Remember fire drills in school? For a lot of us, it was pretty exciting to break the monotony in class. But we just couldn't run outside when we heard the special bell ring. There was order. A single file method and a calm way to move out of the building into designated safe areas. The purpose of the drill was to make sure all systems were go. That we knew what to do, how to do it, how long it would take, what unlocked door to exit, recognizing orders from our drill captains....making sure the bell worked. In case of an actual emergency there should be no surprises. It's a reassuring to know that you have it all under control isn't it?
I try to educate my alarm customers to construct a response system of their own, so that when an actual alarm event should arise, that they know exactly what to do.
First question I have, do you know your password? It's natural that most alarm calls to the monitoring stations are false. That will always be the case. We are all human and prone to mistakes. However, what exacerbates to a problem is whenever the monitoring operator cannot cancel the false alarm because the person on the other end doesn't know their password to properly be identified an authorized user. That gets awkward, when the only thing left to do is to dispatch the police afterwards. Know your password. I encourage you to have one that you can recall even after you cut a finger off. (Curse words and racial slurs are not recommended.)
Run a test, not only on a system, but with your family or others who have access. That way you're all on the same page. You can co-ordinate this with your monitoring company. I'll let you in on a secret. It's ok to prepare a test false alarm, just to get familiar with how everything works. In other words set the alarm, then open a door but don't deactivate the alarm. Let it run all the way to the siren and let it blow for about 30 seconds. It's important to be prepared for this. So don't forget your password, because the alarm company will be on the phone shortly and you will need to cancel the alarm when they ask you for it. The purpose of this drill is to make sure you know you will have a call back. If you have a standard alarm system installed you should expect to hear your phone ringing within 2-3 minutes. Any longer, or not at all and you may have a problem to work out with the company. Newer smart-automation systems should take less than a minute for response. After the cancellation, you can let them know that you were running a test. You won't get in trouble. You are the customer and you've paid for that call.
However your method, it's imperative to be prepared and on your game. The very times of life and death circumstances are not ideal to educate yourself on what to do next.
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