Monitoring station

[fishdog]

I would like to know what the advantages are of having your alarm system connected to a monitoring station as opposed to having an alarm that rings people directly???

[Admin]

Basically its Garda Response

[fishdog]

Can you expand on that please?? Under what conditions will the gardai respond to a monitored alarm?? If a proffessionally installed alarm activates and rings the owner and he/she ings the Gardai will they not respond?

[Admin]

The Garda policy on Mnitored alarms is explained on our news page (http://www.alarmshelp.com/news/)
Alarms monitored by a monitoring ststion use Alarm Verification technology.
Gardai will only respond to verified alarms. If you call the Guards & tell them your alarm has activated they will meet a keyholder at the premises. If no keyholder is available they will not respond.
Also if you have a Personal Attack situation & you press a panic button what good is you alarm ringing your mobile which is probobly in your pocket.

[fishdog]

Also if you have a Personal Attack situation & you press a panic button what good is you alarm ringing your mobile which is probobly in your pocket.

Hypothetically it is also ringing and texting 3 others. They will all know my location and will know to follow up with a call to me that requires a password to stop them responding.


Gardai will only respond to verified alarms
So if my alarm goes off and it rings me and I can confirm it is not a false alarm (CCTV, nieghbour, another sensor is set off, or I can listen in with a microphone) and I phone the Gardai and say a keyholder is on the way, they will respond??
If the answer is yes, what good is the monitoring station??
If the answer is no, why would they not respond?

[Admin]

It seems to me you have already made up your mind in relation to monitoring. You asked for a professional opinion & that is what we are giving.With regard to a panic alarm situation what good is it your alarm contacting 3 of your friends??

Hypothetically it is also ringing and texting 3 others. They will all know my location and will know to follow up with a call to me that requires a password to stop them responding.
Your phone ringing in a situation like this can place you in a more dangerous position



So if my alarm goes off and it rings me and I can confirm it is not a false alarm (CCTV, nieghbour, another sensor is set off, or I can listen in with a microphone) and I phone the Gardai and say a keyholder is on the way, they will respond??
If the answer is yes, what good is the monitoring station??
If the answer is no, why would they not respond?
The guards accept alarm verification calls from monitoring stations with the necessary equipment & software installed.
Have you read the news item I refered to in my previous post.

[fishdog]

[
You asked for a professional opinion & that is what we are giving.
Thank you.


The guards accept alarm verification calls from monitoring stations with the necessary equipment & software installed.


I understand this, but I would love an answer to this:

So if my alarm goes off and it rings me and I can confirm it is not a false alarm (CCTV, nieghbour, another sensor is set off, or I can listen in with a microphone) and I phone the Gardai and say a keyholder is on the way, they will respond??
If the answer is yes, what good is the monitoring station??
If the answer is no, why would they not respond?



It seems to me you have already mad up your mind in relation to monitoring.
No I hadn't. That is why I asked. However I still can not see what advantages monitoring would have for me.


With regard to a panic alarm situation what good is it your alarm contacting 3 of your friends??

What good is assistance when you are in trouble??? I live in the countryside. The gardai would take hours to get here! You have not met my three friends!! I feel much safer with them turning up in 15 minutes than I would with the Gardai turning up in 120 minutes! Mind you it took the Gardai nearly an hour to turn up at a house in Blancherstown with a monitored alarm going off, I know because I was there (next door).


Have you read the news item I refered to in my previous post.

Yes, this bit put me off:


a Garda response will only be afforded to intruder alarm activations, when a key holder has been notified and has given an estimated time of arrival at the premises.


and this:



Failure of a key holder to attend at a premises following a verified alarm will result in the activation being recorded as a false alarm.



I take it that even if an alarm is verified the Gardai will not attend if the key holder can not make it. This is not much use. If a key holder can make it I wont need the Gardai. If a key holder cant make it they wont turn up!!
What good is that??

[Admin]

So if my alarm goes off and it rings me and I can confirm it is not a false alarm (CCTV, nieghbour, another sensor is set off, or I can listen in with a microphone) and I phone the Gardai and say a keyholder is on the way, they will respond??
If the answer is yes, what good is the monitoring station??
If the answer is no, why would they not respond?
With monitored systems via a monitoring station when an alarm is verified you will get immediate Garda with keyholder attendance.( I know this varies to what is in official documentation, but off the record this is the general practice)

What good is assistance when you are in trouble??? I live in the countryside. The gardai would take hours to get here! You have not met my three friends!! I feel much safer with them turning up in 15 minutes than I would with the Gardai turning up in 120 minutes! Mind you it took the Gardai nearly an hour to turn up at a house in Blancherstown with a monitored alarm going off, I know because I was there (next door).
You have misinterpeted this somewhat. In a panic situation & the alarm rings your mobile , this has alerted your attacker to the situation & could put you in more danger. In over 20 years in the industry I have never heard of the Guards taking 2 hours to respond to a Panic alarm. .
You state an example of the Guards taking over an hour to respond to an alarm activation in Blanchardsdtown,, Was this a panic alarm?
Was this prior to alarm verification being enforced?
The whole purpose of alarm verification is to help the Guards get to where they are needed quicker.

[fishdog]

With monitored systems via a monitoring station when an alarm is verified you will get immediate Garda with keyholder attendance.( I know this varies to what is in official documentation, but off the record this is the general practice)


Ok, that makes things a bit clearer.

What about if it is not connected to a monitoring station, yet professionaly installed (ie. not a DIY job) and verified (by means descibed earlier) ??


You state an example of the Guards taking over an hour to respond to an alarm activation in Blanchardsdtown,, Was this a panic alarm?


No. I was working on the house next door and my kango set it off!


Was this prior to alarm verification being enforced?


No. It was an Eircom PhoneWatch alarm. I always remember it, with the outside bell box was fake! The house like most modern houses had double glazing so you could hardley hear the alarm from outside the house!! The gardai that eventualy turned up remaked on that also. Amazing that such an expensive alarm system had a fake bell box! This has to make it much less secure??


The whole purpose of alarm verification is to help the Guards get to where they are needed quicker.

Well less false alarms I suppose = more time to react to real alarms.
I explained to the owner of the house that I had set it off by mistake and apologised etc. I explained that she could cancell the gardai, her house was not touched but she was a bit nervous. She was very understanding and told me how she feels so much safer now that she has an alarm etc. I was amazed that she felt so secure when the response time was so poor!! It was nearly an hour before the gardai showed up.


I have never heard of the Guards taking 2 hours to respond to a Panic alarm.
Yes, I am sure you are correct. That was my experience of an alarm going off, but not in panic alarm! It was quite isolated.


this has alerted your attacker to the situation & could put you in more danger

Interesting point. Mental note: Turn mobile to silent when pressing panic button!


Thanks for your help.