Keeping an eye on alarms is crucial to your safety and when it comes to keeping the property and those in it safe. Alarms, in general, are not always required but fire alarms are a legal obligation by both businesses and residential properties. Even if some alarms are not required it is worth having them installed for so many reasons.
Taking a step further we can have someone keep a close eye on when our alarms go off and respond appropriately. This offers so many benefits and is called alarm monitoring. This is crucial for both home and business properties
So let’s talk about why you need this.
What is Alarm Monitoring?
Alarm monitoring gives someone not present in this situation the chance to alert authorities rather than someone around the problem. It adds another layer of safety and provides multiple benefits when someone is keeping a close eye on things. It also gives anyone nearby a better focus on their safety, possibly eliminating some of the panics.
How does Alarm Monitoring work?
Third-party monitoring is easy to understand. When you incorporate an alarm system you will also choose to work with a security company that monitors your alarm systems and building. When an alarm goes off (there can be various reasons), the security company you are working with will be alerted. Once they see what’s going on they can call authorities and 911 to get to allow for help while employees or homeowners can just focus on getting to safety without having to worry about that.
Types of Home Security Alarm Monitoring
Now there are a few different types of alarm monitoring. Technically speaking there is self and third party. There is also several different home security options terms security that would present different alarm situations and detection purposes. We will dive a little further into this.
Self Monitoring
When it comes to alarm monitoring it doesn’t make sense to monitor yourself in terms of alarms because that would defeat the purpose of calling 911 in an emergency. Having said that being able to monitor your systems is better than having nothing at all and provides remote access to anything at your home.
Third-Party Monitoring
This is where we can work with another company to keep an eye on our buildings and ensure that if an alarm goes off, authorities will be alerted. This is the safest way because it puts a pair of human eyes on the scene and eliminates any possible error that can happen from the system.
Fire Alarm Systems
Fire alarm systems are the first thing that comes to mind when it comes to having an alarm system in your home. This is required by law for both residential and commercial properties and there is a lot of benefit to having these put incorrectly. More so when someone is keeping an eye out for us.
Burglar Alarm
Sometimes we have alarms set on our doors and any possible entry points throughout the property because break-ins are a possibility. This is something you can still have third-party monitoring for and provide useful feedback to appropriately handle a potentially dangerous situation.
Monitored Alarm Response
Working with a monitored alarm that has a trusted security company offers a response that is much more efficient than if we didn’t have an alarm being monitored at all. It provides efficiency, correct assessment, and ultimately safety. We can look at these categories individually to see the benefits here.
Efficient Response
The first thing that comes to mind is creating an efficient response. This means that people can get to safety without having to worry about anything other than themselves. No need to call authorities because the alarm monitor will do that for you.
Quick Response from Authorities
This also ultimately provides a much quicker response because most of the time someone will wait to get to safety until they can call authorities. Or if no one is at the property authorities may be alerted when a situation is a lot more out of control. This allows for an immediate response providing better safety.
Assessment of the Situation
Having a monitored alarm response means being able to see what is going on and that allows authorities to direct bystanders to safety is not the safest way possible. It also allows to them
Unmonitored Alarm Response
While we can technically point to the exact opposite of everything we just mentioned above, having an alarm in general still helps. We can talk about the benefits here but still keep in mind the drawbacks of it being an unmonitored situation.
Later Response
Some alarm systems will go ahead and alert authorities on their own. Some don’t and just alter the people who are in the situation in the first place. This is still important and helpful because it provides some level of safety.
Possible Evidence
If you work with a security camera system hopefully you will still have some footage to point out where things went wrong. While you may not have anyone alerting authorities they may be able to use the footage afterward to help solve the issue.
Active vs Passive Alarm Monitoring
It’s important to understand some of the key differences between active versus passive monitoring because one may fit your situation better than the others. We can point this out so you can have a better idea of where you may fit.
Active
- This is 24/7 support and may be well suited for businesses that need a high-security protection experience.
- Likely you will have several cameras set up throughout the property and one member of the security team will be monitoring.
- Your security team may react freedom the alarm but they are probably aware of the situation and may even be the ones to sound the alarm themselves.
Passive
- This may be only during certain periods like at night or when the owner of the property is away.
- There also could be no consistent monitoring but the security team could be alerted if something were to be triggered and then respond.
- The alarm system is the most dependent thing that will let people know whether or not they are in danger.
Alarm Monitoring FAQs
When it comes to understanding alarm monitoring it may be difficult for a person to understand whether they need it for their business or not. That’s why this section is dedicated to the most frequently asked questions.
How do I know if I need an alarm monitoring system?
The more high security you want your property to be the more you need to consider alarm monitoring. Even if it’s a passive situation, having something to protect your property and people during valuable times where crimes may be committed is important. Commercial properties are even more likely to have them. For instance, financial institutions, high-tech companies, gun sale stores, etc may want to have an extra level of protection. Homes of celebrities probably have active monitoring as well.
How do I get it installed in my home?
Well, active monitoring can be done with several different security products such as cameras, and Bluetooth access control, among other things. That’s why the first step is having a trusted member of a security team come over and give you an analysis of the property while also discussing your goals and concerns regarding safety. This is how the two of you can formulate a plan that is going to best suit your needs while also meeting your budget if possible.
Does insurance cover any alarm monitoring systems?
Insurance sometimes will offer to help pay for products that they know are going to make the property safer. This is because this is likely going to reduce their chances of having to pay your premium if you were to have a situation occur on the property. Also, they may offer help with the installation services or even lower your monthly insurance bill. These are all questions you want to ask because each insurance company may offer something slightly different compared to another. You should get something in return if you have a good provider but not all insurance companies bite the bullet.
Why is Circle Security Solutions the best solution?
Imagine you go through the trouble to have a nice system installed and you start working with a company and you realize they aren’t paying attention. That’s a lot of money to invest for a not-so-great product. Or imagine that you invest in great products but they were never installed correctly so you can’t get the job done right because you rely on those products. This happens all too often but when you work with Circle Security Solutions you can count on expert service in all areas. You don’t have to worry about us falling asleep on the job because our staff is an expert trained. We also carry several incredible products!
Get Planning Today
Even if you go with a less aggressive system, having something in place is great. And when you have a more high-tech need for security a monitoring system with a great company is the way to go. Technology has improved our ability to limit error and improve safety when it comes to getting people out of harm’s way.
It also has given authorities the ability to assess a situation better in real-time while also responding more efficiently. A monitored system requires working with a great company because if the person is asleep on the job then who is calling the police?
While the planning will be taken care of you by a trusted team member it never starts to get the dialogue going today!
