KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ
ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE
You can read all of our articles on our website. Having trouble getting our emails?  Change your spam controls and whitelist ken@kirschenbaumesq.com 
****************************** 
More Comment on How should central station 
August 8,  2024
*******************************
More Comment on How should central station communicate from article on July 27, 2024
*******************************
Ken,
              As you pointed out, NPFA does not prescribe how you will communicate with anyone; it simply says you will.
              When these standards were first written the only thing available was a land line phone; things evolved over time such as beepers, then multi tone beepers to text pagers to cell phones and now SMS,  push notifications, apps like Facebook messenger and WhatsApp are all in play now and being used by billions of people.
              From a monitoring center perspective, we must look at what works best for the individual. To put color on this, at Rapid, statistically 73% of all outbound phone calls go unanswered; this means that calling people is only 27% effective; who wants to base their company on a 27% success rate? Other big centers that track this are all in the same 70+% of unanswered calls
              Contrast this with, as an example, our SMS application that has an 84% engagement rate, meaning that 84% of outbound SMS messages are looked at and information is delivered.
              Different people in society will choose to communicate in different ways and it’s critical that a monitoring center and the associated SOPS all allow for multiple mediums to communicate with; otherwise not only will your subscribers have a poor customer experience you are not going to be delivering important messages to the people that need them.
             To sum this up use what works for your subscribers as each will want something different.
Morgan Hertel, VP of Technology and Innovation
Rapid Response Monitoring
Office: 877-553-4531 
www.rrms.com
**************************
Response
**************************
            How a central station responds to alarm signals encompasses more than the communication path used, though that certainly is a primary component.  But other issues include:

·          How particular types of signals will be responded to.  For example, trouble signals may have different priority than intrusion, which may have different priority than fire or medical alert or panic.

·         Type of signal may trigger a different response.  For example, a digital signal compared to a radio or cellular signal, or an audio or video signal.

·         The number of calls a central station will make may not adhere to a list provided by a subscriber.  For example, a subscriber may want one person reached or 10 people contacted, not just one.  A subscriber may gave the Dealer a list of people, all of whom have to be contacted in the specific way indicated; some by text, some phone, some smoke signal ….  The Dealer doesn’t care and agrees and then connects the account to the monitoring center, maybe passing along the detailed contact information, maybe not.

             The original point was, central stations have tried and true policies for responding to alarm signals; its operators are trained in accordance with the policies.  The central station is staffed sufficiently to handle signals according to response policies.  By that I mean a central station is not going to accept video, clips or live, without staffing up; those signals that much more operator time than digital signals.  Of course central stations may be able to accommodate many requests but it would be naïve to suggest that any and all requests will be followed.
            Dealers need to know the central station’s policies before agreeing to make changes to the response procedure, and they need to effectively communicate the changes to the central station.

     My suggestion, keep changes to a minimum; less chance of mistakes.
************************
STANDARD FORMS  Alarm /  Security / Fire and related Agreements
 click here: www.alarmcontracts.com
***************************
CONCIERGE LAWYER SERVICE PROGRAM FOR THE ALARM INDUSTRY - You can check out the program and sign up here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/concierge or contact our Program Coordinator Stacy Spector, Esq at 516 747 6700 x 304.
***********************
ALARM ARTICLES:  You can always read our Articles on our website at ww.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-articles  updated daily             ********************
THE ALARM EXCHANGE - the alarm industries leading classified and business exchange - updated daily
*************************
Wondering how much your alarm company is worth?  
Click here:  https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/what-is-my-alarm-company-worth
******************************
Getting on our Email List / Email Articles archived: 
    Many of you are forwarding these emails to friends or asking that others be added to the list.  Sign up for our daily newsletter here: Sign Up.  You can read articles and order alarm contracts on our web site www.alarmcontracts.com
**************************
Ken Kirschenbaum,Esq
Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum PC
Attorneys at Law
200 Garden City Plaza
Garden City, NY 11530
516 747 6700 x 301
ken@kirschenbaumesq.com
www.KirschenbaumEsq.com