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Alarm monitoring centers – or central stations, as they are known – provide emergency response services for people who use security and fire systems, health buttons (PERS devices), and other devices. An alarm monitoring center helps protect lives and property by monitoring the status of a particular system and responding when predetermined parameters are met - meaning an alarm has been triggered.
A monitoring center doesn’t offer services exclusively for emergency scenarios. In fact, organizations that require reliable data collection for information collected by sensors often solicit the services of a monitoring center.
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For example, hospitals must track and maintain medicine refrigerators at specific temperatures. Sensors in those refrigerators collect and communicate the temperature data, while the monitoring center collects the data and sends notifications if one refrigerator goes above or below the designated temperature.
The most common types of alarms that a monitoring center tracks are:
The less common types of alarms that a monitoring center tracks are:
These events are tracked by several types of technologies, but the most recent devices are connected through the Internet of Things (IoT). Essentially, these devices are internet-enabled, and allow users to be more mobile, and even store more information.
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Devices like security cameras are now able to store more, and higher-quality, videos. Recent developments have allowed camera feeds to be sent directly to the monitoring center in the event of an emergency, enabling the responding operator to make more informed decisions.
If every monitoring center alarm created was sent directly to 911, false alarms would inundate, and overwhelm most emergency response centers. A monitoring center helps filter through false alarms and alarms on test, helping save government agencies hundreds of millions of dollars every year.
In addition to the data collection and automated response that a monitoring center performs, operators often serve as friends on the other end of health-related devices for seniors who frequently live alone. In fact, a significant portion of signals received from PERS devices are made by seniors who are just “checking to see if you’re there.” These events often lead to conversations, and even “happy birthdays.”
When a natural disaster like a hurricane occurs, operators at a central station are able to call more than 911 to get emergency services to someone’s home or business. In fact, we have several accounts of operators who have called neighbors, red cross, and even the United States National Guard to ensure victims were saved from flooding and other threats.
