Central station monitoring: is it right for your organization?
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To help protect people from harmful incidents, commercial and residential properties require comprehensive safety and security systems. While the simple presence of alarms, sensors and other active physical security systems can mitigate risks, organizations must also have reliable plans outlining how security teams are expected to respond.
This is why central station monitoring is so important. Central station monitoring provides comprehensive security monitoring services for organizations of all sizes. By routing a site’s active alarm systems to a central alarm monitoring station, trained operators can alert on-site security teams and relevant authorities to the presence of ongoing incidents.
In this blog, we’ll dive into what central station monitoring is, how it works and the benefits it offers. We’ll also explore the different types of alarms it monitors, its applications across various industries and the regulations that ensure these systems remain dependable.
What is a central monitoring station?
A central alarm monitoring station is a secure location designed for observing events and responding to triggered security alarms in connected commercial and residential properties. Alarms installed in buildings subscribed to the service are connected to the central monitoring station via IP and cellular networks to ensure that central station staff can respond to incidents as soon as possible.
Additionally, automation software will alert relevant authorities and the property owner’s security staff of any ongoing incidents almost instantly, with redundant technology acting as a failsafe and a backup system to ensure that no active alarm signals are ever missed or ignored.
Central station alarm and fire monitoring
A central station reporting alarm, sometimes known as a central station burglar alarm, describes any installed alarm hardware featuring a connection to a centralized monitoring station, which in turn is used to alert an outside commercial agency to the presence of a physical security threat or other similar emergencies.
Similar networks can also be used for central station fire alarm monitoring. If a fire is detected by any installed on-site alarms at a property, central station staff and relevant authorities are contacted instantly to provide an appropriate emergency response to the property in question.
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How does central station security work?
Business and property owners pay a monthly fee to have installed IoT alarms connected to a central monitoring station. With station operators informed of the property’s location and main concerns, they will respond to alarm signals and determine whether the incident is genuine or a false trigger before contacting all relevant authorities and emergency responders. This convenient verification process prevents resource drainage and false alarms.
When notified of an alarm, station staff will receive important identifiable information before verifying the alarm and taking appropriate action to dispatch local authorities, police and other relevant emergency services to the site, including:
- A description of the property
- The type of signal sent
- Time zone and date information
- The type of device that triggered the signal
Clients can cancel false alarms by communicating a personal identification password or number to central station operators. If calls from the station go unanswered or false information is given to station staff, the appropriate authorities will be dispatched to the location.
Common central station monitoring services
Central station monitoring companies can provide incident response services to any business or residential property equipped with compatible alarm systems. By subscribing to the service, property owners will have their alarms connected to the station, where staff will be informed how to respond.
Common central station monitoring services include:
- Fire protection: Fire alarms and smoke detectors can send alerts about a potential fire at the facility.
- Intrusion detection: Access control readers and motion sensors can alert central station monitoring staff about potential intrusion events and break-ins.
- Medical emergency: Alarms can be connected to a central station monitoring system, allowing staff to contact emergency services for patients when necessary.
- Lone worker emergency: Security cameras and emergency alarms at a remote site, where lone workers may be located, can alert operators of a potential problem.
- Vehicle alarms: Central station monitoring staff can receive alerts to potential vehicle theft events and vehicular accidents on the road.
- Industrial process monitoring: Operators can observe machinery activity at manufacturing sites and receive alerts for malfunctioning equipment.
The benefits of central station alarm monitoring
Improved incident response times
Time is the most important factor in preventing or mitigating risks during incidents or critical events. When operating a central station monitored alarm system, businesses and residential property owners can be assured that trained professionals and authorities will be on the scene as soon as possible.
24⁄7 security services
Observing an alarm system 24 hours a day is both cost and labor-intensive. By outsourcing this task to a central monitoring station, commercial and residential property owners can better allocate their security resources without negatively impacting 24⁄7 incident responses.
Active crime prevention
Studies indicate that 60% of burglars are deterred by the presence of visible alarms alone. Not only will the installation of a central station monitored alarm system ensure that detected incidents are responded to promptly, but their presence could prevent criminal activity from occurring in the first place.
How is central station monitoring used in different industries?
Central station alarm monitoring is a service utilized and relied upon across different industries, ranging from healthcare and retail to manufacturing and critical infrastructure.
Healthcare
Within the healthcare industry, central station monitoring is used to improve the detection and response times to a potential threat to hospital staff, patients and visitors or, in some cases, medical assets.
For example, if a patient becomes abusive or a trespasser is stealing medicine, the central station monitoring staff will be alerted to the threat with the help of healthcare security cameras. This instant detection and alert will enable central station security staff to review the alert and dispatch a response to deescalate the threat and help safeguard staff, patients and visitors. The central station service also proves useful in detecting a burglar alarm that could indicate a potential break-in at a medical facility.
Industrial
For industrial clients, such as warehouses and manufacturing factories, central station alarm monitoring services can help detect and initiate responses to perimeter breaches and break-ins, particularly after hours.
Industrial facilities are prone to theft and vandalism as their expensive machinery and large-scale sites lure criminals. As a result, effective perimeter and industrial video security are key to combatting this problem. For businesses that can’t afford to employ a 24⁄7 security team, a central monitoring station is a great alternative. The station’s operators can keep track of onsite alarms, work out if there are genuine threats to the site’s safety and security, and dispatch a response to negate the threat, enhancing overall security for manufacturing plants that might not have 24⁄7 on-site guards.
Retail
In the retail industry, clients of central station monitoring primarily use the service to defend against criminal activity. From store break-ins and theft to vandalism and violent behavior, retail stores are aware of the safety and security challenges they face during open hours and after closing time.
This is where central station monitoring comes in. The station’s staff can observe store activity and are alerted to any suspicious activity picked up by the retail store’s security cameras, including theft and violent behavior toward staff. This leads to an immediate response to the incident where local authorities, including law enforcement, can be made aware to ensure appropriate action is taken. For retail clients, this is the difference between successfully deterring and combating retail crime or losing business and seeing shrinkage grow that could eventually cripple business. Thus, effective retail security solutions are pivotal in ensuring a safe shopping environment.
Critical infrastructure
Due to their remote location and valuable resources, critical infrastructure sites, such as energy substations, power plants and bridges, are an attractive target for criminal activity, making energy video security important for protecting these valuable assets. For businesses in this industry, it is difficult to provide these sites with the appropriate personnel required to help keep them secured, and are often seen as an easy target for criminals.
A central monitoring station can remove this burden from these businesses and perform security operations on their behalf. This includes looking for alerts to potential trespassing events or suspicious activity, such as an individual jumping a fence or unfamiliar vehicles arriving at the site. These activities could lead to vandals gaining access to the site, thieves removing sought-after precious metals from equipment and causing an outage.
Regulations to keep in mind with central station monitoring
All central station facilities must meet rigorous safety and security standards to ensure that registered clients are protected from threats 24⁄7. In other words, they must be capable of withstanding physical damage, be equipped to defend against cyber attacks and be fitted with backup power sources.
Considering global cyber-attacks are increasing by up to 38% and with around 1,900 property crimes per 100,000 people in the US each year, meeting regulatory and best practice standards to protect clients and their assets is vital. All central monitoring station facilities must be regularly evaluated and inspected by third-party companies to help ensure the safety of registered clients.
Nationally recognized regulatory boards include:
In addition, central alarm monitoring stations can register with several independent associations to demonstrate their commitment to safety and security. Common examples include:
A seamless integration: central monitoring stations and Pelco
Central monitoring stations have a plethora of clients from across many industries. Each client and industry will have its particular security challenges and environments in which they will need their security technologies to operate. This is where Pelco, part of Motorola Solutions’ technology ecosystem, comes in.
Pelco’s wide range of security devices, including AI-powered security cameras and sensors, are the ideal choice for businesses. With dual-vision IP security cameras designed to provide maximum coverage no matter the lighting conditions and rugged, explosion-proof solutions that help observe operations in challenging environments, Pelco has a security device for every situation.
Central monitoring stations work best when security is simple and Pelco can help. With security cameras built on an open platform, the devices can integrate with your third-party video management software (VMS) or security system. This ability to seamlessly integrate with existing security technologies makes Pelco a cost-effective choice for customers who don’t want to overhaul their current security setup.
To strengthen a central monitoring station’s effectiveness, Pelco’s solutions can aid in verifying security alarms, enhance situational awareness and help deter and prosecute criminals. Using the cameras’ clear footage and AI video analytics capabilities, operators can discover potential threats and analyze real-time footage that can lead to an informed response. Post-incident, the cameras’ evidentiary footage can aid in expediting forensic investigations and lead to successful prosecutions and restitution.
Is central station monitoring right for you?
Engaging with central station services can help businesses and property owners prevent physical crime and improve incident responses. These services can also be integrated with existing commercial security systems for extra protection. Ultimately, by integrating central station security alarms alongside existing security systems and policies, a comprehensive strategy can be developed to use security resources more efficiently and help protect people and property from harm.