False Alarm Prevention
Prevent annoying and costly false alarms with these tips
False alarms take police, fire and medical workers away from real emergencies and can alienate your neighbors. Allied Fire & Security is comitted to reducing false alarms. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions, or you may contact local law enforcement offices:
Spokane: www.spokanepolice.org or www.spokanefire.org
Seattle: www.seattle.gov/police or www.seattle.gov/fire
Portland: www.portlandonline.com/police or www.portlandonline.com/fire
Why Are False Alarms A Problem?
- False alarms take emergency workers away from urgent situations. This rather embarrassing situation for you keeps civil servants from responding to real emergencies.
- False alarms can lead neighbors to ignore your alarm when it goes off.
- False alarms make your security system less reliable and credible.
- False alarms may make you reluctant to arm your system, exposing your home, business or property to undetected theft or fire.
- False alarms can cost you money! Many cities and towns assess costly fines for responding to false alarms.
How to prevent false alarms.
Before Activating Your System:
- Close and lock all protected doors and windows.
- Keep pets, balloons, fans and heaters away from motion sensor areas.
- Know how to cancel the alarm if the system accidentally activates.
- What should I do if I accidentally set off the alarm?
- Don't panic. Remember your code.
- Determine if there really is a fire or an intruder.
- If the alarm activation was accidental, carefully disarm your system. Carefully press each number of your code.
- After you have reset the system, wait for the monitoring center to call you. Do not leave your home or business until you have spoken to the monitoring center!
- Hanging drywall
- Sanding Floors
- Painting or plastering
- Fumigating
- Replacing doors or windows
- Installing/removing wallpaper or carpet
- Adding air conditioning or insulation
- Installing attic flooring or basement ceiling
- Installing intercoms
- Changing phone systems
- Installing siding, skylights or ceiling fans
- Installing anything near the system control panel or keypads
Call your nearest local branch to determine which monitoring center monitors your business or home.
Always notify your monitoring center if you:
- Hire domestic help
- Get a pet
- Plan to sell your home
- Test your system
- Change your Authorized User or Call List
Call your monitoring center:
Alarm Center Inc.
PO Box 3401, Lacey, WA 98509 Fax: 360-438-4245
Eastern Wash. and Northern Idaho: 509-624-3333 or 1-800-252-8338
Western Wash.: 1-800-752-2490
Ore. and Southern Wash.: 1-800-752-2490
Alarm Central Station
PO Box 1761, Beaverton, OR 97075 Fax: 503-644-8429
Western Wash.: 1-800-452-3555
Ore. and Southern Wash.: 503-641-6761 or 1-800-452-3555
How can I prevent false alarms?
Regularly check and service your system. Routine maintenance can help prevent many false alarms. Click here to learn about Allied's 24/7 Customer Service Plan.
Make sure everyone who has access to your home understands how to use the alarm system. These individuals need to have a personal password and must be placed on your alarm "user" list which is recorded at Allied's Monitoring Center.
Be prepared!
Rehearse alarm cancellation with anyone who might use your system.
Make sure that anyone with a key to you home or business knows how to operate your system.
Tell all users to wait for the monitoring center to call if the alarm was accidentally tripped. They must not leave the home or business until they have spoken to the monitoring center.
Keep Allied Security’s alarm monitoring center telephone number handy. Free phone stickers with the Monitoring Center’s number are available through Allied Fire & Security.
Our community’s police officers and firefighters are ready to help when your system calls, but they need your help to prevent false alarms!
