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Is Your Alarm Just a Notification Service? The Key Holder Only Problem

13 September 2026 1 min read

Is Your Alarm Just a Notification Service?

Many of the UK's biggest alarm companies offer "key holder only" monitoring as their standard package. It sounds like a security service, but it's worth understanding exactly what you're paying for.

How Key Holder Only Monitoring Works

When your alarm is triggered, the monitoring station receives an alert and contacts you or your nominated key holders, usually with an automated message, to let you know the alarm has activated. From there, it's your responsibility to return to the property and check it yourself.

In other words, you're paying to be notified after the event, not to have the situation actually verified or responded to.

Ask Yourself These Three Questions

  • Is this system providing real security, or just telling me something has already happened?

  • Do I want to be called at work, on a night out, or on holiday, just to be told my alarm has gone off?

  • Would I rather have a system that verifies whether it's a real or false alarm before contacting the police and my key holder?

If the answer to that last question is yes, key holder only monitoring isn't giving you what you actually need.

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The AMCO Difference: Immediate Audio-Response Monitoring

AMCO's LiveTalk monitoring uses two-way audio to listen into the property the moment an alarm activates, so our team can hear if there's genuinely an intruder on site. If confirmed, we challenge them directly through a loudspeaker, alert the police, and inform your chosen key holder, all before you'd even receive a phone call under a standard key holder only system.

Get Real Monitoring, Not Just a Notification

If you want a monitored alarm that actually verifies and responds to activations, rather than simply telling you they happened, talk to AMCO.

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