The DNA of an effective security system and service, Part #4 - Respond

An effective security system is made up of four parts. Those parts are as follows:

1. Deter
2. Control
3. Detect
4. Respond

Perhaps the most important, yet most fragile, element of a security system is the response / communication element. Fortunately with the rapid increase in technology, alarms are benefiting tremendously in this area and certainly include one of the greatest areas of growth and change of late.

Alarms first communicated via a direct wire from the protected site to the monitoring station. This came about prior to the telephone. It was rather simple method and very costly. In the 1970’s the digital dialer was invented and made tremendous improvements. It enabled more people to take advantage of monitoring via an analog telephone line while traveling on the backbone of good old ‘ma bell’. Most alarms still use the method of a digital dialer and they are standard in most security panels. The greatest problem with this method is if the line gets cut or goes out; there is no signal sent. Most companies will eventually catch it via missing a timer test. But that is after the fact. On the other hand, benefits include low cost, reliable communication (short of phone failure), and simplicity.

In the past few years cellular technology has become very popular within the industry. Ten years ago or so, the equipment cost around $1,000 for the equipment and $20-30 per month for the service. Today most alarm companies install for a couple hundred and  for about half the monthly rate. So it is a lot more affordable. Plus, it is must faster and reliable. The transmission speed about twice as fast a digital dialer. Looking at a recent account, it  takes approximately 5-7 seconds for Guardian to receive and process a wireless signal. The digital communicator averages about double that time; 10-15 seconds. The units are supervised, tampered, battery backed up and can report all necessary information by zone.

Other wireless technologies exist including long and medium range radio. One popular network goes by the name, Intellinet. It works well and each unit is a transceiver (meaning it receives and transmits signals) and works like spider web.

The latest technology to grab the business is Internet communication. It is not used by most companies standard at this time but is starting to gain traction. It allows the alarm panel to communicate to a central station via internet protocol. It is fast and supervised.

Other added features in many panels included alarm messaging directly to the user via text and email. Two way voice assists the monitoring station in verifying and speaking with homeowners and responding to an intrusion. Video communication is becoming more accessible and affordable too.

A good monitoring station should dispatch the police, fire and EMS quickly. A good monitoring station controls and limits false alarms. A great monitoring station does both well.

The bottom line is that its better if you ‘don’t  put all your eggs in one basket’. Multiple methods of communication are always better than one. Redundancy when having a conversation with someone or instructed a child isn’t normally a good thing, but it is when it comes to security.

Kirk Booher aka GuardianMan