Powhatan County VA is the 56th PSAP

Powhatan County VA is the 56th Emergency Communications Center (ECC) in the United States and the 10th ECC in the state of Virginia to implement the ASAP program. Powhatan County went live on Tuesday, August 13th with Vector Security and Rapid Response Monitoring. Approximately 8 – 10 additional alarm companies will be going into production with Powhatan County by the end of September.

The Powhatan County implementation was also the first implementation for a Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) vendor platform new to the ASAP program. Motorola Solutions introduced their Spillman Flex ASAP interface solution. Powhatan County was chosen as the first implementation site for the Flex platform.

“Implementation of the ASAP-to-PSAP program will help eliminate the potential for clerical errors, reduce telephone call volumes to the 9-1-1 Center from alarm companies, and most importantly, reduces 9-1-1 call-processing times by as much as 2-3 minutes. We all know that every second counts in an emergency and by reducing 911 processing times we help save lives, protect property, provide faster response times to in-progress events, and potentially help apprehend more criminals,” said Thomas Nolan, PSC-911 Director for Powhatan County

Vector and Rapid Response were the first alarm monitoring companies to go live with Powhatan County. “The County is very appreciative of Vector and Rapid Response support and work in helping us bring this new technology to our citizens. We also know that without the direct direction/support from Mr. William Hobgood, (the inventor/architect of ASAP to PSAP program) this service wouldn’t be in use today,” said Director Nolan.

Bradenton, FL is now live with ASAP

The City of Bradenton FL is the 55th PSAP in the United States and the 7th PSAP in the state of Florida to implement the ASAP program. The City of Bradenton went live on Wednesday, August 7th with Vector Security and Rapid Response Monitoring, followed by Tyco (Johnson Controls), Affiliated Monitoring, Brinks Home Security, Protection One, Vivint, Guardian, AT&T Digital Life, National Monitoring Center, Alert 360 and Security Central.

Hamilton County, OH is now live on ASAP

Hamilton County Ohio is the 54th PSAP in the United States and the 3rd PSAP in the state of Ohio to implement the ASAP program. Hamilton County went live on Tuesday, July 23rd and Wednesday, July 24th with Vector Security and Rapid Response Monitoring, followed by Brinks Home Security, Security Central, Vivint, Protection One, AT&T Digital Life, Guardian Protection Services, Affiliated Monitoring, and Tyco (Johnson Controls).

Charlotte County, FL is now live with ASAP.

Charlotte County is the 53rd PSAP in the United States and the 6th PSAP in the state of Florida to implement the ASAP program. Charlotte County went live on Monday, July 15th and Tuesday, July 16th with Vector Security, followed by Rapid Response Monitoring, Brinks Home Security, National Monitoring Center, Security Central, Vivint, Protection One, AT&T Digital Life, Guardian Protection Services, Affiliated Monitoring, and Tyco (Johnson Controls).

“We are excited to implement the ASAP to PSAP interface between the Alarm Monitoring Association and our Computer Aided Dispatch system.”,said Melanie Bailey, Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office Public Safety Communications Manager. “This new process will benefit both the community and agency by reducing the time it takes to process an alarm .”

The Monitoring Association Onboards Its 50th, 51st, and 52nd PSAP

The Monitoring Association (TMA) is pleased to announce the addition of three new PSAPs (Public Safety Answering Points) to its ASAP-to-PSAP service, bringing the total number of participating jurisdictions up to 52. Bradley County, TN; Virginia Beach, VA; and, Burleson, TX are the three latest municipalities to go live. Launched in 2011 as a public-private partnership, TMA’s ASAP-to-PSAP service is designed to increase the accuracy and efficiency of calls for service from alarm companies to PSAPs.

Bradley County, TN was the 50th PSAP in the United States and the fourth PSAP in Tennessee to implement the ASAP program. On Wednesday, April 10, 2019, this program went live with ADS Security Nashville initially, followed by Vector Security, Rapid Response Monitoring, Protection One, Brinks, National Monitoring Center, Vivint, Tyco (Johnson Controls), ADT, Alert 360, Security Central, Guardian Protection Services, and Affiliated Monitoring.

“The Bradley County 911 Center is very excited to implement the ASAP program at our facility”, said Randy Sharp, Network Administrator.  “We have only been “live” with the product for 5 days and out of 95 alarm calls, 15% came in through ASAP freeing up approximately 45 minutes of our dispatchers/call takers time.  Time is of the greatest importance in a 911 center and ASAP is giving us back lifesaving minutes.”

The City of Virginia Beach VA is the 51st PSAP in the United States and the ninth PSAP in the Commonwealth of Virginia to implement the ASAP program. Virginia Beach went live on beginning Monday, May 20 through May 22, 2019 initially with Vector Security, followed by Rapid Response Monitoring, Guardian Protection Services, Tyco (Johnson Controls), AT&T Digital Life, National Monitoring Center, Affiliated Monitoring, Brinks Home Security, Vivint, Security Central, Richmond Alarm, Protection One, and ADT.

“Every second counts during an emergency,” said Stephen Williams, Director, City of Virginia Beach Emergency Communications and Citizen Services. “With ASAP, we are pleased to be able to reduce call processing times to provide quicker and more accurate emergency response to our citizens in Virginia Beach.”

The City of Burleson TX is the 52nd PSAP in the United States and the seventh PSAP in the state of Texas to implement the ASAP program. The  City of Burleson went live on Tuesday, May 28, 2019 and Wednesday, May 29, 2019 initially with Brinks Home Security, followed by Vector Security, Rapid Response Monitoring, National Monitoring Center, Security Central, Vivint, Protection One, AT&T Digital Life, Guardian Protection Services, Affiliated Monitoring, and Tyco (Johnson Controls).

Learn more about TMA’s ASAP-to-PSAP service.

Dauphin County PA Operational with ASAP

Dauphin County PA is the 47th PSAP in the United States and the fourth PSAP in the state of Pennsylvania to implement the ASAP program. This is the second Hexagon ASAP deployment in Pennsylvania following the Hexagon ASAP deployment at Chester County PA.

“The integration between the Computer Aided Dispatch System and the Alarm Monitoring Association not only reduced length of time to dispatch first responders to monitored alarm incidents, it also permits our call takers to remain available to process 911 calls.”, said Stephen Libhart, Director Dauphin County Department of Public Safety.

Dauphin County went live on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 with  Vector Security initially, followed by Rapid Response Monitoring, Protection One, Security Central, Vivint, Affiliated Monitoring, Brinks Home Security, Tyco (Johnson Controls), AT&T Digital Life, and Guardian Protection Services. ADT is anticipated to go live in April with Dauphin County.

Learn more about ASAP-PSAP.

Chesapeake, VA Goes Live with ASAP for Faster, More Accurate Emergency Response

Technology Automates Emergency Response for More Speed and Accuracy

The City of Chesapeake, VA is the latest municipality to implement Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP), a technology designed to automate communication between alarm monitoring central stations and public safety dispatch/911 centers.

Chesapeake is the 42nd PSAP in the United States and 7th PSAP in Virginia to go live with the ASAP program as of October 12, 2018.

Electronic data transmission results in the following benefits for residents and first responders:

  • Fewer phone calls to emergency response centers. Alarm center data is passed to public safety dispatch/911 operators electronically within seconds and then provided to first responders upon dispatch.
  • Quicker processing times. Data doesn’t have to be input manually or communicated verbally, resulting in reduced hold times, less chance of human error, and faster responses.
  • Greater accuracy of information transmitted. Electronic transmission of data reduces chances for errors.

More than 900 Vector Security customers in Chesapeake will benefit from improved emergency response times via ASAP. Vector Security assisted the city by helping to perform extensive testing prior to the system going live.

“Virginia is where we debuted ASAP for the first time in 2012,” said Anita Ostrowski, Vice President of Central Station Services, Vector Security. “We’ve come a long way since being the first alarm company to introduce ASAP in Richmond, and we are glad to see the technology make its way into more municipalities across the nation, for the greater safety of our communities.”

ASAP was formed in partnership between The Monitoring Association and The Association of Public Safety Communications Officials, with Vector Security President and CEO Pamela J. Petrow co-chairing the committee.

The city of Chesapeake joins Richmond and Newport News, VA, as well as the counties of York, James City, Henrico and Loudon, VA as the latest emergency response center in the state to go live with ASAP technology.

Nationwide, nearly 50 agencies have implemented, or are in the process of implementing ASAP. For a current list:  https://tma.us/asap/

 

New Year’s ASAP® News: Vivint is Latest Company to Connect

Implementation of the “Automated Secure Alarm Protocol” is Building Nationwide;
Boca Raton is First Connected PSAP in Florida

VIENNA, VA (January 12, 2016) – Vivint, one of the largest smart home technology providers in North America with more than one million customers, is the latest national alarm company to go live with ASAP®.

“We are very pleased to announce that Vivint has completed testing and officially is live with ASAP messaging,” said CSAA President Pamela J. Petrow. “They join the ever-growing list of companies actively participating in this technology and further increasing our accuracy and speed at getting emergency information to the first responders.”

“We are excited to be live with our first PSAP—Richmond, VA,” said Amy Becht, Vivint Director of Central Stations. “We plan on steadily adding additional PSAPs in the coming weeks.”

CSAA announced in December that Vector Security and Rapid Response went operational in production with Boca Raton on December 16, followed by Monitronics on December 17. This is the first ASAP implementation in the state of Florida. “We had great momentum throughout 2015 and look forward to the continuation of added PSAPs and connected alarm companies in 2016,” said Petrow.

ASAP was launched in 2011 as a public-private partnership, designed to increase the efficiency and reliability of emergency electronic signals from central station alarm companies to Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs). ASAP utilizes ANSI standard protocols developed cooperatively by the Association of Public Communications Officials (APCO) and the Central Station Alarm Association (CSAA).

With ASAP, critical life safety signals and accurate information is processed more quickly, through the Nlets system of state-to-state PSAP communication, insuring that complete and accurate information is transmitted to the PSAP every time. The ASAP program has the potential to save PSAPs and emergency services millions of dollars.

For more information on ASAP or to access ASAP resources (videos, webinars, training and outreach materials), contact CSAA at asap@csaaintl.org or 703-242-4670, or visit csaaintl.org/asap.

 

Stanley Security Implements ASAP®

“Automated Secure Alarm Protocol” is Spreading Nationwide

VIENNA, VA (November 20, 2015) – Stanley Security, one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive security providers, went live with ASAP® in the city of Richmond, VA on October 22.

“We understand that this program is an important step forward for both our industry and for law enforcement, and we are proud to be part of this transformational process in public safety,” said Steve Walker, Vice President of Customer Service for Stanley. “The electronic communication of alarm information will reduce dispatch times, improve the accuracy of data exchanged between the monitoring center and the PSAP and, most importantly, will create the opportunity for law enforcement to respond more quickly to alarms.”

“The addition of Stanley is a big step in the advancement of ASAP,” said CSAA Executive Director Jay Hauhn. “The growth of the program this year has been tremendous. With the numbers of ASAP-active alarm companies and interested PSAPs, I believe we have reached the point where we will see widespread deployment in 2016.”

“We have appreciated the capable support of Bill Hobgood (Project Manager, Public Safety Team Department of Information Technology City of Richmond, VA) in helping us to navigate through the procedural challenges of implementing the ASAP-to-PSAP program,” continued Walker. “We have also appreciated the support of our partners at IBS in adapting the SBN monitoring automation platform to successfully leverage the ASAP-to-PSAP communications.”

Looking ahead, Walker commented, “We’re moving forward to expand our ASAP implementation at Stanley to include the other PSAPs in the DC area and have set our sights on going live in Houston in early 2016.”

ASAP was launched in 2011 as a public-private partnership, designed to increase the efficiency and reliability of emergency electronic signals from central station alarm companies to Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs). ASAP utilizes ANSI standard protocols developed cooperatively by the Association of Public Communications Officials (APCO) and the Central Station Alarm Association (CSAA).

With ASAP, critical life safety signals and accurate information is processed more quickly, through the Nlets system of state-to-state PSAP communication, insuring that complete and accurate information is transmitted to the PSAP every time. The ASAP program has the potential to save PSAPs and emergency services millions of dollars.

 

For more information on ASAP or to access ASAP resources (videos, webinars, training and outreach materials), contact CSAA at asap@csaaintl.org or 703-242-4670, or visit csaaintl.org/asap.

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About CSAA International

The Central Station Alarm Association International (CSAA) is an internationally-recognized non-profit trade association that represents professional monitoring companies that are listed by a CSAA-approved Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory, such as FM Approvals, Intertek/ETL or UL. CSAA is legally entitled to represent its members before Congress and regulatory agencies on the local, state and federal levels, and other authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs) over the industry. Since its incorporation in 1950, CSAA has served its members’ interests through education, online training, meetings and conventions, certification, insurance, and industry standards. www.csaaintl.org. For more information, contact Elizabeth Lasko at CSAA, 703-242-4670 x 16.

 

ASAP® Network Widens with Addition of CMS

Implementation of the “Automated Secure Alarm Protocol” is Building Nationwide

VIENNA, VA (November 3, 2015) — Criticom Monitoring Services (CMS), one of the largest wholesale alarm monitoring companies in the United States, went live with ASAP® in the city of Richmond, VA on October 21. “Awareness of ASAP’s very real benefits to PSAPs is spreading,” said Jay Hauhn, executive director of CSAA. “The program gathers momentum with each prestigious national monitoring company that comes on board. Having CMS go live is a big step in the process of implementing this service around the nation.”

“CMS is now live with its ASAP-to-PSAP adoption,” commented Tony Wilson, President, CMS. “Our hope is that the ASAP program will increase the speed and accuracy of our dispatches.” CMS serves more than 3,500 alarm companies and their 800,000 customers. Their broad range of monitoring services includes response to security, fire, Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS), environmental and interactive services such as two-way voice and remote video.

“It took about a year to launch the ASAP program,” continued Wilson. “We did this intentionally so that we could minimize the impact to our dealers. ASAP-to-PSAP is currently implemented for our 21 dealers located in the city of Richmond, VA; this affects approximately 500 subscriber accounts. Our Richmond contact, Bill Hobgood, was an excellent resource and helped to make this project easier. Our operators are excited for this new technology to communicate dispatches electronically and can’t wait for more and more PSAPs to follow suit. Over the next few weeks we will begin working on expanding our ASAP implementation to include our dealers located in Henrico County, VA and Washington, DC.”

ASAP was launched in 2011 as a public-private partnership, designed to increase the efficiency and reliability of emergency electronic signals from central station alarm companies to Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs). ASAP utilizes ANSI standard protocols developed cooperatively by the Association of Public Communications Officials (APCO) and the Central Station Alarm Association (CSAA).

With ASAP, critical life safety signals and accurate information is processed more quickly, through the Nlets system of state-to-state PSAP communication, insuring that complete and accurate information is transmitted to the PSAP every time. The ASAP program has the potential to save PSAPs and emergency services millions of dollars.

Bill Hobgood, Project Manager, Public Safety Team Department of Information Technology City of Richmond, Virginia, has noted that “The percentage of alarm notifications transmitted to Richmond using the ASAP service has increased exponentially with the addition of each new central station to the ASAP program. In contrast, the Richmond Emergency Communications staff are receiving fewer telephone calls from central stations, which is one of the ASAP goals.”

For more information on ASAP or to access ASAP resources (videos, webinars, training and outreach materials), contact CSAA at asap@csaaintl.org or 703-242-4670, or visit csaaintl.org/asap.

 

About CSAA International

The Central Station Alarm Association International (CSAA) is an internationally-recognized non-profit trade association that represents professional monitoring companies that are listed by a CSAA-approved Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory, such as FM Approvals, Intertek/ETL or UL. CSAA is legally entitled to represent its members before Congress and regulatory agencies on the local, state and federal levels, and other authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs) over the industry. Since its incorporation in 1950, CSAA has served its members’ interests through education, online training, meetings and conventions, certification, insurance, and industry standards. www.csaaintl.org. For more information, contact Elizabeth Lasko at CSAA, 703-242-4670 x 16.