Posts Tagged ‘Business Security’

Everyday Superhero: Robert Bowman

On a recent Sunday night, Robert Bowman received a silent hold-up alarm from a food mart in Radcliff, Ky. He immediately contacted the local police who headed toward the store right away.

The police arrived at the food mart and found the store clerk bleeding from his head. Turns out two men had rushed through the front door, toward the lone clerk. He had only a split second to press the silent panic button before he was hit over the head with a gun. The robbers grabbed some money and cigarettes and took off.

The police dispatched an ambulance for the clerk, called for backup, and started searching for the armed robbers. Thanks in part to Robert’s quick response, the police nabbed the men within an hour.

After the emergency

The pair are now behind bars and have been charged with robbery, endangerment, and assault.

We were happy to hear that the store clerk suffered only minor injuries and recovered in just a few days. The owners of the store said they were super impressed with the arrest, their alarm system, and how quickly the police were dispatched.

Everyday Superhero: Julia Trevino

On August 4, Julia Trevino received a burglary alarm from a business in California. She called the business, but didn’t reach anyone—she left a message. On her next call, she reached the business owner who said, “No one’s supposed to be there, send the police!”

Julia immediately called the police and they raced to the business.

After the emergency

When the police arrived, as they rounded the corner, they saw people climbing out of a broken window. They caught the burglars red-handed and quickly made the arrest.

When we reached the owner of the business, she said, “I’m thrilled that the police were able to arrest the burglars. Thank you Monitronics for helping to save my property from vandals.”

Saving Lives and Property: Ricardo Navarrete

Late one night, Emergency Dispatcher Operator Ricardo Navarrete received a silent hold-up button alarm from a convenience store in California. He knew that hold-up alarms can mean pretty scary situations for our customers. Without delay he called the police and with lights flashing and sirens blaring they raced to the store.

Once there, the officers took caution while approaching the store. With skill and precision they were able to apprehend a suspect who was in the process of robbing the clerk. Shocked that he had been caught, the suspect was quickly handcuffed and taken to jail where he was booked for the crime.

AFTER THE EMERGENCY

Later when we talked to our customer, he was well pleased with Ricardo’s quick response that saved the day. He said “Thank you Monitronics, great work.”

Tuesday Tips: Reduce Costly False Alarms

As a home or business owner, you know false alarms are a hassle. They waste time and resources for you, your monitoring company and responding police officers. And today, an increasing number of cities are beginning to charge individuals for excessive false alarms.

Don’t be the home or business that cried wolf. Follow these helpful tips from Monitronics on preventing those inconvenient—and potentially expensive—false alarms:

  1. Test your system monthly. It takes just a few minutes a month to make sure your system is working correctly.
  2. Secure all doors and windows. A curtain blowing in the breeze is enough to trigger a false alarm.
  3. Travel smart. Before you leave town for summer vacation, let your alarm company know that you’ll be away from home. Create a special passcode for the housesitter in case an alarm is triggered.
  4. Rethink your contact settings. Do you prefer not to be called after accidentally tripping your alarm? Change your settings. That way, your alarm company won’t automatically call you once you disarm the system.
  5. Update your call list. If your alarm company can’t reach you, they’re much more likely to dispatch police and firefighters over what may be a false alarm.
  6. Consider a pet-immune motion detector. This will keep Fido from constantly setting off the alarm.
  7. Know your code. Memorize your passcode, and share it with everyone who is authorized to be in your house, such as the babysitter, the cleaning woman and relatives.
  8. Be prepared to call. Post Monitronics’ toll-free number (800-447-9239) in an easily-accessible place so you and your family members can quickly cancel a false alarm.

Monitronics Recognized for False Alarm Reduction Efforts

Monitronics is delighted to announce that it has been awarded the prestigious FARA (False Alarm Reduction Association) Industry False Alarm Reduction Achievement Award. FARA presented the award to Monitronics at their annual convention this year in San Antonio, Texas.

Monitronics is recognized this year as a result of significantly reducing false alarms from 0.67% to 0.5% through several major programs beginning in August 2010. The company was chosen for the award by a group from across the US and Canada which consisted of public safety officials, peers in the industry, and alarm association representatives.  

“One of our industry’s basic challenges is false alarms; our ultimate goal is to positively impact how quickly emergency responders can reach victims during actual emergencies. The fact that FARA recognizes our efforts is an honor,” said Mary Jensby, Monitronics Central Station Director. “Our programs only work if every single member of our team is on board, that’s why this award represents our entire company and not just one person.”

This year marks Monitronics’ first year with the association and its first year of taking on false alarms. The company promises to continue to work with public safety officials, customers, and the industry to combat false alarms.