Central Station Operator Bob Goulet (seated) and Central Station Manager Chris Newhook review an alarm in American Alarm’s 24-7 central station monitoring facility in Arlington, Mass.

Responding to an intrusion alarm from an auto parts store, American Alarm and Communications, Arlington, Mass., became the first company in New England to use a new secure dispatch technology (automated secure alarm protocol, or ASAP) designed to speed police, fire or EMT response to emergencies. ASAP establishes a direct network connection between a qualified alarm monitoring central station and a public safety dispatch center that has adopted the technology. Instead of making a phone call to report an alarm and dispatch first-responders, with just one click using ASAP all the relevant alarm information is sent to the public safety communications center where it pops up on a dispatcher’s screen.

“We know that seconds count in an emergency, so we are always looking for ways to improve response times to alarms,” said Louis Sampson, chief financial officer at American Alarm, who oversees the company’s monitoring operations. “The ASAP system will help reduce response times and make sure the police, fire or medical first-responders have all the information we can provide instantly and accurately.” 

The ASAP event occurred on March 22, 2015 at 7:06 p.m. when a motion sensor alarm was received from an American Alarm customer in the retail auto parts business. The company is based in Massachusetts but the alarm came in from one of their stores in Richmond, Va. Upon call verification, American Alarm Central Station Operator Bob Goulet used ASAP to contact Richmond police and transfer information to the Richmond public safety dispatch center. According to the CSAA, it was the first dispatch using ASAP from a New England security company.

“After working hard with the CSAA to implement ASAP, we were very excited to put the system into live action,” said Chris Newhook, Central Station manager at American Alarm and team-leader of the company’s ASAP initiative.  “Our team is trained and ready to react. Bob did an excellent job.”

American Alarm now has ASAP capability in Richmond, Va., Washington D.C. and Tempe, Ariz. American Alarm and the CSAA are working with the city of Boston to implement ASAP as part of the city’s ongoing dispatch center upgrade. When completed, Boston will be the first city in New England to have ASAP capability.