Alarm Receiving Centres - IFSEC 2013

Alarm Receiving Centre’s. Their Crucial Role in Protecting People & Property

DAVID FOSTERGeneral Manager, Response Service Centre

IFSEC INTERNATIONAL 2013Tuesday 14 May 2013

Scope of Presentation

• Typical Role of an Alarm Receiving Centre

– Broad Definition

– History

– Key Elements / Accreditations

– Role of an Alarm Receiving Centre’s (ARC)

– Services Provided by ARC

– Future of the ARC

BS5979 CAT ll ARC 24/7 Human Response

Definition of Alarm Receiving Centre

• Activity based secure environment.

• Manned 24/7 – 365 days per year.

• Processes electronic data from various external sources (Alarms Systems,

CCTV Systems, Building Management Systems etc).

• Analyses and Interprets the data transmitted (Electronic / Human Interface).

• Communicates a suitable response based on specific escalation procedure,

compliant with current regulation i.e. ACPO etc.

• Closes incident once escalation procedure has been completed.


History of Alarm Receiving Centre

• Remote monitoring of alarm signals dates back to1970s.

• Originally took the form of automatic tape diallers calling 3rd parties i.e. Police,

Owners, Neighbours, Security Guards etc.

• Used standard telephone line to call recipient.

• Played recorded message providing location and other related information.

• Used by all major security installers and emerging businesses.

• Increased use of automatic tape diallers resulted in significant demand on

emergency services.


History of Alarm Receiving Centre Cont’d

• Large number of alarm signals were false alarms.

• Taped message often of poor quality...information not discernable.

• Monitoring easily overcome – cutting of telephone line.

• Pressure from Police, Insurers and other Stakeholders resulted in improved forms of communication being developed and

implemented.

• Direct lines to Police stations became an option.

• Increased call volumes, need to reduce Police resource required to monitor alarms, combined with further regulation

resulted in the demise of the Direct Line. Direct lines were subsequently abandoned and a need for 3rd party monitoring

evolved.

• The Alarm Receiving Centre was born.

What is an Alarm Receiving Centre?

– Fully secure environment – Significant Financial Investment

• Building (Purpose Built)

• Access Control

• CCTV System

• Intruder Alarm/System

• Panic Alarm System

• Fire Alarm / Fire Suppression

– Communications – Multi-path routing from

independent service providers

– IT Resilience – Multiple Servers etc.

– Disaster Recovery and back up station

– Staff screening BS7858

– Full quality process, management and audit programme

BS5979 Cat ll – Accredited by NSI and/or SSAIB.

BS7858 – Security Screening.

BS8484 – Police Response for Panic Alarms / Lone Worker Protection.

BS8418 – CCTV Remote Monitoring.

LPS1020 – Fire Systems

ISO9001 – Quality System.

Key Accreditations

The Role of the Alarm Receiving Centre

• Alarm Receiving Centre’s (ARC) plays a critical part in protecting both people and property.

• Monitors a wide range of systems on a 24/7, 365 day per year basis.

• On receipt of an alarm signal, the ARC will perform an escalation procedure agreed by the client and in line with current regulation.

• The required response is dispatched and both people and property remain protected.

• The key stakeholders are

– Installers.

– Customers.

– 3rd Party maintenance providers.

– Emergency Services.

– Other key responders (security patrols, keyholders).


Services Provided by Alarm Receiving Centre’s

• Alarm Receiving Centre’s (ARC) play a critical part in the remote monitoring of signals of varying types which are transmitted electronically through various communication paths.

• Examples of signals/alarms are:– Intruder.– Fire .– Panic / Lone Worker.– Assisted Living / Tele-Care.– Mobile / Vehicle Tracking.– Environmental Signals– Adhoc Signals– Proprietary Software - Flexibility

• The above list is endless. All signals received are processed and filtered in line with both customer and industry specific escalation procedures and often involve response from emergency services.

Services Provided by Alarm Receiving Centre’s Cont’d

• Alarm Receiving Centre’s also have the ability to perform specific functions as part of their widening scope of service provision.

• Other functions are as follows

– Conventional and I.P CCTV Monitoring.

– Remote Video Guard Tours.

– Bespoke Monitoring (FM Services).

– Plant, Machinery, Process Failures.

– Managed Access Control.

– Responding to Elevators/Barriers.

– Wireless Alarms (Void Properties).

– Out of Hour Call Handling.

• Service provision is limited only by the technology available to us today.


Range of Monitoring Services

• Alarm Receiving Centre’s use a range of monitoring services specific to the signals being generated and received.

• Intruder– BT Redcare– CSL Dualcom– Webway One I.P.– Emizon I.P

• CCTV– Adpro– Dedicated Micro– Heitel– TeleEye– Video Domain Technology

• The list is not exhaustive and many of the above may be present at IFSEC today

The Future for Alarm Receiving Centres

• There are currently some 60+ Alarm Receiving Centre’s in the UK.

• Demands for monitoring increasing and further growth is to be expected.

• The barrier to entry is significant in terms of cost and investment.

• Significant opportunity for existing ARC, market is becoming more competitive in nature.

• Quality and Service provision are seen as key enabler to customer retention and future growth.



• Technology continues to develop and provides opportunity and of course some significant challenges (CCTV, Mobile, and I.P.)

• Regulation is changing constantly to reflect developments and commercial environment

• Methods of verification are changing as video and audio are further adopted by manufacturers and installers.

• The aforesaid technology is an enabler for ARC’s to improve their verification processes and further reduce false alarms.



• Remote configuration and maintenance of installed systems by ARC’s/Installers offers further add on services, reduces cost to installer and customer.

• Mobile technology is fast developing and with the advent of mobile, vehicle, people and asset tracking, significant advancements can be expected in these key areas of growth.

• Overall, the future of the evolving Alarm Receiving Centre is assured.


Thank you for your time

Any questions?

Remember to visit us at Stand J30

David FosterGeneral Manager – Response Service Centre

Business

Alarm Receiving Centres - IFSEC 2013