How Commercial Alarm Monitoring Works for Fresno Businesses
Thinking about getting an alarm system or monitoring service for your Fresno, Madera, or Clovis business? At Turner Security Systems we not only encourage you to find out more about the alarm company you want to use, but also how the systems work.
The most visible part of every security alarm system, whether for business or home security, starts with the keypad for access control. We’re all familiar with using them to turn an alarm system on and off. But where does the signal go from there?
The keypad signals the system to activate or deactivate all the devices that are part of the system. This can include door and window contacts, motion detectors, surveillance recording, and glass break detectors.
But alerts and alarms don’t go through the keypad. The center of any on-site alarm system is the control panel. We provide and install this as part of our service. It usually goes in an electrical room, server room, telephone/communications room, or some other secured part of your business building. Everything else is connected to the control panels, either through a wireless connection or through hard-wiring.
Once the system is armed, anything that is triggered or tripped sends a signal to the control panel which them sends that alert directly to our state of the art, custom-built, locally owned and operated commercial alarm monitoring center right here in Fresno.
The control panel can send information to our monitoring station in one of three ways:
- POTS line or the “plain old telephone service.” It’s extremely reliable, and most systems can even monitor the integrity of the phone line itself. It works even if someone in the home is using the phone though “line seizure,” where the security system can disconnect a call and reconnect to contact the monitoring station. That may be a problem if you’re already on the phone with the police in the case of a home invasion or intruders on your property. The POTS line communication is also slow and can be disabled with a simple pair of wire cutters. Of special concern to a modernizing business is that it may not work well with VOIP.
- A better option is using your existing internet broadband connection. It’s much faster and works well with VOIP. A disadvantage is that it still can be disabled by cutting a cable, although most lines are buried.
- Using a cellular line may be the best option because it doesn’t depend on outside cable. It also doesn’t matter if the power is out because it’s backed up the battery in the control box. We have a cellular radio solution that will help reduce your business phone expense as well as enhance your security.
However a signal is sent, it goes to our monitoring center which is, of course, staffed 24/7. Our team is watching for alerts from our alarm monitoring software which instantly shows us detailed information about alerts including your business information, address, and who to contact.
Yes, absolutely. If you’re a new client, practice using your alarm a few times. If you’re a business owner, run new employees through the entire process of turning it on and off. You should even try deliberately tripping the alarm and practice turning it off.
Everyone takes too long at one point or another, so practice finding out just how loud the alarm is and getting used to turning it off, even with the noise and stress.
This helps you in two ways:
- You practice turning it off when the alarm is rattling your head (it’s very loud).
- You show your neighbors that your business or home is secured.
If you’re going to practice, you can call ahead of time and let dispatch know that you’re testing the alarm system or training a new employee. But you can also “surprise us” so you can also test our response time because we call you first every time your alarm goes off.