COPS Monitoring, a leading provider of professional monitoring services in North America, proudly announces the official launch of ASAP (Automated Secure Alarm Protocol) across its network of UL-listed monitoring stations. This advanced technology enables the direct electronic transmission of alarm data to public safety answering points (PSAPs), significantly enhancing response times and accuracy.
ASAP eliminates the need for traditional phone calls to 911 centers by securely transmitting crucial alarm information, such as the type of emergency, address, and contact details, instantly and precisely. This streamlined communication accelerates dispatching public safety agencies, improves accuracy, reduces call volume at 911 centers, and minimizes the potential for miscommunication. Moreover, it enables real-time status updates between COPS and participating PSAPs, promoting enhanced collaboration between monitoring professionals and first responders.
COPS Monitoring has been a charter member and early supporter of the ASAP initiative, which was developed through a cooperative effort between The Monitoring Association (TMA) and the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International. This longstanding commitment to automation and industry collaboration has played a vital role in shaping the development and success of the protocol and today marks a significant milestone in making that vision a reality.
ASAP is currently deployed in more than 150 cities across the United States, with new locations added regularly as municipalities adopt and modernize their emergency communication solutions and processes. COPS Monitoring remains actively engaged in supporting and expanding the protocol’s adoption nationwide.
Looking ahead, COPS Monitoring’s current integration with ASAP proactively lays the groundwork for future enhancements, including the secure transmission of video, audio, photos, sensor metadata, and other contextual data, all designed to improve situational awareness further and equip first responders with more actionable intelligence.
With the introduction of ASAP, COPS Monitoring continues its commitment to adopt technologies that elevate professional alarm monitoring and improve outcomes for all stakeholders. “Our launch of ASAP represents another significant investment in technology and public safety,” said Jim McMullen, President of COPS Monitoring. “By enhancing response times and the accuracy of emergency dispatches, we are not only helping to protect lives and property but also supporting the evolving needs of our dealers, their customers, and the first responders who serve our communities. We are proud to be part of this critical innovation.”
Contact David Smith at (954) 545-5708 or dsmith@copsmonitoring.com for more information.
The Monitoring Association (TMA) announced that the City of Riverside, California’s Emergency Communications Center (ECC) has saved an estimated 24,462 minutes—over 33 hours a month—in 2024 alone by using TMA’s ASAP Service to process alarm and sensor notifications.
The estimate is based on an average savings of two minutes per call for 12,231 alarm notifications processed via ASAP Service in 2024, bypassing the traditional multiple voice calls required to gather dispatch and response details.
“The streamlined call-handling enabled our telecommunicators to focus more on priority 911 emergencies, which was especially beneficial during periods of high call volume,” Brandt said. “ASAP Service has been a valuable tool for our center, and I’m surprised that more agencies haven’t adopted it.”
Riverside’s ECC handles emergency calls and dispatches police, fire/rescue, and emergency medical response. In 2024, the center handled more than 756,000 calls for service. Given the large call volume, ECC officials sought a way to mitigate the impact of alarm/sensor notifications, which can require as many as five voice calls between an ECC’s telecommunicator and alarm monitoring center personnel to gather the necessary information for dispatching the appropriate response.
Consequently, the ECC implemented ASAP Service in 2023, for law enforcement-related alarm notifications, and the results have been eye-opening, according to Michelle Brandt, the city’s police/fire communications manager. In 2024, 12,231 alarm notifications were delivered directly to the center’s CAD system via the ASAP Service, dramatically reducing the number of manual phone calls between telecommunicators and alarm-monitoring center personnel.
ASAP Service was developed by TMA to lessen the impact of alarm/sensor notifications that typically enter an ECC over nonemergency administrative telephone lines. With ASAP Service in place, those notifications are automatically delivered to the ECC’s computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system, providing all the information needed by ECC’s telecommunicators to dispatch the appropriate emergency response. This saves approximately two minutes per call on average, a significant amount of time during emergencies when lives are at stake and every second counts.
ASAP Service leverages the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP). The protocol was developed jointly by TMA and the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO). ASAP Service also leverages the Alarm Verification Scoring standard (ANSI/TMA AVS-01), which identifies five scoring levels to help telecommunicators prioritize the severity of an alarm/sensor notification.
Learn more about how TMA’s ASAP Service is saving lives every day nationwide at www.ASAP911.org.
The Monitoring Association (TMA) announced today that the Tampa (Florida) Police Department (TPD) recently implemented its ASAP Service to lessen the impact of alarm/sensor-generated calls that its 911 Communications Center receives. The solution leverages the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP), which was developed jointly by TMA and the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO).
Each year, the center handles about 300,000 calls for emergency service and dispatches the appropriate police, fire/rescue, and/or emergency-medical response. Roughly 20,000 of these calls are generated by alarms and sensors. The center is the 150th 911 center nationwide and the 12th in Florida to implement ASAP Service.
Traditionally, alarm/sensor-generated alerts have been delivered to 911 centers via telephone. Each one required manual interaction between alarm-monitoring-center personnel and 911 telecommunicators. Sometimes it takes as many as five voice calls to deliver the information needed by the 911 center to dispatch the appropriate emergency response. This approach is time-consuming and prone to human error — both outcomes are highly detrimental to the ability of emergency responders to save lives and property.
ASAP Service eliminates these challenges by electronically transmitting alarm and sensor data directly into the 911 center’s computer-aided-dispatch (CAD) system, reducing response times by two minutes on average and freeing telecommunicators to prioritize 911 calls that require their unique skills and expertise.
“The Tampa Police Department aims to serve our community in the most effective way possible, and technology plays a crucial role in achieving that goal,” said Chief Lee Bercaw. “We are constantly seeking out and integrating innovative tools that empower officers to respond to community needs with greater efficiency, precision, and ultimately, increased effectiveness. This proactive approach ensures we are able to provide the best possible service and improve safety in our community.”
According to Mike Terracciano, public-safety-technology manager for the city of Tampa’s Technology and Innovation department, telecommunicators are trained to ask only those questions that will enable them to quickly determine the best response to the emergency. As a result, useful information that the alarm company possesses for each of its clients typically went untapped.
“Now, with ASAP Service, that supplemental information — which might ring important from a responder-safety perspective — is readily available and easily accessed,” Terracciano said.
Learn more about how TMA’s ASAP Service is saving lives every day nationwide at www.ASAP911.org.
About Tampa 911 Communications Center
The 911 Communications Center receives requests for emergency and nonemergency services from the public and various city agencies. The center’s primary mission is to provide effective and efficient communication between citizens requesting police, fire/rescue, and/or emergency-medical service and the units that respond. It also endeavors to expeditiously provide various other support services for police, fire, and administrative operations.
The Monitoring Association (TMA) announced today that the Tampa (Florida) Police Department (TPD) recently implemented its ASAP Service to lessen the impact of alarm/sensor-generated calls that its 911 Communications Center receives. The solution leverages the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP), which was developed jointly by TMA and the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO). TPD is the 150th ECC to go live with ASAP.
Each year, the center handles about 300,000 calls for emergency service and dispatches the appropriate police, fire/rescue, and/or emergency-medical response. Roughly 20,000 of these calls are generated by alarms and sensors.
Traditionally, alarm/sensor-generated alerts have been delivered to 911 centers via telephone. Each one required manual interaction between alarm-monitoring-center personnel and 911 telecommunicators. Sometimes it takes as many as five voice calls to deliver the information needed by the 911 center to dispatch the appropriate emergency response. This approach is time-consuming and prone to human error — both outcomes are highly detrimental to the ability of emergency responders to save lives and property.
ASAP Service eliminates these challenges by electronically transmitting alarm and sensor data directly into the 911 center’s computer-aided-dispatch (CAD) system, reducing response times by two minutes on average and freeing telecommunicators to prioritize 911 calls that require their unique skills and expertise.
This is especially important given how TPD’s 911 Communications Center operated before the advent of ASAP Service, according to Richard Parsons, communications supervisor. Unlike other 911 centers, alarm and sensor calls came into the center on a 911 line, rather than a nonemergency administrative line. Consequently, those calls went into the same call-waiting queue that contained calls that were reporting medical emergencies, crimes, car accidents, structure fires, and the like.
“So, someone having a heart attack might have to wait for a telecommunicator to finish handling a call that was triggered by an animal tripping a motion detector before getting the lifesaving help they need,” Parsons said. “ASAP Service eliminates that problem.”
According to Mike Terracciano, public-safety-technology manager for the city of Tampa, telecommunicators are trained to ask only those questions that will enable them to quickly determine the best response to the emergency. As a result, useful information that the alarm company possesses for each of its clients typically went untapped.
“Now, with ASAP Service, that supplemental information — which might ring important from a responder-safety perspective — is readily available and easily accessed,” Terracciano said.
Learn more about how TMA’s ASAP Service is saving lives every day nationwide at www.ASAP911.org.
About Tampa 911 Communications Center
The 911 Communications Center receives requests for emergency and nonemergency services from the public and various city agencies. The center’s primary mission is to provide effective and efficient communication between citizens requesting police, fire/rescue, and/or emergency-medical service and the units that respond. It also endeavors to expeditiously provide various other support services for police, fire, and administrative operations.
Broward County in Florida became the 147th Emergency Communications Center (ECC) in the United States and the 12th ECC in the state of Florida to implement TMA’s Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP).
Broward County went live the week of August 12, 2024 with the following alarm companies: Rapid Response Monitoring, ADT, Affiliated Monitoring, Alert 360, Brinks Home Security Protection, Doyle, Dynamark, Guardian Protection, National Monitoring Center, Protection One/Everon, Quick Response, Security Central, Securitas (Stanley Division), Tyco (Johnson Controls), United Central Control, Vector Security, and Vivint.
Learn more about ASAP HERE
View the agency’s press release HERE
The Orange County Emergency Services, Public Safety Communications Division became the 146th Emergency Communications Center (ECC) in the United States and the 14th ECC in the State of North Carolina to implement the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP).
“The ASAP program provides our ECC with most accurate and timely alarm notifications possible while reducing the workload of our Public Safety Telecommunicators. The implementation of ASAP provides significant benefits to our Department, our partner public safety agencies, and the community we serve,” stated Christopher H. Ward, division chief – Public Safety Communications for Orange County Emergency Services.
Orange County went live on July 22, 2024 with the following companies: Rapid Response Monitoring, Vector Security, Alert360, Securitas, Holmes Security, Brinks Home Security, Dynamark Monitoring, United Central Control, Protection One, Guardian Protection, National Monitoring Center, Johnson Controls (Tyco), Vivint, CPI Security, Wegmans Security, Affiliated Monitoring, ADT and Security Central with Alert360 being brought online soon.
Learn more about ASAP at https://tma.us/programs/asap/
TMA will introduce its plans for the next-generation, cloud-based solution for its ASAP service at the APCO International 90th Annual Conference and Exposition 2024 (APCO 2024). Visit TMA in Booth 1453 on the exhibit floor, which is open August 5-6, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla.
The leading digital alarm dispatch service, ASAP, provides a low-cost, standards-based, non-proprietary solution to Emergency Communication Centers (ECCs) and delivers a faster, more informed, and intelligent emergency response. It is currently deployed in ECCs in 23 states and the District of Columbia, covering a population exceeding 54.5 million. The 30 ASAP-enabled monitoring centers serve 80% of all monitored customers in the U.S. Since 2011, ASAP has been reducing the time to dispatch by an average of two minutes (after call-answer time) for improved outcomes and saving lives and property. All major computer-aided dispatch (CAD) vendors support ASAP.
“ASAP offers significant benefits to monitoring companies and 9-1-1 emergency communications centers by streamlining alarm notification processing,” said Mel Maier, CEO and Executive Director of APCO International. “Automating alarm workflows through ASAP significantly reduces response times and manual intervention, ultimately enhancing public safety response.”
Also, promoting ASAP at APCO 2024 will be our longtime implementation partner, CommSys, Inc. (Booth 1832), and our new partner, Mission Critical Partners (MCP) (Booth 2013).
TMA announced in June that it had signed a new agreement with MCP for the management of the lifesaving ASAP Service. The managed service provider will also assist in the design and development of the next-generation alarm signaling message broker for the ASAP service that will deliver expanded capabilities, integration options, and an ongoing roadmap for the platform.
Another key partner also attending and exhibiting at APCO is TMA’s long-standing implementation partner CommSys, Inc. CommSys served as the original architect of ASAP and its protocol, pioneering its implementation process. CommSys has provided assistance and guidance to interested PSAPS, software automation providers, and alarm dealers with professional services and software tools to connect to ASAP Services. CommSys will continue in this integral role under the leadership of MCP.
Robert Turner, President and Founder of CommSys, stated, “CommSys applauds TMA’s win-win approach to the nationwide acceleration of the ASAP Service. With a deep commitment to ASAP’s impact on public safety, CommSys stands ready to continue what we do best, which is ASAP implementation. Be assured, we are already scaling to meet anticipated ASAP implementation demand.”
“It has been said that it takes a village to raise a child, the same can often be said for technology evolutions,” said Darrin Reilly, MCP’s president and chief executive officer. “ASAP is the result of a collaborative effort between the alarm and public-safety sectors, and we’re thrilled to be part of this effort going forward to increase the service’s penetration and to develop new and exciting capabilities.”
Learn more about the ASAP Service at https://tma.us/programs/asap/ or visit TMA in Booth 1453 at APCO 2024.
Following the recent announcement of TMA’s new partnership with Mission Critical Partners (MCP), TMA President Steve Butkovich had the opportunity to attend NENA 2024 along with MCP President and CEO Darrin Reilly. The annual conference proved to be an ideal forum to share the news about the next generation of TMA’s ASAP with key stakeholders within the 9-1-1 community. NENA is a non-profit professional organization solely focused on 9-1-1 operations, technology, education, and policy issues.
Over the course of the multi-day education and networking event, Butkovich and Reilly met with NENA leadership and volunteers in addition to 9-1-1, public safety leaders, CAD vendors, and telecommunication companies to share and discuss the vision and future goals for TMA’s ASAP protocol.
The primary goal of this exciting new partnership is to drive the development of ASAP’s next-generation, cloud-based solution. The future-focused solution will allow for the real-time sharing of rich data, including camera video streams, live location, health information, photos, and interior blueprints, dramatically improving situational awareness for emergency responders.
Next up, Butkovich and Reilly plan to attend the upcoming APCO 2024 in Orlando, FL, August 4-7 where public safety communications officials, from frontline telecommunicators to ECC managers to public safety communications equipment and services vendors will be in attendance.
Visit TMA in Booth1453 or MCP in Booth 907 to learn more about ASAP’s exciting next-generation, cloud-based solution.
More about ASAP
ASAP is the industry-leading, standards-based service for the digital dispatch of alarm events to 911 centers. Since its introduction in 2011, ASAP has been helping public safety agencies reduce the time to dispatch first responders by an average of two minutes, enabling faster and more informed response for improved outcomes, saving lives and property. ASAP has the largest adoption rate in the industry, with over 80 percent of the alarm systems in the United States monitored by an alarm company connected to the ASAP Service.
The Buncombe County Public Safety Communications Center (BCPSC) became the 145th Emergency Communications Center (ECC) in the United States and the 13th ECC in the state of North Carolina to implement the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP).
Buncombe County went live on June 21st & 22nd, 2024 with the following companies: Rapid Response Monitoring, Vector Security, Alert360, Securitas, Quick Response, Brinks Home Security, Dynamark Monitoring, ADT, Protection One, Guardian Protection, National Monitoring Center, Vivint, Johnson Controls (Tyco), Security Central, United Central Control, CPI Security, and Affiliated Monitoring.
Learn more about TMA’s ASAP Service at https://tma.us/programs/asap/
