It's estimated that between 94 and 98% of all police responses are to false alarms generated by improperly installed, operated or designed security systems. So it can be said that the reliability rate of the typical security system is between 2 and 6 percent. False alarms cost Americans approximately $1.5 billion each year, from wasted police resources. In Chicago alone, the wasted manpower checking out false alarms equals 195 full-time police officers.
An additional problem with false alarms is the noise generated by sirens, irritating neighbors and prompting further calls to the police - either trying to be helpful or complaining of the noise. In other words, a false alarm might not result in a single call to the police, but multiple calls.
With the consolidation of security companies, the central station typically isn't in the community which it serves. As a result, the companies with the biggest names in the industry don't know the community, and their only choice is to notify the police for help. Independents might very well have a leg up in this regard, but still pay the penalties brought on by false alarms.
Consider this law now in place in Seattle, Washington. In addition to a flat fee for all alarm companies, "alarm monitoring companies are also responsible for each burglary, panic or robbery false-alarm occurrence in the city ($125 per episode). These annual license fees and police false-alarm fees are the responsibility of, and billed to, the alarm-monitoring companies rather than individual alarm-system subscribers."
Guidelines on false alarm solutions from CANASA include insisting on service calls, maintenance checks, further checks with home modifications such as new drapes or pets and more thorough training. Good suggestions to be sure, but whose bottom line do these changes affect?
Nearly 80% of all U.S households won't live with the hassles of a security system, and with the crackdown on false alarms by police districts and municipalities, that figure is bound to go higher. With the publicity of fines from false alarms, Freedom by Napco gives you a leg up over your competition. No other security system on the market today can claim Freedom's degree of false alarm protection, ease of use and code-free convenience.
Training with Freedom is a breeze - no codes to forget, no exit/entry countdown, just turn the key. The result? Quicker and more effective training with fewer callbacks. And since the customer will be more likely to continue you to use the system, attrition becomes a thing of the past.
So for your bottom line, you retain more accounts, reduce false alarms and finally attract the huge number of customers who were too fearful of traditional alarms to even consider buying one. All that, and the downloadable, multi-zone code-free Freedom System is faster for you to install while still offering real security.
