Central Station Alarm Monitoring: Your Home’s Secret Guardian

Home security systems geared toward true protection do more than sound an alarm alerting the user and local authorities. Additional peace of mind comes from a centralized alarm station providing 24-hour protection.

A Central Station Alarm is connected to a facility that monitors security for specific situations—including fires, burglaries, medical emergencies, and more—with the key component being the ability of the system to immediately alert police or firefighters in the event of an emergency.

In such situations, every second counts. Central monitoring systems are built upon this well-known fact. Standard alarm systems without a central station often place the burden of contacting first responders on the homeowner or a neighbor—an extra step that can delay  response time by crucial minutes.

How A Central Station Alarm Offers Burglary Protection

Let’s talk about burglaries and how a central station alarm-connected home security system can greatly reduce break-ins. Home burglaries are a crime of opportunity. Most criminals want to avoid confrontation at all costs, as it reduces the risk of getting caught. As such, most burglaries occur during the day, when houses are empty and most people are at work or school.

And if you’re not home, chances are your neighbors aren’t either. This gives your home’s security even less of a fighting chance in the face of a burglary—and it also means the perpetrators are less likely to get caught and more likely to continue their crime spree by breaking into more houses in the near future. 

A central station alarm connects your home to law enforcement in the event of an intrusion, greatly increasing your chances of staving off criminal activity and saving you potentially thousands of dollars in lost property and home insurance claims. Security systems that are monitored by a central station can aid in reducing crime. Any home that doesn’t have the protection of a security system is three times more likely to be broken into than a house with a system in place. 

Burglary Statistics

FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics offer some eye-opening stats about home burglaries:

• A burglary occurs every 13 seconds
• There are close to 2.5 million burglaries a year, with 66% of those being home break-ins
• Due to the lack of witnesses or physical evidence, police solve only 13% of reported burglary cases 
• There’s a reported 1,495,790 burglaries during the day. Break-ins are 6% more likely to occur during the day between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. 
• Burglars are less likely to break into a home with a security system, yet only 17% of houses have such systems in place
• Homes without a security system are 300% more likely to be burglarized
• More than 80% of burglars said they check for a security system, while 60% move on to a different house if they see evidence of a security system
  
  

How A Central Station Alarm Responds
To A Fire

During the chaos of a house fire, the occupant’s main responsibility is to get themselves and their family out of the house to safety as quickly as possible. In this life or death situation, you’re not likely to call 911 until your family is well out of harm’s way. This is perhaps when a central station alarm is most crucial.

When a general fire alarm alerts your home’s central monitoring system, station personnel can immediately dispatch the fire department to your home address. This process can take seconds—notifying the fire department before the fire rages out of control, hopefully minimizing the damage to your property. 

House Fire Statistics

The leading information and knowledge resource on fire and fire-related hazards, the National Fire Protection Association, presents these alarming facts about blazes in the home.

• Smoke alarms provide an early warning of a fire, giving people additional escape time. From 2012-2016, smoke alarms were present in 74% of house fires and sounded in more than half of the home fires reported to U.S. fire departments
• Almost three of every five home fire deaths resulted from residential blazes with no smoke alarms or no smoke alarms that were working
• The death rate per 1,000 reported home fires was more than twice as high in homes that did not have any working smoke alarms (either because no smoke alarm was present or an alarm was present but did not operate) as it was in homes with working smoke alarms
• In fires in which the smoke alarms were present but did not operate, more than two of every five of the smoke alarms had missing or disconnected batteries
• Dead batteries caused one-quarter of the smoke alarm failures
• Having your house fire alarm connected to a central station alarm greatly reduces response time of firefighters
  
  

Central Station Alarms Succeed
Where Local Alarms Fall Short

The main shortcoming with a local alarm system is that it merely features sirens or flashing lights to alert you to an emergency situation. Local alarms do not notify a certified monitoring station or any helpful authorities when an incident triggers the alarm—instead, you’ll need to call the first responders yourself. This can be a problem if you are unable to get to a phone, are more immediately concerned with the safety of your family or if you aren’t on the property. 

Alarms connected to a central station monitoring center include operators standing by 24/7.  When your home alarm is triggered—be that because of a burglary, fire, carbon monoxide detection, etc.—the monitoring center will attempt to verify the alarm by calling the number provided by the homeowner.

If you cannot be reached to verify the alarm, central station can immediately dispatch help to your property, regardless if you are there or not. 

Your Home’s Neighborhood Watch

When it comes to protecting your home, your property, and your loved ones, there’s no reason to go it alone. A Central Station Alarm can protect against burglary and minimizes response time when it comes to fire and other emergencies. A house that’s truly a smart home protects inhabitants with the professionalism and skill set of a guard that’s always at attention.

General Security provides central station monitoring for consumers and business owners to ensure 24/7 safety, wellness and peace of mind. Request a free, contactless quote from us today.