Monitoring

24hr monitoring of your security system is probably the most important part of your security. Although sirens and bells can make enough noise to scare away a possible intruder, a lot of people are now accustomed to hearing these noisemakers and don't take them serious. A system that's monitored actually calls for help when an alarm occurs. Monitoring is typically called the "heart of the system" and some believe that a security system without monitoring is practically worthless. In any case, monitoring plays an effective role in communicating what's going on at the premises when an alarm occurs.

It is highly recommended that if you have your security system monitored, it should be done through a UL listed central station. Regardless if the security contractor handles their own monitoring or contracts this service to a third party central station, a UL listed facility is highly recommended. What is UL?

STAMPSCO utilizes UL listed Rapid Response Alarm Monitoring for all of our monitoring accounts. View our monitoring facility here.

How Monitoring Works

When your alarm system is activated by an intruder, the dialer in the control panel calls the central station through use of the telephone line, and communicates what type of alarm and usually which zone was violated. Once the central station monitoring facility obtains this information from the security system, a call is then placed to local authorities who respond to the scene.

A downside to monitoring is that it uses the telephone lines to communicate with the central station. Telephone lines are usually accessible from the outside, and possible intruders may cut the lines to try and disable the communication before accessing the building. To prevent this from happening, some people have their phone lines buried or brought into their building so that they are inaccessible from the outside. Cellular telephone back-up is also an option. If the phone lines are cut, the cellular back-up communicates with the central station.