Answering Alarms
A primary alarm-monitoring duty is notifying the authorities. However, the last thing first responders want is to pull up, only to find an alarm was tripped by the wind. Alarm-monitoring operators review alarms to eliminate false ones, before passing that information on to the police. “In the U.K., it's two strikes and you're out,” White said. “If the police are called more than twice, then the police will withdraw services from that site. For every false alarm, there will be an action. We may contact the customer for additional training or additional delays. We might change where the alarms or sensors are to better suit them.”
The majority of agencies do not require any other verification from the alarm; they just go to the event. “That being said, a number of agencies are working toward requiring video verification,” Hertel said. “Certain fines are starting to get levied.”
Most information sent from the central station to the authorities, such as 911 centers in the U.S., rely on phone calls. “This in itself is a time-consuming event, prone to human error,” said Joe Sanchez, Senior VP of Customer Operations for Protection One. “Additionally, protocol and standardization vary from agency to agency. Central stations traditionally attempt to standardize; however, their overall success rate is dependent on the responding agency.”
Much of the industry is several years behind the latest technology. “A number of agencies have considered and implemented electronic relay, which is still in the testing phase with select monitoring centers,” said Craig Pyle, Product Development Manager, Vivint.
Some cities are adopting standards of communication between alarm-monitoring centers and emergency operators. Houston was the first city to adopt the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol, which is estimated to save $1 million to $2 million annually by successfully transferring data and reducing the number of traditional phone dispatches. “Based on the electronic solution, the standardization in process and data verification required to transmit emergency information is done expeditiously and virtually error-free,” Sanchez said.
Secondary verification reduces false alarms significantly. “In U.K., every customer who wants a police response must register with the police agency to provide their information to the police,” Kelly said. “If there is video surveillance associated with the alarm, the details, including the video alarm clip, can be sent to the police. If it was a lone-worker alarm triggered, the audio data would be forwarded to the police.”
Alarm Priority
In general, fire and panic signals are given priority over standard burglary and trouble signals. “Programming the alarm and the panel, combined with the technology at the central station, is the key in defining alarm signal transmissions,” Sanchez said. “Manufacturers and industry standards, based on the type of installation being monitored, dictate the response time.”
ADT's alarm-receiving centers prioritize alarms by type. “We deal with 95 percent of fire alarms in 30 seconds,” White said. “For intruder alarms, 95 percent are handled within 60 seconds and personal attack is broadly similar. They're standards we adhere to in the U.K.”
Software Developments
Monitoring center software has to handle a wide range of signals, be scalable and display alarm data in a comprehensible format to operators. As operators interact with software and hardware on a daily basis, a good solution needs to be flexible and account for human usage.
Mace's central station manages alarms for 500 dealers, who service 75,000 subscribers. It customizes the work flow up-front, so operators who respond to emergency call will answer in the dealer's name. “We're more customized than anything else,” Hertel said. “A lot of things the dealer decides up front, then he can change them online through the Web portal. He can update the work flow or change something on an account.”
A system health check can ensure products are up and running, such as IP line monitoring, Loy said. This can cover fire and gas detection, access control, intrusion, and video analytics for commercial users.
The wakefulness of the operators can be programmed into the software with randomized prompts. “If someone is at the third shift at 3 a.m., they have 30 seconds to respond on the keyboard to know if they're there,” said Christopher Brackett, GM of AlarmSoft. “If the operator fails to check in, the system sends an email or text to the central station manager. If a fire alarm comes in and the operator's asleep with no response for 90 seconds, the software will take over.”