An alarm system without alarm monitoring is like having a dog collar with no name tag and contact details. The alarm might go off, but who’s going to respond to the alarm if you’re not home?
Here, we look at how alarm monitoring works and why it’s so important.
What is Alarm Monitoring?
Alarm monitoring is an efficient communication stream between your home or commercial security systems. When your security alarm system’s panel registers an alarm, it will send a signal to your alarm monitoring station, which will then trigger the appropriate response.
The specifics of how this works will vary between security systems and alarm companies, but basically, your system control panel is at the centre of a network of sensors, which can include things like door and window sensors, perimeter and perhaps flood and smoke sensors depending on how advanced your system is. If your security system is armed and one of these sensors is triggered, a signal will be sent to the alarm monitoring station, usually via a wireless interface or landline.
The staff at the monitoring station will then call you to report the type of the alarm and how many sensors have triggered. This will be an indication of whether or not someone is on the property. If you don’t respond, they will escalate the call to your other contacts and/or contact a guard if required.
For instance, if your door sensor is triggered and a motion sensor in turn; the control room will report to the police a potential break-in.
We can also supplement alarm triggers with video verification if required.
What are the Benefits of Alarm Monitoring?
If an alarm is triggered when there’s no monitoring in place, a burglar might be deterred, or a nosy neighbour might take action, but in most cases, alarm monitoring increases the effectiveness of a security system tenfold. Some benefits include:
- 24/7 response.
- Quick action to any alarm trigger via a skilled operator.
- The potential for you to arm/disarm the system from your phone.
- Your home or business will be kept safe from intruders.
- The latest monitoring technology will ensure a quick and efficient communication stream and response.
Casa Security’s Alarm Monitoring Services
At Casa Security, we have a local, 24 hour Grade A1monitoring station located right here in Perth. Spectus Pty. Ltd. Spectus has been in operation since 1999 and services approximately 20% of Perth and Western Australia’s security companies, including Casa Security.
The alarm monitoring station is equipped with the latest equipment, including:
- Triplex incoming communications paths with primary communications being Digital Fibre Optic falling back to secondary PSTN analogue network in the event of a network failure.
- GPRS primary paths and GSM redundancy.
- Digital Voice Logging.
- Independent client database, allowing client system history reporting by request, especially useful for commercial customers.
To learn more about our cutting-edge alarm monitoring services, contact Casa Security today!