Harris County, TX , More Accurate Police Dispatch with Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP)

PITTSBURGH, June 3, 2020 – Harris County, Texas is the latest Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) to implement Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP), technology that automates communication from alarm monitoring central stations to PSAPs and 911 centers, resulting in faster, more accurate emergency response for users of monitored alarms.

With ASAP, monitored alarm users in the county will experience faster, more accurate police dispatch in the event of an emergency.

The City of Houston, which is part of Harris County, has been using ASAP for several years; this launch now brings the benefits of ASAP to alarm users in all other parts of Harris County.

ASAP was developed in partnership between The Monitoring Association (TMA) and the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO), with Vector Security President and CEO Pam Petrow co-chairing the committee. Vector Security was the first alarm company to debut ASAP in Richmond, VA in 2012.

Vector Security assisted with implementation in Harris County by helping to conduct extensive testing prior to the system going live.

“As a security provider, Vector Security actively seeks ways to promote ASAP’s value to municipalities and public agencies for the greater good of the industry, as well as for the increased safety of our communities,” said Anita Ostrowski, Central Station Vice President, Vector Security.

“We are pleased to be able to reduce call processing times to provide quicker and more accurate police response to Vector Security customers in the area who are served out of our local Nederland branch,” said Drew Jones, Vector Security’s South District Vice President.

Many of the company’s authorized dealer and multi-site business customers will benefit from ASAP as well.

The use of ASAP results in the following benefits for monitored alarm users and first responders:

• Less phone calls to emergency response centers. Alarm monitoring center data is passed to PSAPs / 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 and faster responses.
• Greater accuracy of information transmitted. Electronic transmission of data reduces chances for errors.

With ASAP delivering alarm notification information directly from the alarm monitoring centers to PSAPs via computer rather than by phone, all pertinent data goes directly to first responders and the process takes only about five seconds. Many agencies using ASAP can expect alarm response times to potentially drop to as little as 90 seconds or less.

Nationwide, more than 85 agencies have implemented, or are in the process of implementing ASAP. For a current list:  https://tma.us/asap/.

For more information on the benefits and features of ASAP, visit www.vectorsecurity.com/asap.

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