Raising the Alarm: What the Police Data Reveals About Monitored Alarms
The word "alarm" comes from the act of raising the alarm, warning people to take immediate action in the event of a threat. But when it comes to burglar alarms, not every system actually achieves that.
Why Noisy Alarms No Longer Work
Because false alarms are so common, most people now ignore a burglar alarm sounding, whether it's their own or a neighbour's. A loud siren that nobody responds to isn't really raising the alarm at all.
The Problem with Call-Back Monitoring
Many low-cost alarm offers rely on automatic dialling or standard call-back monitoring, where an activation triggers a phone call to the owner. This puts the homeowner in a difficult position: they usually have to check the property themselves before police will respond, giving an intruder plenty of time to take what they want.
Standard "call-back" monitored systems, which require phone verification before any action is taken, face a similar problem. Verification can take several minutes, which is more than enough time for a burglary to be completed.
What the Police Data Shows
In a Freedom of Information request to the Metropolitan Police (reference 2014060002530), covering the year to May 2014, of 14,588 standard monitored alarm activations responded to, only 16 arrests were made. This highlights how limited standard, non-verified monitoring can be at actually stopping a crime in progress, rather than just reporting it after the fact.
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Why Immediate Audio-Response Monitoring Is Different
Audio-response monitored alarm systems, like AMCO's LiveTalk, are designed to close this gap. Rather than waiting for a phone call to confirm an activation, our monitoring team can listen into the property immediately, verify what's happening, and either challenge the intruder directly or alert the police with real, confirmed information, while the incident is still in progress.
Get Monitoring That Actually Responds
If you want an alarm system built around genuinely immediate action rather than just notification, talk to AMCO about LiveTalk monitoring.