You are responsible for overseeing your company’s alarm system. Among your many other duties…. As your company has grown the way the alarm system functions has not changed to meet the changing dynamics of your organization. You are finding more times than not the alarm system is not being activated at night and on the weekends when it should be. When it is armed employees are triggering it accidently because they forgot their alarm codes or they are a new hire that has not been assigned a code. This is very typical of a growing organization. The alarm system that worked when you had 30 employees no longer works for 100+ employees. The panel does not allow for enough alarm codes, the way the system functions no longer meets your needs, you have personnel working all hours of the day and night trying to get the latest projects out and meet the deadlines of a growing successful company. As the company has grown so have your security requirements. As a 30 person company you only needed a burglar alarm system; now as a 100+ company you have the burglar system as well as the card entry system and the video surveillance system. You have all these systems because management required them, your customers required them, your insurance company wanted them, and they are providing for a better controlled and more secured environment for your employees and the critical assets of the company. So how do you make sure the burglar alarm system is being activated? That is a good question and one that has different answers depending on your circumstances. Arm & Disarm on a Schedule In some instances simply programming the alarm panel to arm and disarm based on a schedule works well. If you maintain set hours of operations then this can resolve the issue of the alarm system not being activated at night or on the weekends. This may require a panel upgrade to allow for the scheduling functions. Supervised Closings & Smart Application Likewise you may want to have the alarm system supervised. By supervising the alarm system from the monitoring station if the alarm system has not been activated by a specified time then you will receive a phone call or text message alerting you that the alarm system did not arm. The appropriate action can be taken to activate the system. If equipped with a smart application it may be as simple as activating the alarm system from your smart phone. Integrate the Alarm and Access Control Systems Sometimes integrating the alarm system with the access control system is the best solution. Configuring the alarm system such that the first person in automatically disarms the system. The system can be programmed to arm at a specific time or the last person out can manually arm the system. You can even arm the alarm system without an alarm code utilizing the quick arm function. On the Honeywell Ademco system the quick arm function is the # key plus either the 2 key to arm away or the 3 key to arm stay. No user code required. This functionality must be enabled in the system programming. Arm / Disarm Readers Sometimes the best solution is installing an Arm Disarm reader at each of the alarm keypad locations. This reader is designed to toggle the alarm system based on a valid credential. When the system is armed and a valid credential is presented the alarm system disarms. When the system is disarmed and a valid credential is presented the system arms. This eliminates the need to issue alarm codes to all of the employees they can simply use their access control credential. Perimeter Alarm Integrated with Access Control System In other instances the detectors on the alarm system have to be changed out to best accommodate the changes in the way the organization now functions. For those organizations that may have personnel working all hours of the day and night it may be best to have a perimeter alarm system that is integrated with the access control system. A perimeter alarm system consists of door contacts, glassbreak detectors, and local door alarms at the perimeter card entry doors. With this type of system we are strictly monitoring the perimeter of the building. There are no interior detectors. By integrating the alarm with the access control system you allow authorized employees to enter through a card reader door without having to deactivate the alarm system. Likewise, those employees can exit through the card reader door without triggering the alarm system after-hours. The alarm system is programmed to arm and disarm on a schedule and is supervised so if there is a failure you are notified. We at Protection Plus Security Services are experts at protecting your small to medium sized business. We have the experience and know how to provide the right solution. Please contact us for a free security review.