We will just need a few details of what you have already so we can give you an accurate quote for the add on work.

If your panel is in working order

If your existing alarm is in working condition, that is great news as we can work with most alarm panels and add our interactive monitoring service. To make sure we know what we need to do and that your panel is compatible we just need a few details.

Are you happy with the coverage of your existing alarm sensors

We will always discuss this in further detail with you whilst we’re adding on monitoring, but if you know of any or would like to add extra sensors, please let us know. Alarm systems are all limited in the number of sensors they can have, and we will need to check your existing system has space for more. If the sensors are old and not picking you up when you walk into a room, we will have to replace them with more modern sensors.

Where is your panel situated, and what is its model

Alarms often comprise of two main components as well as sensors, they have a control panel and a keypad. Sometimes these are combined. Common locations for the keypads are in hallways or cupboards. The panels are often found in under stairs cupboards, airing cupboards, loft spaces or in the case of existing monitored alarms, near phone lines. AMCO recommend fitting of alarm panels in secure locations, somewhere a burglar will not access within 20 seconds.

If you have the manual, let us know, otherwise the model will often be written on the keypad or the panel cover. If it is not, if you call our team on 0845 833 8823 with a description of both we may be able to identify the model over the phone.

If the panel is not in working order

If your panel is not in working order, do not panic but call us. We may be able to rectify the fault on the existing panel, it could be caused by a number of issues, but if you call us with details of what the fault is we may be able to deal with it. If not, we will have to replace the panel, and may have to replace sensors. We can test wiring to see if it is in working order. If it is not, we will also need to do new wiring runs.

You can add AMCO monitoring equipment from only £179.99 to your existing alarm system. To check your system is compatible please call us on 0845 833 8823 or visit our online compatibility checker

How to upgrade to alarm monitoring is a post from: The Alarm Monitoring Company, specialist in monitored alarms.

How quickly can an intruder be detected

With a well-designed system focussed around key vulnerabilities in the house an intruder should be picked up near-instantly. Also if someone gets in through a route that isn’t your normal entry route the alarm goes off immediately, there is no delay for entering a pin code.

With an AMCO monitored alarm, the system then connects to us and we are able to verify there is an intruder, scare them off, and notify the police and keyholders. This whole process takes less than one minute.

Where should I keep valuables?

Whilst the AMCO system will scare off intruders in your house, it is impossible to prevent somebody smashing a window and running of with an item of yours. For that reason we recommend not keeping jewellery, laptops, cash or valuables near a window or within easy access should a break in be attempted.

How easy are the systems to operate?

Unless requested by the customer we always set the alarm systems up so that they are as easy as possible to set and unset. We also, once payment has been received, do not lock any part of the system out, a common practice in the industry to cause customers to require costly engineer visits.

Do you have any other home security advice

Yes, we do. Advice can be specific to the type of home you live in. We would recommend viewing some police advice on securing your home.

Please contact us for any further home security advice on 0845 833 8823

Burglar Alarm Advice is a post from: The Alarm Monitoring Company, specialist in monitored alarms.

ADT, Chubb, Secom etc.

Either your alarm, fire or panic alarm is triggered in your premise. A signal is then sent from the alarm panel to your companies monitoring station. This is logged, and should be processed. Soon after, the company will phone back the premise; if they receive no answer they will start calling key holders sequentially until all contact options are exhausted.

Only then, if they are satisfied that the alarm is genuine, will they pass on the information to the Police or Fire control stations. The Police or Fire Service have little information as to what has signalled the alarm. This often leads to a low response grading by the Police causing delayed response times. This process can take from a few seconds to several minutes or even longer if key holders cannot be contacted or do not know what is happening.

Real world example

Your staff are the victims of an armed robbery. If they press the panic button they believe that the phone line will ring and the armed robbers could find out. A robber can also tell on most panic buttons when they have been pressed. Your staff are going through one of the most traumatic experiences of their lives, and the system could put them at significant risk should they press the button.

Two detections

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) have guidance that an alarm should only be passed to the Police with two separate detections. A burglar must be detected twice over a sustained period or by different sensors. This leads to delays in confirmation, time that could be the difference between a burglar being caught, and leaving with your valuable possessions. Some forces guidance also states the alarm could be a lower priority depending on site history.

The AMCO difference

As soon as one signal is detected, you are connected to the monitoring station. This takes 20 seconds or less. Monitoring controllers literally hear what is going on in your premise and can tell if the alarm is genuine within moments. Our sensors are powerful enough to hear footsteps on carpet. If there is an incident in progress, emergency services will then be given precise details of what is happening. The more information they get, the more secure you, your family, property, and in businesses security – your staff are. We will also challenge the intruder to frighten them off, minimising any potential damage and losses.

What about accidental activations?

If there are no signs of danger, our controllers will speak to you at your premise through a special device. You will have a code word, and a duress word. The controllers will then be able to close down accidental signals without bothering the police, or see that you are in danger and get an emergency police response.

So why not just consider all activations emergencies?

The Police have advice on responding to activations. They have little or no information using traditional monitoring, so after very few callouts they will no longer respond. The Police will send you a letter letting you know – you will have bought a useless system.

AMCOs system sounds expensive…

The equipment to do this is not. Traditional call back monitoring is ineffective, this is why we offer superior monitoring for less.

Deterrence

Traditional systems have two methods of deterrence – firstly, the bell box showing the building is alarmed. Secondly the actual bell that lets your neighbours know the system has gone off. History has taught us these are ineffective, people are so used to false alarms that they are usually ignored, and what’s more – you annoy your neighbours.

AMCO have a unique deterrence. Our controllers will talk to the burglar and make them aware they are under live surveillance. Almost always the burglar runs off empty handed. The burglar does not have time to loot the house looking for everything of value, unlike with a traditional system.

AMCO also have a £1000 cash reward for information leading to their imprisonment. Not only will they see our name and know they will not get away with robbing from you, they will see the cash award for them being jailed.

Where can I get more comprehensive information?

To compare our systems check the latest offers

To change from Chubb, ADT, Secom or anyone else, chek the change company quotations.

To discuss your home or business requirements further you can contact us on 0844 833 8823

How does AMCO differ from Chubb, Secom, ADT etc. is a post from: The Alarm Monitoring Company, specialist in monitored alarms.

Wiring - before you do get builders in to rip out an existing system we would recommend you contact us first. The old alarm system needed wiring to be hidden to the sensors, and with some quick tests of the wiring we may find it to be usable in upgrading your system. The wiring is one of the most time consuming, and therefore costly parts of system installations. If you do not have existing wiring then we may need to move furniture, pull carpet up, take floorboards out etc. to hide wiring. Whilst we will put everything back as we find it, this can be an inconvenience during installation, however there is an alternative.

Wireless – until recently there have not been many decent wireless control panels or sensors available. AMCO have put numerous systems through rigorous testing and have found a suitable system. This is not completely wireless though, it will require hard wiring to any microwave/dualtech sensors, the phone line and should be in an unswitched fused spur. AMCO can normally install the system in 4-5 hours, with minimum inconvenience – depending on complexity and the size of the house. The disadvantage to wireless systems is that devices have batteries that need changing as well.

A control panel is the brains behind your alarm system, it takes readings, provides information and power to the rest of the devices. It should be located in a secure location, where a burglar cannot get to quickly. For monitored systems this should ideally be within close proximity to a phone line and power. The control panel should be attached to mains power by an unswitched fused spur, and contain a battery back up. The battery should be within its working life, and depending on battery type needs replacing approximately every four years.

A remote keypad, normally LCD or LED – where the user sets or unsets the system. This could be by pin code or proximity fob. AMCO do not recommend using proximity fobs as they could be stolen/pickpocketted along with house keys giving full access to the property. An important consideration is what you want to be able to do with the keypad. If you are just using it for basic setting, unsetting, part setting of your alarm, then an LED panel may be cheaper and look less obtrusive/industrial.

A contact is a two part sensor of a simple magnetic reed and a magnet. When a door or window is closed the reed is closed with it. When the door is opened it springs back to being open letting the alarm panel know the door / window has been opened. They can be either surface mounted or flush mounted (hidden within the door frame and door. We would recommend a contacts is always backed up by another sensor, and is used to signal to the panel you have entered through the correct route.

A passive infrared sensor (PIR) is a type of movement sensor. It works by measuring infrared light radiating in its field of view, and detects a change in heat. Glass and walls are not transparent to infrared waves so the sensors cannot see past glass. Due to the design of PIR sensors, they are not suitable for areas with rapidly changing temperatures such as garages. These should be placed around vulnerable locations in the house.

A microwave sensor sends out pulses of microwave energy and measures the reflection from objects in its field of view, similar to radar. They are often combined with PIR sensors to form a dual-tech sensor, which is the most accurate. It requires both human body heat and movement to set the sensor off.

A vibration/shock sensor works by detecting specific frequency vibration, such as the vibrations of glass shattering. They are normally placed near windows, or doors not normally used for entering the property.

An alarm bellbox, normally high up on the front of the property is a toughened plastic or fibreglass box which lets potential burglars know you have an alarm system. In areas that have large houses or easy access to a particular side of the property it may be best to have more than one. An active bellbox will contain a live bell and strobe. Live bells are notoriously unreliable and prone to false alarms, and are often considered an annoyance by neighbours and very rarely cause a situation to be investigated.

A communicator is an essential piece of kit that transmits information from your alarm panel to a monitoring station. This means key-holders and police can be informed almost as soon as an alarm is triggered. AMCO use a 24/7 advanced audio monitoring communicator. When an alarm is triggered the communicator lets our monitoring team know, but also transmits audio of what is happening inside the premises. This means we can listen in to exactly what is happening and let key holder and the police know. We will also speak in to the property to frighten off intruders – minimising the damage and loss should a burglary occur.

Fire, Attack and Medical
One other thing to bear in mind is with the AMCO immediate audio response system, we can add panic or medical emergency buttons, wired or wireless to any system.  We can also add wireless smoke detectors, or fully wired smoke detector and change in heat detectors suitable for kitchens or bathrooms.

What other security should I get?

West Yorkshire police have recently launched this fantastic guide – available nationwide.

For further information on alarm system design – you can get one of our security consultants to design and quote you a system. Pleae see local office numbers here , or alternatively call our head office on 0845 833 8823

What to look for in an Alarm – guide to which is best system is a post from: The Alarm Monitoring Company, specialist in monitored alarms.

Check them out below!

Alarm Monitoring burglar alarm team photos – Bristol is a post from: The Alarm Monitoring Company, specialist in monitored alarms.

The new Alarm Monitoring Company office is in the middle of Soho, which gives will allow us to manage all our Central London operations.

This is of course great news for our London burglar alarm customers – and nice for our London-based staff, who can now enjoy the joys of Soho!

Of course, the first thing we did was install one of our *AWESOME* monitored alarm systems – to ensure the staff and operations are kept safe.  See below! (the entry door and a photo of the *speaker microphone unit* which allows us to challenge burglars verbally).

Alarm Monitoring Company open new Central London Office! is a post from: The Alarm Monitoring Company, specialist in monitored alarms.

We’re mainly looking to fill three key roles:

- Operations manager: we’re looking for experienced operations managers who can help us schedule our daily alarm engineer work rosters.  As a company that operates around the UK, but managed centrally, we require someone who is highly organised and with strong resource allocation skills who can help organise daily work rosters.  This job is a York / Easingwold based role, working in our company HQ.

- Alarm engineers: we’re looking for individuals who have good electronic problem solving skills and who are self-motivated, to join our South of England team.  The ideal candidate doesn’t necessarily have to have a security background, however we’re always keen that our engineers have a good background in electronics / engineering, and are good at problem-solving – as problem solving is  key when it comes delivering great service for our clients.  The perfect candidate for this role would ideally be based around Milton Keynes or the North of London.

- Marketing interns: this is a minor role, but equally important!  If you live around the York area, and have just left university / or are even still at university, then we’re looking for people to join our HQ staff and help run some of our marketing activities – spreading the good word about AMCO!

If you fit one of these roles we’d love to hear from you.  Please send all CVs to: info@alarm-monitoring.co.uk And if you know anyone who fits the bill, then drop us a line too!

We’re recruiting: Operations Manager, Alarm Engineers and Marketing support is a post from: The Alarm Monitoring Company, specialist in monitored alarms.

Seconds later, our remote monitoring station was listening in and verbally challenging the burglars via a speaker microphone unit in the shop. Identifying that a burglary was in progress, our monitoring station called the police immediately, who – in turn – react speedily, sending a 5 police response vehicles and a helicopter to hunt down the suspects, resulting in successful arrests.

So – good job all round.

AMCO interactive monitored alarm + immediate police response = bye bye burglars!

AMCO monitored alarm saves the day (again!) for betting shop is a post from: The Alarm Monitoring Company, specialist in monitored alarms.

Anyway, our verbal challenge seemed to work – and scared off the would-be burglar.  As the next day, when our customer came down to his kitchen he discovered a broken window, signs of initial entry BUT more importantly signs of immediate and quick exit – as they obviously legged in once they heard our AMCO alarm activated.

Job done!  1-0.  1 to AMCO.  0 to the burglar.

Another alarm monitoring success in North London! is a post from: The Alarm Monitoring Company, specialist in monitored alarms.

We’re always looking at new ways of making sure our customers are the best protected, and we think that this £1000 reward – together with our WARNING STICKERS – will provide a  further deterrence for any would-be burglars.

See the new warning stickers together with reward!

Alarm monitoring Co launches £1000 reward is a post from: The Alarm Monitoring Company, specialist in monitored alarms.