The Fire and Security industry is constantly evolving, there is an insatiable thirst to
achieve greater connectivity, more robust services, achieve improved efficiencies
and to provide added value. Innovation is of course at the heart of these changes
and should be embraced by us all. As security professionals reviewing, developing
and improving our offering helps ensure that we can advance and thrive in today’s
technology-centred society as well as helping us to combat the more, dare I say it,
sophisticated, criminal activities of the modern world.
What do these technological changes mean for the alarm monitoring and
management sector? Well in remote alarm signalling world we have witnessed some
very welcome advancements such as more secure connectivity, improved detection
equipment, enhanced signal delivery and fewer outages. Progressions in technology
have also resulted in more economically accessible solutions which have helped
make
remote monitoring more viable for many – Inside the Alarm Receiving Centres
(ARC) we are seeing an emergence of the use of Automatic Alarm Handling (AAH)
but should this “advancement” be as welcome? And is it really enhancing service
delivery and experience in this space?
What is AAH? – in short it’s the use of technology to notify end-users (or installers) of
an alarm activation at their remotely monitored property, this could be by way of
SMS text, an email or by using an automated voice alert received via a digital
“telephone” call.
Many of Fenix’s counterparts have or are in the process of implementing AAH, either
by use of a “Digital Operator” or via SMS/ Email notifications as part of their standard
alarm management procedures. Some have even taken the line of naming their
virtual operator a la Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri… The justification from those
choosing to adopt automatic notifications as standard practice is that it will: “improve
overall response times”, “give priority to more important alarms”, help “drive
consistency” and “reduce the potential for human error”…
True, automation will without doubt achieve ALL of those things… in some cases the
impact of automation will also mean that less staffing resource is required and ARC
operational overheads are therefore reduced, a slow inevitable walk to the
automated world right? So it’s win/win right?
Maybe, but in support of this narrative we as an industry are part-way through the
implementation of the revolutionary and long overdue Electronic Call Handling
Operations (ECHO) project. The success of the initiative, which allows approved
ARCs to seamlessly pass alarms electronically to emergency services partners, has
been very well documented, with numerous innovation accolades awarded and
pretty much every industry publication featuring updates as the roll-out gathers
momentum. An over stretched Police resource is able to be rationalised, impacting
positively on future budgets, ARC personnel are not sat waiting in call queues to overloaded Police Control rooms - and perhaps most importantly its estimated that
end-users living within an ECHO connected area are benefiting from a speedier
Police response rate of anywhere between 1-4 minutes as a direct result of the
initiative! (ECHO Website - July 2022) - Wow, a glowing endorsement for the use of
Automation!
But, before we get carried away it’s important to note that the ECHO initiative
supports service to service communications – the ARC as security professionals are
escalating emergency calls to a publically funded resource responsible for protecting
the public, yes it’s a partnership but ultimately the relationship is functional and
necessary, and definitely not optional - ECHO perfectly achieves what it needs to, for
all of the reasons highlighted above and is quite rightly being acknowledged for the
positive impact it having in our sector.
In contrast, the delivery of Remote alarm monitoring services is a different beast all
together, it’s a choice purchase, yes many premises have remote monitoring
solutions installed because its specified by an insurance company, although I should
add many end-users are simply taking ownership of their security provision, either
way, end-users are consumers investing in alarm monitoring services with a view to
protect their people and properties. They are making conscious buying decisions and
engaging security professionals to provide services that fundamentality will, or
certainly should, ensure peace of mind. Can automation really achieve this?
But it’s only for “Reduced Priority” Alarms?
Most (though not all) Alarm Receiving Centres that opt to utilise AAH tend to apply it
only to reduced priority or “informational” alarms; “Lower priority” alarms are those
that fall outside of Confirmed Intruder activity scenarios and or what are known as
life alarms i.e. Fire & Personal Attack signals. They might include faults or power
fails for instance – phew, that doesn’t sound so bad right?
In some cases no, if Dave in IT receives a call at 1am to advise him of a Mains Fail
alarm at his office which provides customer support services for a travel agent- a)
The nature of their business means the power failure will have little to no real
implication and b) It’s unlikely he can do to anything to restore the alarm anyway, it’s
a power cut! – So the traditional operator call that Dave received from the ARC is
unwelcome and the result is a grumpy and tired IT technician. A perfect scenario for
AAH here; Power Fails at the office, an automated email alert is immediately
generated, in the morning Dave’s email notification will be waiting for him when he
wakes, he checks alarm logs via his phone and sees that despite being out for an
extended period the Mains Fail restored at 7.30am, so he makes his way in to work,
(resets the clock on the canteen microwave) and business as usual!
Switching this scenario up – Dave’s office neighbours a pharmacy on one side and
an independent bistro on the other, further down the road is a poultry farm, all of
these premises are affected by the power outage. The refrigeration unit at the
pharmacy houses medical supplies including the next day’s vaccination stock, the
freezer at the restaurant contains produce for the forthcoming week’s menu, the
farmer’s barns house hatcheries which utilise electricity to maintain the heat and power required for the production process – We immediately see that the
consequences of a loss of power, which, whilst differing for each of these user’s
organisations is significantly more impactful than they were for Dave and his
business.
Similarly with “unconfirmed” intruder alarm signals or single path fails on a dual
signalling some users simply do not wish to know about this unless a secondary
“confirmed” signal is received (or a secondary path fail which constitutes a confirmed
alarm in conjunction with unconfirmed intruder alert), preferring to receive a “call”
from the Automated Alarm Handler available from their ARC in place of the
traditional voice call from an operator team. We are also seeing opt-in smart
reporting from some of our technology signalling partners who, by request, will hold
unconfirmed intruder or single path alerts but send through both as a confirmed
alarm should a secondary activation or path fail be triggered. – Another big tick for a
positive use of technology in alarm reporting.
However in contrast - Mr & Mrs Singh are high-net-worth individuals they have
chosen to invest in a security System predominantly because of their raised profile
within the public eye – receiving a call to advise that an unconfirmed intruder alarm
has been generated with reassurance from a security professional at the ARC that
escalation to the emergency services will happen should a secondary alert or a
signalling path failure be received reinforces that their home is secure and in turn
their family is safe – They feel this demonstrates that the investment they have
chosen to make is providing value for money as well as ensuring that all important
peace of mind.
Mr Keating has a grocery store in a remote area which has notoriously inconsistent
GPRS coverage there have been a number of break-ins locally so he is feeling
particularly anxious about security. He is generally busy at the store during the day
so he prefers to utilise the automated digital operator alert service for Line/GPRS
fails notifications but in light of the recent criminal activity in the area, out of hours,
when he is away from his store he wants to be aware of all intruder alerts and path
failures AND the reassurance of speaking to a real person. Mr Keating should
absolutely have the option to choose this!
Whilst we can all agree Life alarms and confirmed intruder alarms are without doubt
a “priority” and should be processed as such – what constitutes a “low priority” alarm
for one client is not necessary the same as another there are a number of other
scenarios where what works for one user simply isn’t appropriate for another. It’s
short sighted of any ARC to apply an arbitrary set of rules to what is clearly not a
one-size fits all situation – the installer/consultant will have completed the risk
assessment on site and combined with the end-users “wants and needs” they should
have the right to decide what type of response they receive for each alert generated
from their security system as well as having the flexibility to change response as and
when their needs (or wants) do!
So I leave you with this, I fully acknowledge that there is a very relevant place for
AAH within remote monitoring space today, with a number of scenarios where, used
alongside traditional alert options it should welcomed by each party within the holy trinity of the
monitoring partnership, end-user, installer and ARC, the Fenix described
monitoring triangle.
The installer and end-user should always be part of the conversation, always. AAH
used responsibly and collaboratively to form part of a tailored response is welcome
and necessary though a true and personal operator response should ALWAYS be on
the table too.
An ARC’s responsibility is to work in partnership with it clients, understand individual
risk and promote the very best in customer experience. CX is paramount to any
service industry and your ARC should be focused on championing the relational
elements of this security partnership, it’s what we are built on!
An ARC enforcing AAH under the guise of improving service delivery is, at best
misguided and at worst disingenuous. AAH should very much compliment the
experience that you receive from your monitoring partner NOT replace it!
So there you have it - I’m not quite raging against the machine, but I am a little bit
cross with it!
Originally posted by Kelly Knowles, our Commercial Director in the
Security Journal UK
