that is accomplishing their goal (to keep you safe at home) by using custom security doors and windows.
Enormity Paralysis
Oftentimes, having the world at your fingertips is enough to make people freeze up. How are you supposed to make a decision when you have so many options? When people with average income are picking a new front door for their home, they are limited by their budget, which helps narrow down their options. But you don’t have their limitation — your options are literally unlimited. This is where our team of experts come in. Our architectural design team will help narrow down options, materials, designs, and colors based on your aesthetic preferences, the existing decor in your home, and what your goals are for your door or window. 
For example, if you’re looking for a bedroom security door that looks exactly like every other door in your home, we can make that happen regardless of what the rest of them look like. In many cases, people don’t want their security doors to stand out from the rest of their existing doors. Maybe you don’t feel the need to have a security door in every single room in your home (most of the time it’s not necessary), but you don’t want the ones you do have to announce themselves to intruders.On the other hand, you may want certain doors to stand out. Perhaps the front door is a statement piece in and of itself. Perhaps you want a more elegant bedroom door, or special double doors for your office. Again, we can make anything work and we will guide you through the design process to make sure what you end up with is exactly what you want.
Do You Really Need All that Security?
When our clients find out that we can make their house bulletproof, they tend to get pretty excited. Generally speaking, it sounds pretty cool. But the reality of the situation is that most people don’t really need that level of protection. One thing we pride ourselves in is not upselling you for the sake of profits. We will never try to sell you something that doesn’t seem to fit your security needs. Again, we’re a security company that manufactures doors and windows… we’re not trying to sell you the latest and greatest thing. We just want to help you find the products that work for your family. To that end, we will always work with your existing security team to determine what threats are in play. Are you looking for less stress at home, so you want to make sure that no one can get in who doesn’t belong there? Or are you trying to make sure specific people can’t get in (i.e. an ex- or a stalker)?The other thing we’re really proud of is our partnership with the experts over at LionHeart International Services Group. This team is made up of former Secret Service agents (who literally protected Presidents), former Homeland Security personnel, retired police officers, and retired military personnel. You literally can’t find a better team than these guys. They know exactly what it means to keep you and your family safe — and they know because they’ve been doing it their entire careers. We specifically brought them in because we believe that they will be able to bring the highest levels of expertise to the table.
The team at LionHeart will work with your existing security team in order to determine what their biggest concerns are, what they think the gaps are, and then conduct their own security assessment to see if there are issues left unresolved. It’s not a requirement (and not every client needs this), but the ones who want this service are extremely grateful to have access to it.
Technology + Security
Luxury homeowners are in a unique position, in that their homes are the size of industrial spaces. They’re not your average $500,000 home in a mid-level market. They’re not 3,500 or even 4,000 square feet — in fact, that’s probably the size of the master bedroom. Homes this size cannot be managed like regular homes. If you’re shutting everything down in your 2,000 square foot house, it won’t take long. You’ll turn off the lights, make sure the televisions and sound systems are off, and set the coffee maker for the morning. But in a 12,000-square-foot mansion, going around to every single room to check the lights is simply not going to happen. Your nightly routine would take an hour. Because we’re not in the business of creating these solutions, we partner with companies like Premiere Systems because they do. Bringing in this team of experts vastly increases your return on investment for products and services you were planning to buy anyway. You have the assurance that an expert worked on your home, instead of a random contractor trying to pad their bottom line. We’re very picky about who we choose to partner with in every aspect of our business, but particularly so when it comes to technology. It’s so easy to hack into systems in the 21st century, and our clientele is not going to be okay with the possibility of their privacy being compromised in such a dramatic fashion. Our clients are often in the public eye and do not want to give up the little bit of privacy they have left.
Trusting the Experts
Our clients aren’t likely to stop into their local big box store to pick out a new security door. But they are likely to purchase a safe for their home, and some of those safe installers will also try to sell them security doors or windows. This is a practice we see rather frequently. Because safe installers are selling a product that is included under the security umbrella, it’s not a far stretch for unsuspecting homeowners to believe they could also sell security doors or windows. But truly, why would you want to purchase a security door from a safe installer? That person doesn’t know the first thing about steel security doors. They’re just there to bolt a safe to the floor in an area of your choosing.Chances are, these safe dealers are ordering plain security doors (like the wrought iron screen door type) and installing them on the outside of your front door, which absolutely destroys the façade of your luxury home. The other option is a vault door to serve as your front door. Not only will this be boring and ugly, but it looks like a door that belongs on a safe. The same goes for your audio visual installer. There are plenty of A/V tech companies that try to also sell security doors. Call us crazy, but we’re not sure why a TV installer would think they have the expertise necessary to advise someone on security. They’re trying to set up your entertainment system, not secure your home. To be completely candid, there’s no overlap in these two specialities. 
While it’s true that you can have your security cameras appear on your television screen, it’s really best to have your security team handle that part, and for the A/V technicians to advise on how best to do that, than to have the A/V crew lead that journey. Again, the top priority is to keep you and your family safe. We fail to see how an A/V installer will be able to do that.Let’s say you also want to install an alarm system in your luxury home for extra security, complete with cameras. The A/V team isn’t likely to be licensed for this type of installation, so they’ll contract with a different company in order to accomplish this task for you. (This isn’t necessarily a bad thing in theory, but they’re not doing it in order to pull in experts — they’re doing it because they can’t legally do it themselves.)The system itself is one fee, the installation is another, and then they will sell you monthly monitoring — in fact, the system itself is essentially useless without it. This is often what keeps revenue flowing for alarm companies, so selling you this monitoring (and any upgrades possible) is going to be their main goal. (For transparency’s sake, we don’t love home alarms and you can read more about why here.) The team at Premiere Systems is full of experts in home automation technology — it’s literally why we contract with them. In an interesting turn of events, Premiere Systems is actually certified and licensed to do security work in both Florida and Illinois, so theoretically, they could choose to sell security doors and windows themselves. But they don’t. Instead, they partner with us because they know we’re the best at what we do. They could easily make a quick buck selling cookie-cutter security doors, but they ask us to consult with their clients because they know it’s in the best interests of their clients.They’re in the business of keeping technology safe and secure, and we’re in the business of keeping you safe and secure. It’s an excellent partnership that we feel serves our clients’ unique needs very well. We entirely trust their professional opinion and our clients are always satisfied with their work. The point is that you should trust people who are experts in other industries and specialties to sell you products and services because it may not be in your best interest. It may be convenient to get everything from one place, but will it actually keep you and your family safer?
Creating a Secure Sanctuary™
One of our most popular products is what we call our Sanctuary™ System, and it’s our solution to the outdated waste of valuable floor space that is the panic room. It incorporates security doors and windows, as well as hardening technology (BallistiCrete) and biometric security (such as facial recognition software) to only allow the people you trust most access to the most critical room in your home. Most often, our clients choose to turn their bedrooms into a Sanctuary™ because it’s already a room in their homes that they feel comfortable in and it means they don’t have to waste space in their floor plan. In these cases, we design a custom security door for their master suite, install security windows throughout the room, and stress the importance of biometric scanning as a security feature. 
While we do sell fingerprint scanners, we most often recommend facial recognition. We do this not because it costs more or because we like it better — we recommend it because it’s the most accurate, which also means it’s the most secure. The most exciting feature though happens when you tie all of this together. You have the security door and windows, plus the facial recognition, and then you incorporate the home automation. We can set up your Sanctuary™ (or your whole home) to move to your favorite settings the moment it recognizes you. If you want your shades to be drawn halfway, the temperature changed to a certain degree, and the lights dimmed to a specific level, we can work with Premiere Systems to ensure that all of this happens without you even having to lift a finger. Literally.
Are You Ready to Get Started?
We know this is a lot to take in — again, enormity paralysis is a real issue. Feel free to take a look around our website, which contains a wealth of information that you should find helpful. You can see door options here (including pivot doors and every type of covering imaginable), window options here, read more about our Sanctuary™ System here, and read dozens of articles that go further in depth here.We may offer a significant number of finishings, models, and styles for our doors and windows, but we’re not just looking to artificially inflate our area of expertise. We don’t want to add bullet points to our truck — we just want to help you find security solutions that not only make you feel safer, but are actually effective at keeping you safer.Once you’re ready to discuss your own unique security needs and design aesthetic,we’d love to talk to youabout them on the phone. Alternatively, you could use our website form. We’re confident we can find the best solutions for your luxury home security. We look forward to speaking with you!
