Joint ANSI/CSAA Alarm Verification and Notification Standard Issued

These days most offices and homes have at least one alarm system whether it monitors for fire, carbon monoxide or burglars. The biggest nightmare a person could experience would be to require emergency services and find out when it is too late that the resources needed were elsewhere responding to a false alarm. Such events are commonplace and they not only waste limited resources but also add to the costs of emergency services overall.

The Central Station Alarm Association (CSSA), an ANSI member, has issued a new standard, ANSI/CSSA CS-V-01-2004, Alarm Verification and Notification Procedures that will help increase efficiencies by reducing costs and eliminating wasteful efforts associated with potential false alarms. The standard is to be used by alarm monitoring facilities and by state and local units of government in their development of consistent administration criteria for alarms. Verification of an alarm signal by a monitoring central station could reduce the number of false dispatches significantly; CSSA CS-V-01-2004 defines multiple call verification, cross zoning, biometric, audio and video. For additional information on this standard, please visit: www.csaaul.org.