A home security monitoring company charges a monthly fee to monitor any breach in security at a customer s home. The monitoring is done by trained staff which uses sophisticated equipment to keep track of what is happening at a customer s home.
The staff sits at a central monitoring station which is connected to a customer s home by a telephone line. The staff monitors all security signals emanating from the control panel installed in a safe place in the customer s home. When the control panel, which works like the brains of a home security system, receives a signal from a sensor or a magnetic switch of a break in it immediately alerts the central monitoring station. This it does by using an automated dialing system.
The central monitoring station, in turn, instantly calls the customer s home. The caller first checks for the customer s password. If the password is wrong or if the call is not answered the caller alerts the area police. The caller then locates the stand by numbers given by the customer and informs him of the alarm. The alarm, however, is switched off if the house owner provides the right password.
A central monitoring station is required to notify the authorities within 45 seconds, if an alarm goes off. This is a tricky job because a false alarm will unnecessarily send the police racing to a customer s house, and disturb the neighbors. The employee therefore is required to take a measured decision before alerting the police.
Keywords: Home Security