Loudoun County, VA Implements ASAP

Technology Increases Accuracy and Reduces Response Times to Alarms   

Loudoun County became the twenty-ninth PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point) in the United States and the second in the Washington, DC area to go live with the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP), a technology that allows alarm companies to transmit alarms to both the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office and Loudoun County Fire and Rescue communications centers without making a phone call.

This week data from residential and business alarms can now be transmitted electronically, allowing dispatchers to process an alarm in a fraction of the time it would normally take to process an alarm via telephone from an alarm monitoring company. “This new system will eliminate call volume from alarm companies and transmit alarm information to our emergency communications center in three seconds,  ultimately reducing the response times of first responders,” said Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman.

ASAP will not only improve the accuracy and the speed of emergency response times, but eliminate potential human error and miscommunication between 911 dispatchers and alarm monitoring company operators.  “In any emergency, response time and accuracy is critical,” said Chief Keith Brower with Loudoun County Fire and Rescue. “By directly transmitting the information all pertinent information goes directly to Loudoun’s first responders within seconds,” added Chief Brower.

Loudoun County went live with the ASAP program at 9:45 a.m. on Tuesday, October 10, with Vector Security. By the end of the day, Affiliated Monitoring, Rapid Response, and Protection One were live, with Guardian, Vivint, Monitronics and ADT expected to quickly follow.

ASAP was created in partnership with The Monitoring Association (and the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO). Fore more information, visit ASAP. 

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