To Our Public Safety Community:

The following questionnaire is one outreach in a project being executed by “The Monitoring Association” (TMA) (formerly the CSAA). The goal is to do a better job of evaluating the data that’s available to monitoring center personnel when an alarm is received. The Monitoring Association has updated its “verification” standard (CS-V-01), using this greater amount of information, received with a signal, to further reduce “false notifications” to the ECC/PSAPs.

With that in mind, we are now designing a more rigorous, scientific, standards based, process to “add weight” in numerical form to the data we pass along to the ECC/PSAPs. We have a lot of data associated with signals, received that could be passed along to law enforcement if desired.

Within the questions that follow we are asking if this information (32 items) were available, what would be your weighted choice to receive it. (“Not Needed”, “Nice to Have”, or “Critical Need”)

We expect this to take no longer than 10 minutes.

Help us to help you! Please take a few minutes to complete the questionnaire!

Thank you for your time and effort.

The Monitoring Association

  • If you would like to receive a summary of the questionnaire results, please enter your email address.
  • When a single sensor (point of protection) has been activated multiple times (door or window opened, motion detected).
  • When multiple/different sensors (points of protection) have been activated multiple times (doors and/or window opened, motion sensors covering specific or multiple areas and/or locations).
  • A sensor (point of protection) that covers the exterior perimeter of an area of protection, such as a front door, rear/side doors(s), garage door, living room or other windows, warehouse door, etc.
  • A sensor (point of protection) that covers the interior of an area of protection, such as a showroom motion, warehouse office door, bedroom motion, hall motion, etc.
  • An order of receipt of sensors (points of protection), such that it is known that a perimeter or exterior sensor activated first, followed by interior sensor activations.
  • An order of receipt of sensors (points of protection), such that it is known an interior sensor activated first, followed by a perimeter or exterior sensor activation.
  • An electronic or verbal notification by an authorized person for the alarm location that occurs within a specified time frame after an alarm event that indicates the response to an alarm event should be aborted or canceled
  • An event that indicates the communications path from the protected premises to the monitoring center has been disrupted. Could be caused by physical phone line cut, ISP failure, cellular service failure, etc.
  • Identification of areas that are always armed, i.e., e.g., emergency exits.
  • Commercial power loss to the alarm panel and the protected building.
  • The type of detector that activated, causing an alarm signal to be sent to the monitoring center, i.e., glass-break detector, motion sensor, door sensor, etc.
  • The description of what the sensor is protecting, i.e., gun-safe, ATM, vault, jewelry safe, medicine cabinet, etc.
  • A numerical assignment of the door for which there was a sensor activation. Location also provided, if known.
  • The primary business that is conducted at the protected premises, i.e., jeweler, pharmacy, motorcycle dealer, gun shop, bank, check cashing, etc.
  • An arming (Closing) or disarming (Open) has occurred within several minutes of the alarm event.
  • Adverse weather conditions at the protected premises, e.g., thunderstorms, high winds, heat, etc.
  • Within a video image, unidentified persons are seen, cannot identify themselves, and cannot not be identified to or by the monitoring station personnel.
  • Within a video image, persons are seen with items that can be used to burglarize or force entry, used as a weapon, present a hazardous condition, etc.
  • Within a video image, vehicles are seen but are not recognized as being authorized and cannot not be authorized by the monitoring station personnel.
  • There is a license plate identification system at the premises, and it is reporting a non-registered, or non-authorized, plate at the site.
  • Smoke has been seen or detected from the area reporting an intrusion alarm to the monitoring center.
  • Fire and/or heat has been seen or detected in the area reporting an intrusion alarm to the monitoring center.
  • The protected area has a listen-in feature with audio received at the monitoring center indicating destructive activity, e.g., doors being kicked in, glass breaking, etc.
  • The protected area has a listen-in feature with voices heard on the audio that indicate abnormal activity.
  • The protected area has a listen-in feature where non-verbal audio is received at the monitoring center indicating human activity, e.g., footsteps, doors opened and/or closed, other sounds of activity
  • Awareness from "social media" of activities that could possibly be associated with the alarm activity reported to the monitoring center.
  • It is known that there is a general commercial power outage in the area where the alarm is occurring.
  • A customer owned/operated "facial recognition" system reporting to the monitoring center, non-recognized person(s) within the area where alarm activation occurred.
  • "Voice recognition" is being employed at the customer's location and the voice communications are not recognized within the area reporting the alarm condition to the monitoring center.
  • Phone location technology provided location information of authorized persons at the protected premises.
  • Monitoring station personnel in contact with the customer and/or customer-representative, receive information from same that the alarm event is valid.
  • The protected premises is certificated by Underwriter Laboratories as adhering to specific UL standards typically used when protecting very high value assets and/or national defense assets
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
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