DMP committed to reducing false dispatch

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.—Digital Monitoring Products on July 19 announced a new feature to its alarm panels that, according to VP of marketing Mark Hillenburg, displays the company's continuing dedication to reducing false dispatch, which ties up central station operators, can lead to end user fines, and wastes police resources and tax payer's money.

“DMP long ago recognized the need to provide end users with a simple way to reduce or eliminate false alarms,” DMP executive director of marketing, Mark Hillenburg said in a release. “The CANCEL/VERIFY false alarm reduction feature has been available for many years. This new False Alarm Question feature provides a different option for end users to cancel an alarm, prevent an unnecessary emergency response, and avoid the financial penalty of a false alarm.”

The False Alarm Question feature, when enabled, asks the end user directly "Is this a false alarm? Yes/No," rather than the old method, which asked an end user to "CANCEL/VERIFY" the alarm. The feature is designed to help end users quickly and easily cancel false alarms with less confusion than existed previously. If the end user selects "Yes," the central station operator gets a signal that tells them the alarm is cancelled. If the end user answers "No," the operator reads "Alarm Verified."

End users aren't the only ones who will benefit, according to some.

"The original CANCEL/VERIFY feature is a great feature. However, the new 'Is this a false alarm?' feature takes the same technology, but words it in a way that is more easily understood by the end user. The more user friendly the system is, the happier the end user is," Atlas Security operations manager Jon Adams told Security Systems News. "The 'Alarm Verified' signal that was introduced by DMP a couple years ago when the original CANCEL/VERIFY feature came out was a huge step for the industry towards reduction in false police dispatches. By choosing 'Verify,' it gave end users the ability to confirm with their central station that an actual break may be taking place, or to cancel the alarm if it was false. That same principle applies here."

The new feature highlights a continuing concern for false alarm reduction according to SIAC executive director Stan Martin. SIAC last year revised its unpopular CP-01 alarm panel standard—which is designed to reduce false dispatch—in order to gain wider adoption from recalcitrant manufacturers and integrators who felt the standard, while reducing false dispatch, also reduced alarm system efficacy.

"Though accepted by the national companies and many of the largest regional and independent alarm companies, there was still a significant group of dealers that would not utilize CP-01 equipment due to the perceived limitations," Martin told SSN in a September 2010 interview. "It should be noted that DMP was the only manufacturer that committed their entire panel line to the previous standard."

According to a DMP release, dealers can choose to retain the industry standard "CANCEL/VERIFY" setting or select the new False Alarm Question feature depending on their customers' needs. The new feature is available on the XT, XTL, and XR100/500 panels and can be updated, according to the company.

"I absolutely applaud DMP for their efforts toward false alarm reduction, and for their continued efforts to work with their dealers to create for us the best possible products for our customers," Adams said.