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.