What Happens When Your Alarm System Triggers?
So you have a shiny new alarm system installed?
You’ve finally got a new alarm system installed, and made sure everyone in your family has mastered your arming, and disarming. Maybe from your phone, maybe from the keypad, but you’ve got it all down, and you’re confident that the system is working. After all that, how much do you know about what happens when the alarm goes off?
Depending on your system, one of a few things may happen:
Option 1: Un-monitored:
An unmonitored alarm is one that is not connected to any monitoring station, or third party provider. When your alarm goes off, you will receive a notification on your mobile device, along with an audio notification depending on your unit. From there on out, it is up to you to contact emergency responders.
Option 2: Central Station Monitored Alarms
Typically, alarm systems are not just stand-alone devices. Your security provider, in addition to setting up your system and sensors, pairs with a monitoring station that keeps 24 hour watch over your alarm for alerts and unusual activity.
When your monitored alarm system is triggered, a number of things happen:
- You are given a brief interval to input the disarming code.
This grace period allows you to input your code or otherwise disarm your alarm if you have been gone overnight, or otherwise accidentally trigger your alarm. If the code is input, then the alarm is disarmed, and no further action is taken.
2. You will be contacted by the monitoring station.
The monitoring station in your area will receive a notification that an alarm has been triggered, and will contact you to confirm that it is not a false alarm. This may be through a phone call, or text. Some options are available to skip this step entirely, and automatically dispatch emergency services once an alarm is received. If you confirm that there is no false alarm, or do not respond at all, the monitoring station proceeds to contact emergency services.
3. Emergency services are contacted.
At this point, the monitoring station will contact emergency services in your location to be dispatched. Depending on the type of alarm, they may request only certain services are sent, such as dispatching the fire department if a monitored smoke alarm is triggered, or paramedics if a life alert button is activated.
If you have also integrated video surveillance into your home security suite, the alarm monitoring station may be able to access the recordings, and confirm the threat, or automatically share them with emergency first responders as well.