Our Central Station has met or surpassed the stringent standards as established by Underwriters Laboratories (UL).
Why is that important to you? When your security system detects an intrusion, fire or other emergency – Hammond's Central Station that makes sure that you get the help you need!
Why is it important to your insurance company? They want to know that your emergencies are handled by experienced professionals. Your home or business is protected 24 hours, every day, personally and without delay, using the most advanced equipment. UL requirements cover building structure, receiving and monitoring equipment, and staffing issues.
- The central station building must meet rigid fire Standards as to building material and emergency features.
- The building must be secure against intrusion, and include UL rated doors, locks, building materials and security systems.
Central Station Facility Operations
- Personnel must be on-site 24 hours a day, every day.
- Records for equipment maintenance and staffing must be kept.
- Back-up communication methods must be in place.
- UL mandates the number of operators on duty per shift. Non-UL stations have no requirements. Most have only one operator, especially in the late evening/early morning.
- Alarm receiving equipment must have a redundancy (back-up) in case of equipment failure with 30-second switch over to insure no "down time".
- A generator must be in place that automatically takes over powering of all central station equipment in case of AC power failure.
- Central Station must have Uninterruptible Power Source that insures constant filtered power to equipment and in effect is a fail safe of at least 4 hours back up to generator.
Earning and maintaining UL certification is not an easy or inexpensive undertaking for a company. Hammond Security has chosen to be a UL Central Station because it means a consistent, knowledgeable and superior experience for our clients beginning on Day One!
How does Hammond monitor my security system?
Communication between your Hammond Security System and our Central Station begins with the installation of your alarm control panel, the detection devices, and a telephone connection in your home or business. That connection may be provided by a telephone company using standard copper telephone lines or PHIOS or by a cable company using Voice Over Internet Protocol VOIP.
Hammond programs your system to send a Daily Self Test to confirm the ability of systems to reach the central station in an emergency. (This way, you never have to wonder if your system is ready to perform!)
Telephone lines are susceptible to failure as a result of bad weather, equipment malfunction or failure and intentional disabling by burglars. Cable phones do not work without house power or if cable or internet service is disrupted.
If an alarm situation occurs, what happens next?
An alarm occurs when a specific device or sensor has been interrupted or tripped. The device communicates with the Central Processing Control Panel, which activates the local sounders as notification of an emergency and seizes your telephone line to send a specific signal to Hammond’s Central Station Monitoring Center.
The signal is received by one of our Central Station Operators, who will follows specific procedure depending on the type of alarm signal.
- The operator will notify the proper authorities.
- You or someone on your emergency contact list is notified of the situation.
- Follow up with the responding authorities continues until final resolution so that they have all the information and cooperation they need.
- Burglary
- Fire Alarm
- Residential Panic
- Medical Emergency
- Low Temperature Detection
- High Water Detection
- Commercial Fire
- Fire Sprinkler
- Commercial Ambush / Holdup Signal
- Propane or Natural Gas Detection
- Supervisory signals such as low battery or power failures.