In addition to a receiving centre being made aware your alarm going off, this type of contract means the police will also be contacted by the receiving centre. If you would like this kind of alarm system contract, it’s important to check that the company is registered with the local police force.
When your alarm goes off, two indicators within the house, such as a door contact and a sensor must both have been triggered to warrant police call out. This is to avoid false alarms wasting police time. The Metropolitan Police says that a massive 92% of all alarm activations nationally in recent years have been false alarms.
If your alarm system has three false alarms (four in Scotland) in 12 months, you’re struck off the police register, and they won’t respond if the alarm goes off. It’s worth noting that paying for this service won’t guarantee the police will come out. It depends on what other incidents are happening and what other resources are available.