Alarm set off....no phone call...not feeling safe anymore
I tested my new "loud" alarm tonight to check volume...it is loud enough. However, I did not receive a phone call. Two days ago, when I did a similar test, I received a phone call within one minute. Granted, I canceled the alarm within one minute...but what if it had been an intruder who cancelled the alarm? I fully expected a phone call....the alarm did function as I was sent an SMS text message immediately, but no phone call.
I called the emergency dispatch operator to try to find out why I received no call, and I was told that because I had cancelled the alarm from the same source(keychain) in a short period of time that it was procedure that no phone call was to occur. I responded to the operator that if someone had followed me into my garage as I opened the door and heard the alarm going off and demanded that I turn it off, I would have had to turn it off and would have received no phone call, no police, thus no protection. There is a feature on the keypad that will allow you to put in a false number but there is no such option with the keychain......and, there is no phone call....at all.
I was told that this procedure is to save people from being charged with a false alarm from the police. But why no phone call to the primary numbers listed? So as to give the safe word....but no opportunity was given. Thus, there is no safety in this scenario.
What is wrong here? Why no phone call?
And, so that others can see this answer,and make an appropriate choice, I would like the answer posted here as it seems occurrences like this are becoming more frequent. I can use a different monitoring service or a different alarm service altogether. Others can too. Make it right. Call us like you say you will.
An email I sent inquiring as to what I should do if I want to test......
In the future, if I am to test like this again, would you prefer I call ahead of time to tell you what I am doing in advance....would this be easier on you, is this what I should do? I surely don't mean to cause stress in what could be a stressful job at times
ed
Answer:
Hi Ed,
Thanks for asking! You don't have to let us know, just answer the phone when dispatch calls and be ready with your safe word!
Best,
Jason
-----------------
SimpliSafe, Inc. Live. Safely
Again, what am I missing here? Is the issue that I tested using the panic button? Why wasn't I told not to test using the panic button?It just so happens that the room where I was checking to see if the sound was loud enough there are no other sensors. If policy is that if panic button is pushed police are called first....go back to my scenario, that someone is beside garage. knows that I have an alarm but knows that I turn it off when I go into garage...I am into garage, I see them coming in behind me, push panic button, they are able to overpower me and insist that alarm is turned off, I turn it off on keychain.....and then what?
Is this a flaw in the system?
ed
@ edandmolly Thanks for
@ edandmolly
Thanks for posting your concerns! The reason for not getting a phone call after cancelling the alarm are to help in reducing false alarms. If more than one person is operating the alarm, it could cause serious confusion between different parties operating the alarm. For example, if someone at the home accidentally trips the alarm, they have the option to quickly cancel it, otherwise someone not at the home may get a phone call and have police dispatched to a false alarm. Also, if you accidentally trip the alarm, it gives you a chance to quickly deactivate it without having to rush to the phone. To prevent a burglar from being able to disable your alarm it is important to keep your PIN number secret and never let your Keychain Remote out of sight. If you do lose a Keychain Remote be sure to remove it from the alarm system using your Keypad or Easy Setup Wizard software.
If you would like, we can remove cancel signals from your account. All you'll need to do is give us a call and we'll take care of it. However, before you decide to do so be sure to consider the increased likelihood of a false alarm and false police dispatch. If you are unable to answer the phone when dispatch calls for any reason, the police will be sent immediately. Most police stations refuse to cancel a dispatch in progress, so once they're called, they will go to the protected location.
Ryan K.
SimpliSafe Home Security
Ryan, Please go back and read
Ryan,
Please go back and read my scenario....that a burglar knows that I have to turn off the alarm when I go in the garage, follows my car in at night(I live near woods) and demands that I turn off the alarm, after I have hit the "panic" button and he has seen me do this , and he has overpowered me...and i hit "off" on the keychain. What happens to me then?
@jefframpling
Thanks for posting! The Panic button, when set to 'Silent' in the Easy Setup Wizard will send a signal to the dispatch center for immediate police dispatch. When the Panic buttons are set to audible, as they are when shipped, the dispatch center will always call first to verify the alarm and notify that a panic alarm has been triggered. If you do not answer, or you do answer and do not provide your safe-word, the dispatch center will immediately dispatch the police.
Will
SimpliSafe Burglar Alarms
The above is a response to a question on this very forum which gives a clear answer to a "panic button" question.
Why is it that you want to make this situation a false alarm cost issue when all I am inquiring about is why I never got a phone call when the above email indicates the default response is a phone call to verify the alarm?(I have not changed this setting as you can easily check) Why does this seem ambiguous to me? I just want the phone to ring like you say it will. Or, am I missing something, like procedures that change with whoever answers the question?
As for the cost of a false alarm, I know I should take that into account. A false alarm will cost money. No alarm might mean dying. I am paying for safety and will continue to do so. But as far as a false alarm is concerned, I never got a phone call nor did my wife thus the police were never called, so it is a moot point. What is not a moot point is I never got a phone call, whcih according to one of your policies that I have already quoted, is what should have happened.
It is true that more than one person lives here and can set off the alarm or test, and we are still working out our procedures so as to be more consistent. We expect the same from you. You have had more practice with this, so you should be better.
We hope for the best.
thanks
ed
@ edandmolly The best thing
@ edandmolly
The best thing to do in a situation where a burglar follows you into your home and tells you to deactivate your alarm, would be to go to the keypad and enter the Duress PIN, which will turn the system OFF and send a silent panic signal with immediate police dispatch. The explanation from Will about the silent panic button refers to the stand-alone panic buttons, not the panic on the keychain. Also, I would practice using your keychain remote where it is not visible to bystanders. We have made the buttons different sizes to make it easy to operate from a pocket or purse. In any case, if someone follows you into your home and is forcing you to turn the alarm off, the Duress PIN would be the safest and smartest solution. We can also remove Cancel Signals from your account, in which case you would receive a phone call for every alarm signal, however the only way to cancel police dispatch would be to give your safeword to the dispatch operator.
Ryan K.
SimpliSafe Home Security
Ryan Thanks for answering
Ryan
Thanks for answering everything. In between what we both said, and what we did not say, I believe we have got it on this end. We are good with everything as is. It is good that you folks are willing to help people work out their problems like this in a live forum. My wife and I are very satisfied with everything. We will continue to recommend to our friends.
Thanks for your patience
ed
@ edandmolly Thanks for
@ edandmolly
Thanks for posting back! We are happy to help with any concerns you may have and if you need anything else, feel free to call our customer support line!
Ryan K.
SimpliSafe Buglar Alarms