Verification technologies, such as audio and video, lend sound and sight to traditional alarm systems and offer a way for security dealers to develop positive relationships with law enforcement and customers.
It is no secret that 75 to 80 percent of all alarms are caused by user error, according to the Security Industry Alarm Coalition (SIAC) and, therefore, alarm verification procedures and technologies can greatly reduce the number of false dispatches. Many national and regional companies already have implemented Enhanced Call Verification (ECV) or two-call verification as a necessity due to verified response or non-response ordinances in the cities or areas they serve, and a growing number are implementing verification technologies such as video and audio to add a deeper level of verification.
“The problem, as I see it, is that the alarm industry has always been plagued with blind alarm systems and everyone runs around trying to surmise what could be happening during an alarm,” says Keith Fisher, owner of Keyth Technologies, Highland Park, Ill. “There were times I slept in a jewelry store and a steel factory, because I couldn’t resolve the false alarms. Video verification would have been nice back then,” he says.