IMPORTANCE OF OPEN & CLOSE SUPERVISION & THE REPORTS

‘Open’ indicates the alarm is disarmed with the business being ‘open’ for the day.

‘Close’ indicates the alarm system is armed. Someone entering in must either disarm the system or the alarm system will be triggered. Authorities will be contacted for dispatch. If the person disarming the system is outside of pre-determined hour schedule, a conversation with ID codes must be given to our Central Station Dispatchers to verify it is who they say they are.

‘Supervision’ indicates the system is ‘watched over’ by our Central Station. An abnormal circumstance such as the system not being armed by a certain time or dis-armed by a certain time action results in our our Dispatchers taking predetermined action.

Code ID this term indicates the ‘WHO’ turned on or off the alarm system as each person should have their own code ID or Password.

Many businesses find Supervised Opening & Closing service is more important and can far outweigh the value of the ‘burglar alarm’ for the business. Especially in controlling inventory ‘shrinkage’.

This service includes the following:

*Twice per day the alarm system method of transmission is tested and thus this ensures at that time, at the very least, the signal of the alarm being dis-armed or armed is successfully received at the Central Station Monitoring Command Center.

*If dis-arm hours are setup and the system is not dis-armed by a certain time, management will be contacted to investigate as to why. It could be someone was ‘running late’ or was ill and had forgotten to notify management. We have had experience with personnel quitting, and no one notified. This ‘FAIL TO OPEN’ time may be critical in the case of food service where dough must be started or there may not be time to make pizzas or warm breads!

‘Open out of windows’ signal from a premises could be someone dis-arming the alarm for a legitimate reason. OR as we have seen occur, someone going in to ‘borrow’ a part for a ‘friend’. We have had many, occasions where this dis-arming supervision has resulted in internal theft attempts being discovered by responding authorities.

*Having ‘arm by a certain time hours makes sure the system is turned on by a certain time. Someone forgetting to turn on the system or possibly attempted to do so and did not notice there was an open door. The Central Station will have the Fail to Close signal. Many times management responding have found ajar doors or blocked sensors. These sensors were made ‘right’ and the premises was again protected for that night.

Please note: we do have equipment that will automatically arm and dis-arm the system at a certain time, these are not recommended. Issues are:

*An unexpected ‘snow day’ and the alarm system auto-disarms with disastrous results.

*Someone knowing the alarm system arms at 11:00. Personnel actually leave by 10:15. That 45-minutes of exposure could be all the time an observant thief needs.

SOME IMPORTANT JoeStories:

A ‘success’ of Supervised Closing was the ‘fail to close’ at a clothing shop. The Central Station Command Dispatchers were unable to contact anyone at the store. Police were contacted for a ‘drive by’ and to do a quick check. On the floor they found the owner in the middle of a heart attack. Immediate medical attention was provided.

Another ‘success’ story involved this past year’s Sunday after hours arrival of the CFO. He would call in and give his ID code to verify it was actually him. He was Opening the business do paperwork. In talking with him, our Central Station Command Center personnel noticed something was ‘not quite right’. Responding authorities found the CFO on the floor in the middle of a stroke. Immediate medical attention was provided. He had a short hospital stay and full recovery!

The alarm is armed and some of the areas of protection such as motion detectors or certain doors are bypassed. This action is notated at the Central Station Monitoring Command Center. Unless we have not been notified prior by an authorized Manager, Management will be contacted. Management must be aware of the situation. We have in the past had someone attempt to leave certain areas unsecured. Then returning and break into the premises – believing that area was not alarmed.

Accuracy of the Supervised Opening & Closing reporting is paramount. Management will double check timecard records against our reports. This ensures a double check to ensure no tampering of the on-site timecard recording device..

Underwriters Laboratories (UL) mandates at least 1-year of history of Opening & Closing Supervision be stored. Exceeding UL standards, we store up to 10-years of records.

There is the case where our records were called into court. A young man was accused of felony rape. He was nighttime grocery stocker. The store was locked. The alarm was set with him in the store. The records showed the disarming the next morning by the manager. No other signals were received. The jury took the hard copy evidence into account and found the defendant not guilty of all charges. Upon leaving the court room, the defendant’s mother and girlfriend could not thank Jade Alarm’s President enough. Having these records was the basis of having the young man released.

Due to the importance of Supervised Opening & Closing reports, we can mail or email them to several different addresses. This is to ensure they do get to the correct person(s). *An incident where the hard copy reports were being mailed to the store. However, the person who picked up the mail was discarding them in the trash. The owner called up to complain of not receiving them. We informed him we would be bringing the reports to him within the hour. The owner then called back. He indicated that was not needed. That individual immediately quit upon learning the reports were on the way.