An investment in home security could stop at the equipment. You could buy a selection of cameras, window and door sensors, a touchscreen hub, and maybe even a smart lock. But the true backbone of residential home security is monitoring. An unmonitored system isn’t really optimized for your protection.
Professional home security monitoring from a provider like Vivint Home Security goes above and beyond what you can do by yourself. For starters, professional monitoring is live around-the-clock. Whether you are sleeping, at work, or even thousands of miles away on vacation, a remote monitoring center is keeping an eye on your system. If you are self-monitoring, you’re going to have some downtime. Who will be paying attention then?
What Happens During an Alarm Event?
The benefits of professional monitoring become evident when an alarm is triggered. Here is a step-by-step process explaining how it all goes down:
- The Trigger – Every alarm starts with a trigger. One of the sensors in the system alerts to something wrong. It could be an open door or a broken window.
- The Signal – Next, the system’s central control panel sends a signal to the remote monitoring center. Monitoring personnel are immediately alerted.
- Verification – Within seconds, a trained professional is evaluating the alert to make sure it is not a false alarm. If it is legitimate, the homeowner will be contacted immediately.
- Dispatch – If a genuine emergency is detected, or you are unreachable for any reason, monitoring personnel will immediately call local authorities. Fire department, police, ambulance, etc. are dispatched to your home as needed.
The speed at which it all occurs is actually pretty amazing. It only takes seconds for an alert to reach the monitoring center. Then it takes just seconds for trained personnel to evaluate the alert and decide on how to proceed.
How Is Communication Maintained?
A security system must maintain a constant connection with the remote monitoring center for all of this to work. In the old days, communication was handled via traditional landline telephone. It worked well enough unless a burglar cut the phone line. Then all bets were off.
Today’s home security systems are likely to rely on one or both of the following communication technologies:
- Internet – Nearly all modern home security systems can connect to remote monitoring centers via the internet. Locally, the system works by connecting to the homeowner’s Wi-Fi network. Signals travel across the network, through the router, and off to the monitoring center.
- Cellular – High-end systems can also communicate via cellular signals. Systems log on the same way a smartphone does. All signals are sent to the local cellular tower and then forwarded to the monitoring center.
The best systems use both technologies for redundancy. Under normal circumstances, Wi-Fi and internet are preferred because there is less chance of a signal drop. But if the power ever goes down and internet is knocked out, the system can still communicate via cell signals.
Does Monitoring Interfere With Home Automation?
At this point, you might be wondering if 24/7 monitoring would interfere with any home automation devices on your system. It will not. Monitoring is designed exclusively for security devices. It has no impact on automation equipment, scripts, automations, etc.
In theory, a monitoring provider could also monitor all your home automation devices. When you are away, monitoring personnel could take care of adjusting your thermostat and lighting, but that doesn’t make a lot of sense because you can control your devices with your smartphone. Professional monitoring is really for security purposes. And by the way, it’s almost a necessity.
