Business Alarm Monitoring | Home Alarm Monitoring

It never seems to amaze me how many customers don’t want alarm monitoring even after I have stated the obvious benefits, in reality, an alarm system without some form of monitoring is just an annoyance to individuals who reside in the immediate area that the alarm system is located. At most the siren goes off for 5 minutes which is plentiful time for a criminal to get in and disable the system and have their way with your property. The individuals in the immediate vicinity are glad to hear the end to the siren and go on with their life while your house is ransacked.

There are a lot of forms of monitoring even if you don’t want to pay for 24/7 Back to Base Monitoring fees you can at the very least set the alarm panel up to dial your mobile phone, this configuration won’t tell you what security device has gone into alarm, but it will notify you of the issue.

There are alarm system panels produced now that have a TXT module in them and can send a TXT the alarm to your mobile phone which will inform you the device that has gone into alarm so my advice is any form of monitoring is better than no monitoring at all.

Different Ways of Monitoring an Alarm System

Self-Monitoring

Most alarm systems can be configured to dial a telephone number upon the activation of a detector when the system is armed. There are two forms of self-monitoring, Domestic Dialling and SMS Messaging. It should be noted that we don’t recommend self-monitoring, this is inline with industry standards but are happy to configure any alarm system we install for self-monitoring should a customer request this service.

Domestic Dialling Monitoring

If you have your alarm system configured to domestic dial, the system will dial some your choice upon alarm activation. When you answer the phone, you will hear a siren sound through the ear piece as an indication that there is an alarm at the house. The downfall with domestic dialling is that you can’t tell which detector or alarm device has gone into alarm, meaning every time a detector is triggered while the alarm is going off the panel will keep dialling the programmed number with the same siren sound in the ear peace, without informing you whether it’s the same detector going off or multiple detectors.

SMS Text Message Monitoring

For a hundred dollars extra you can buy an alarm system with a text message communication module built in. The main benefit to be gained with this option is the Alarm System will send a text description of the detector that has gone into alarm, having the text option will inform you whether one detector has been triggered or alarms coming from different detectors. If multiple detectors have gone off it is more likely to be an intruder rather than a false alarm.

Back to Base Monitoring Centre

In general, there are three ways of having your Alarm system monitored through a monitoring centre these are Telephone line Monitoring, GSM Alarm Monitoring and GPRS Alarm Monitoring. Which type of monitoring you choose largely depends on the level of security you need, if a high level of security is required a combination of the different types may be utilised with one type being used as a backup should your primary choice be disabled this ensures the alarm is received by the monitoring centre.

Telephone Line Monitoring

This is the most common form of monitoring it involves having your telephone line connected to the alarm panel. The alarm system is programmed or linked to the Monitoring Centre. When the alarm system goes into alarm it sends a contact id string to the monitoring centre the monitoring centre decodes this message and carries out the procedure in place for actioning alarms for that particular premise.

GSM Monitoring

This method is the same as the Telephone Line Monitoring with the exception that the Alarm panel sends the message through a GSM mobile phone dialler which is not reliant on a physical phone line connection.

GPRS Monitoring

Is a higher level of monitoring where the GPRS unit is connected to the monitoring centre through the GPRS mobile network, the GPRS communicator is polled by the monitoring centre, meaning an “I am here message” is received by the monitoring centre at a time frame decided by the customer. The cost for the service goes up on the time frame of the polling message. If a message is missed the Monitoring Centre actions it as outlined in the procedure for that particular site.

Control Room Monitoring

Types of Alarms Monitored

Effective alarm operation requires the transmission and response of alarms and also the continual monitoring of system conditions:

 Intruder Alarms 

Personal Attack 

Duress Alarms 

Power Fail at the premises 

Low Battery condition for standby power 

System Fault or tampers 

System Isolation 

System Maintenance 

Break Down Service Action 

With a properly maintained and monitored security system, you are providing the best chance of loss of possessions and protection of your family or business.

Consider the additional protection which can be provided:

Medical Emergency 

Fire Alarm 

Low/High Temperature 

Flooding 

Freezer Temperature 

Sump Pumps 

Hazardous Gas Protection 

Response to any of these alarms can be tailored to suit your needs:

Police 

Ambulance 

Fire Brigade 

Doctor 

Security Patrol Company 

Maintenance Technician

Back to Base Home Alarm Monitoring from $1 a day

Commercial and Domestic, Install and Service, Licensed and Insured

Telephone Line Monitoring, GSM Mobile Phone Monitoring, GPRS Network Monitoring