Commercial Systems: Fire, Security, Access Control, & CCTV systems

• Evaluate Your Current Security System Provider.
  We understand that choosing a security system and a company to install and monitor that system is an important decision. To help make that vital judgment, Washington Alarm is happy to provide you with this tool - it's a scorecard to help you evaluate potential security partners. It's based on a federally funded security study conducted several years ago in Massachusetts. We've summarized the results from that study, added some of our own benchmarks based on our nearly 50 years of experience, and crafted this list:

  13 Points For The Informed Security Consumer
  
  4 Points you should insist on from your alarm company

  1. At least 10 customer references in your immediate area.
  2. Full disclosure, in advance, of all makes and models of equipment proposed.
  3. A "hands-on" advance trial of how to operate the equipment proposed.
  4. Use of a non-proprietary control panel so you are not locked into one technology.
  
  5 Points you should insist on in your alarm system and installation
  1. No signal transmission delays whatsoever.
  2. Only licensed systems technicians should do the work.
  3. A separate zone for each device in the system.
  4. Radio back-up for cut telephone line protection.
  5. Pledge to pay your fines for equipment-caused false alarms.
  
  4 Points you should insist on in security system maintenance and alarm monitoring
  1. Lifetime warranty - parts and labor.
  2. Technical assistance line 24 hours a day.
  3. Automatic test signals to Central Station at least weekly.
  4. A Local, UL listed Central Station owned and operated by your installation company and open for your inspection.
  
  If an alarm company is trying to sell you an alarm system and can't or won't immediately embrace these 13 points, and provide documentation to show how their company performs in each of these areas, then they are not at the top level of security system design or customer service.

• Install a new system
  Washington Alarm recognizes that every business, building, home and family is unique, with different security needs. We don't sell "one size fits all" prepackaged alarm systems. Each Washington Alarm Security system as well as the associated monitoring, maintenance, and reporting options are specifically designed to best achieve the customer's desired results. To arrange an on-site meeting with one of our Security, Access Control, CCTV or Fire Alarm System Design Consultants, please call 206-328-3288 or send in your request via our on-line form.

Art and antique collections may require additional protection in the form of moisture or temperature sensors that alert our Central Station if the temperature drops too low or if the humidity in the room reaches a dangerous level.

A young family with a nanny may appreciate the peace of mind that comes from adding Supervised Openings and Closings to their security system; A reporting option that enables them to verify that the nanny took the child to the park when she was supposed to.

If your home, possessions or lifestyle require a more specialized residential security alarm system, please consider Washington Alarm, Inc.

Your alarm system generates a number of signals each day. These signals, when viewed in summary and detailed reporting, can provide many useful details that may assist you in realizing efficiencies that you may not have previously considered.

To bring this data to you we have developed and implemented 3 summary reporting options: All Activity Report, Open/Close Report, and Dispatch Report, which are detailed below.

Utilizing the internet for delivery, we offer reporting with your choice of Daily, Weekly, Bi-Weekly or Monthly frequency. Reports are delivered in an easy to use, low bandwidth text format.

Our Reporting Library Includes:

All Activity Report: This report is available for both Fire and Security Alarm systems.

• Shows all events and signals received for the time period reported.
• Allows for detailed troubleshooting of systems and/or internal arming/disarming discrepancies.
• Identifies any open service tickets pending.
• If you have card access, this report will show all card access entries and can be a powerful, supplemental tool in employee timecard verification.
• Shows all dispatches of police or fire department and incidents before and after the dispatch.
• Identifies who worked on the system and when. Identifies who tested the system and when.
• Includes Open and Close and Dispatch Reports.

Open / Close Report: This report is available only for Security Alarm systems, and requires your subscription to our Open/Close or Supervised Open/Close service(s).

• Shows all Open and Close (Arm/Disarm) signals received for the period reported.
• Powerful, supplemental tool in employee timecard verification.
• Identifies when your alarm system was armed and disarmed and by whom.
• Identifies after-hours arming/disarming of your alarm system (date, time, and user).

Dispatch Report: This report is available for both Fire and Security alarm systems.

• Shows every incident that resulted in our dispatching of the police and/or fire department to respond to signal(s) from your premise.
• This report is useful in keeping track of false alarm dispatches, challenging police and fire department fines, etc.