Understanding the Central Station

Simply put, local alarms merely have sirens or flashing lights to let you know that an emergency is taking place. A local alarm does not notify an alarm company or any authorities when it is triggered. You need to call emergency responders yourself if an alarm is triggered, which can be a problem if you are not at the property.

Monitored alarms, like those offered by Vector Security, are connected to a monitoring center where operators are staffed around the clock. If a monitored alarm is triggered, a signal is sent to the monitoring center where operators can dispatch help to your property, whether you are there or not.

Read detailed information about home alarm monitoring procedures at Vector Security.

When an alarm is triggered, a signal is sent to our Monitoring Center. Operators call the property to verify the alarm and then dispatch appropriate authorities if the alarm is real. If no one can be reached at the property, pre-designated emergency contacts are notified. If these contacts cannot be reached, or if they request a dispatch, authorities will be sent to your property.

Read detailed information about alarm monitoring procedures at Vector Security.

No. The alarm panel sends the signal to a Central Station operator who will attempt to verify the alarm by calling the phone number you provided and at least one additional contact. If we are unable to verify the alarm, or if you or a contact requests that the police be sent, the operator will then contact the authorities to request a dispatch.

When your alarm is triggered, the Vector Security Central Station will attempt to contact you or one of your additional contacts to verify the alarm. If police dispatch is requested by either you or your additional contact or if no one can be reached, our Central Station rep will contact the authorities.

The local police department should be contacted for inquiries for delayed response from the police department. There are many factors that can delay response time for the police department, including (but not limited to) multiple requests for dispatch at the same time, inclement weather, or distance to the site.

When the control panel sends an alarm, it takes over the phone line to send the signal to us. This is called "line seizure." Simply put, we, as the alarm company, seize the phone line so that communication between your alarm system and our Central Station takes priority.

If the customer does not have call waiting, we will get a busy signal. If the customer does have call waiting, we will reach their answering machine/service. This most often happens when the panel sends multiple signals (as in this example). If panel only sends one signal, then by the time we call them the panel has released the line.

You may contact us if you'd like to note special instructions on your account for us to contact you at an alternate number in case of emergency.

Central Station operators do not have access to arm or disarm systems remotely. Instructions to help with arming and disarming your system can be found here.

When your video cameras are installed, you can choose whether or not your cameras will be monitored by the central station. If you choose to have your cameras monitored (this is usually done for cameras that are monitoring outdoor areas), then yes, central station operators will see the video that is recorded when an alarm is triggered. However, you may choose to NOT have your cameras monitored by the Central Station (this is usually done for cameras that are monitoring indoor, residential areas). Cameras that are not monitored by the central station cannot be accessed our operators for any reason, even if requested by the customer.