Why use a security company to respond to alarm activations?

Why use a professional security response company for your alarm activations?

It is a proven fact that burglars do not want to be caught, an obvious statement to make perhaps, however in my experience, many business owners and householders do not seem to realise the implications of this fact.

There are generally two types of burglar: opportunist and targeted. The opportunist burglar will look for easy access with readily available tools lying around which can be modified to gain entry and most importantly, no burglar alarm system. The targeted burglar will have planned entry, in many instances knowing exactly what they are looking for, and will ignore or disable a burglar alarm.

Experience has revealed that opportunist burglars will generally strike businesses and homeowners, whereas targeted burglars generally strike businesses.

So, the question is raised “How do I protect my home or my business?” The first step is to conduct a security survey of your premises and perimeter, an example of what to do can be found on our website www.vanguardsas.co.uk look for “Seven Step Security Survey”; the second step is to have a professional burglar alarm system installed.

Once you have your burglar alarm system, this will deter the opportunist burglar, however, this does not mean that you will not get burgled; how many times have you heard an alarm sounding and just complained about it keeping you awake at night? You may have asked your neighbours to listen out for you, and they will surely enter the property to see what has triggered the alarm – what do they do if the burglar is still in there? What if they get hurt? What if you have no neighbours to ask? The burglar will soon notice there is no response to the alarm activation!

An alarm system that is not monitored is still an effective tool, as the sounder alone is designed to frighten and confuse, particularly the inexperienced burglar, or one that is high on drugs or drunk, and they may well decide against it and go on to an easier target.

The most effective burglar alarm system is one that is monitored by an monitoring station (also known as an ARC). A monitored burglar alarm, once the alarm is activated, will contact a designated person, and once acknowledged, that person will attend the premises. Professional keyholder and response companies will respond to these alarm activations for you

Now we ask the question “Why use a Security Company to respond to alarm activation?”

I have lost count of the times I have answered this question to homeowners and businesses alike, and the answer is the same to both:-

The longer answer is: The Security Company is available 24 hours a day with a dedicated team trained and qualified to attend the premises upon alarm activation, without delay. The normal response time for a Security officer to be on site, at the premises, is within 30 minutes of the call, very often much sooner.

There are no factors which can affect the response, such as with say a neighbour “I was out for the night” or “I’d had too much to drink and didn’t hear it” or even, I wasn’t very well, so couldn’t attend”. With a business, the factors are even greater which can affect the response such as designated keyholder on holiday, can’t find the keys and if they did get the call and attend, the same applies as mentioned earlier, what if the burglar is still inside the building – do they know what to do? Has the keyholder been trained? Are the Health and Safety Policies in place regarding Lone Working? – specifically about check calls, it would be awful for staff to arrive in the morning and find the designated keyholder injured or worse when they arrive!

The fast response from a Security Company is effective against opportunist and targeted burglary and is the difference between having your home or business ransacked, versus an entry, potential grab (in most cases they will leave everything), and very fast exit with a strong possibility of being caught. An opportunist will soon see the error of their ways; the burglars who target a business will have done their homework (by activating the alarm previously, normally by breaking a window and waiting to see who turns up) and so will either not bother to break in at all, or will have to be prepared to face the Security Officer, who will rapidly become two, three and four Security Officers once the personal alarm is activated on the Officer, followed closely by the Police.

The short answer to the question is; without a monitored burglar alarm system that isn’t backed up by a reliable, qualified and trained Emergency Response Security Officer, the alarm system is not being used to its full potential.

This article has been written and provided by Gail Parson of Vanguard Surveillance and Security www.vanguardsas.co.uk , which has been established for 22 years. Vanguard provide keyholding services to businesses and, more increasingly, private homeowners.