The Monitoring Association (TMA) Standards Committee has opened a preliminary technical review period for its TMA‐AVS‐01 Alarm Validation Standard. Initiated in 2020, the standard provides a method of creating an alarm scoring or classification metric for unauthorized human activity detected by alarm systems that will assist law enforcement with resource allocation and call‐for‐service prioritization.

The purpose of this optional review process is to allow interested stakeholders to provide feedback prior to the commencement of the official ANSI public comment period. Professionals from across the physical security industry, law enforcement, and emergency communications are asked to review and submit comments. All comments must be received through the TMA portal no later than 8 p.m. ET on Friday, June 17, 2022. All interested may access the draft document at https://tma.us/wp‐content/uploads/2022/05/AVS‐01‐Committee‐Draft‐Rev‐24.pdf and the TMA online comment form at https://tma.us/avs01commentform.

“This is a ground‐breaking standard for stakeholders across the security and first‐responder communities,” said Glenn Schroeder, TMA Standards Committee chair. “The TMA‐AVS‐01 Sub‐Committee, chaired by Mark McCall, Immix Protect, and co‐chaired by David Holl, Lower Allen Township (PA), and Larry Folsom, ADT, has put forth an extraordinary effort to bring this life‐saving standard to fruition. At this point, we now look to other professionals who possess firsthand, working knowledge of alarm communications, emergency communication, and incident response to validate the methodology as put forth in the standard. Stakeholder input is critical.”

The TMA‐AVS‐01 committee will review all preliminary comments for possible inclusion in the document published for review during the ANSI public comment period. TMA will hold a webinar on or about May 25, 2022 to address questions. Responders are encouraged to submit comments as early as possible.

After the committee has prepared a final draft document, TMA will submit the standard to ANSI, with the goal of initiating the 60‐day ANSI public comment process.

To view TMA’s informational AVS‐01 webinar, visit https://vimeo.com/705870823/2d66afe899. For questions or comments, please contact Bryan Ginn at bginn@tma.us.