How Alarm Systems Work

In this video, Jorge discusses how alarm systems are used. These systems consist of several essential components that work together to monitor a building. A complete security system can monitor a building for intrusions, fires, medical emergencies and more. It can communicate with a central station.

At the center of every security system is an alarm control panel. This is the central hub and the brains for the rest of the system. All sensors and other added devices will communicate with the control panel. Whenever a sensor is faulted, it will send a signal to the control panel. The system will then respond depending upon the settings for that zone. This can include initiating an alarm event.

If the system goes into alarm, then it will send an outbound signal using an alarm communicator. Most modern alarm communicators use either WIFI or cellular to send outbound signals. Some systems have both WIFI and cellular capabilities, effectively making them dual-path systems. Depending on the user's monitoring plan, the system will communicate with a central monitoring station, an interactive service platform, or both.

When most people think of alarm monitoring, they picture central station monitoring. This means that the system send signals to a central monitoring station during alarm events. These stations operate 24/7/365. Whenever an alarm occurs, a highly trained dispatcher will see the alert and immediately contact the end user or the local authorities. This will ensure that the end user gets the help that they need as quickly as possible.

But not all systems are connected with a central station. Instead, some users have their systems configured for self-monitoring. This means that the system sends alerts to an interactive service platform. Some popular platforms for this purpose include Total Connect 2.0 and Alarm.com. The end user will then receive a text and/or email alert to let them know about the situation. It will then be up to the end user to contact the necessary authorities.

Keep in mind that you can certainly have your system send you text and email alerts and notify a central station during alarm events. In fact, this is the setup used by most of our customers. If you would like to learn more about alarm monitoring, please check out our monitoring page on the Alarm Grid website.

http://alrm.gd/get-monitored