CryWolf to help New Orleans false alarms

NEW ORLEANS—CryWolf False Alarm Solutions gained a contract to manage New Orleans' false alarm management program, which entails issuing and collecting fines, permit fees, and compiling alarm system data.

When CryWolf starts working with a city, “We see … an almost immediate 40 to 60 percent reduction of false alarms,” Jean Schommer, director of marketing for Public Safety Corporation, told Security Systems News.

CryWolf offers its solution in two ways. “An agency can purchase the software, install it and utilize it in-house, so they're using their staff to put in all their pertinent information, track all of the alarms, generate all the letters, send out the letters,” Schommer said. “Or, as more and more agencies are doing over the last several years, contract with us on an outsource type of basis where we're actually managing their false alarm program.”

New Orleans is choosing the second option, outsourcing the processes to CryWolf. In either method, the software solution is the same, Schommer said. CryWolf's solution is usually up-and-running with a city six months after signing the contract, she said. The other option, installing the software within an agency, takes four to five months to set up.

CryWolf shares its data on alarm systems with the municipalities it is working with. “Equally important [as fines or collections] is identifying the number of alarm systems out there,” said Schommer.

The solution interfaces with municipalities' CAD system, Schommer said. Through this interfacing, CryWolf can know which calls were false, and police can access information on an alarm such as its false alarm history or owner information. This connection is automatic, she said, without rekeying the same data.

CryWolf has 285 clients throughout the U.S. and Canada.