KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE You can read all of our articles on our website. Having trouble getting our emails? Change your spam controls and white list ken@kirschenbaumesq.com ****************************** Comments on abort or cancel signals / don’t miss K&K’s free 2022 webinar series February 15, 2022 ******************** Webinars Schedule: See below for details and Registration ***************** TODAY: Webinar Title: what's new in the 2022 updated contracts When: February 15, 2022, at 12:00PM ET ***************** February 15, 2022: what's new in the 2022 updated contracts February 16, 2022: why use Disclaimer Notice and join Concierge Program February 22, 2022: common legal issues in buy-sell deals February 24, 2022: issues buying or selling alarm company and broker's roll March 1, 2022: All-in-One Operations and Accounting Software for Security Integrators March 8, 2022. Recruiting, hiring and retaining field talent ********************* Comments on false alarm results in criminal and civil cases in Texas - homeowner shoots cop from article on February 2, 2022 ********************* Ken: Very interesting article on Feb 2 2022 about the way a Central Station acted. I believe that the Central Station should be held 100% responsible for the death of the police officer. The station ran an automated test of the customer’s alarm system that returned an error. There are a number of things we do not know about the error based on your article. Was the automated test actually a supervised communication channel on cellular or internet and was it simply a missed response to a poll or a fail to send a periodic test? If the signal actually was a response from the customer’s alarm system, what “error” was reported? Was there any indication that the “error” indicated an intrusion? It should be noted that there was no indication of an alarm – it was an “error” * Station mistake number 1: No premises verification call made? (Likely if a verification call was made, the second test, (the “functioning properly test”) would have been received during the call and before the police notification! Station mistake number * 2: The station DID NOT call the police off after receiving the functioning properly test – notify the police that everything appears to be OK at the premises? Station mistake number * 3: After an all OK report the station missed the opportunity to avert a problem by calling the customer. A verification call would have ended the issue and the police would not have been notified. In the absence of the customer answering the phone, the “all OK” test report should have ended the issue, or the police could have been advised that there is no emergency. I have to question the station’s operating procedures that appear to dictate a police response for system troubles – or “error” reports. In my humble opinion this is so very wrong! If the system reports on internet or cellular communications the station should wait for a couple of minutes for a restore. We should all know that the internet can go down, sometimes for a few seconds and sometimes for hours; same with cellular service. And I fully realize that the communication failure may well be the result of an attack on the communication system. This does not preclude the premises verification call, especially on a residential system. Respectfully. David Currie Damar Security Systems (Over 45 years in the monitoring business) ********************* Another comment ********************** Ken Something doesn’t make sense; what am I missing? “An automated test” ; a test signal shouldn’t generate a police response! It is simply… I am out there and working signal. hat type of system has a handshake like that? Mike CSS ********************** Another comment ********************** Ken, In the article it says that "Lydia Security Monitoring, ran an automated test of the alarm system." What was the automated test they ran? If it was loss of daily, weekly or monthly test signal as I am thinking, why were the police dispatched on that? A test failure, if that what it really was, requires a notification to the customer not a dispatch to the police. Can this point be clarified please? Anonymous ******************** Another comment ******************** Ken In what municipality did this occur? Thanks Best regards, Sammy *********************** Response *********************** Keep in mind that the homeowner was charged with murder and beat the criminal case. Then the homeowner sued the central station and the alarm dealer; not sure for what, maybe cost of defending the criminal case. Dave offers harsh judgment against the central station, especially since he owns one. The central station operator made a mistake, at worst; shouldn’t have dispatched. It’s quite a stretch to think that the dispatch would end up by the homeowner shooting the cop. A more likely scenario is that an intruder would shoot the cop, or as we read in a recent case, where the cop shoots a dog. In tort law there are certain principles, such as reasonable and foreseeable consequences, and intervening acts. Here I think ultimately it will be found that the dispatch is too remote to what followed. Incidentally, what followed as far as the homeowner goes is that the homeowner was charged with murder and beat the charges. Maybe the operator shouldn’t have gotten up that day because it turns out to have been a hell of a day. As I mentioned in the original article the homeowner will be faced with the contract with the dealer and maybe another one with the central station. The homeowner won the murder case but I don’t think he’ll do as well in the civil case and I don’t think there should be any liability on the central station or dealer. ********************** Webinars: Registration - sign up today ********************** TODAY"S Webinar Title: what's new in the 2022 updated contracts When: February 15, 2022, at 12:00PM Eastern time Topic Details: most important updates in the 2022 contracts Presented by: Ken Kirschenbaum, Esq. Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum Who should attend: Company owners, CEOs, Managers, sales personnel Register here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1716607451924079886 ********************* Webinar Title: why use Disclaimer Notice and join Concierge Program When: February 16, 2022, at 12:00PM Eastern time Topic Details: when, how and why to use Disclaimer Notice / why you should join Concierge Program Presented by: Ken Kirschenbaum, Esq. 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FieldHub tackles some of the thorniest operational arenas that other platforms leave behind, including RMR management and inventory tracking, all on a robust, native general ledger platform to keep your revenue and expenses in sync. Learn how FieldHub provides a single system to manage leads and proposals through project and field service management, inventory, recurring/deferred revenue management, and full accounting. Presenter: Miles Fawcett, CEO FieldHub Inc. miles@fieldhub.com Phone: 202.417.8196 Hosted by: Ken Kirschenbaum,Esq., Who should attend: Company owners, CEOs, CFOs, Manager, back office personnel who work with management software Register Here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6859015638805983246 **************************** Webinar Title: Recruiting, hiring and retaining field talent When: March 8, 2022 12 PM ET Topic Details: Even before the pandemic, hiring and retaining field talent in the security industry was growing increasingly difficult. This webinar will explore the best ways to find talent, prequalify them and develop enthusiasm to consider joining your team as well as how to quickly determine if a candidate’s psychomotor skills match their resume. Webinar will discuss skill matrixes and why they are valuable tools to incentivize and retain talent, help improve morale and promote consistent, transparent compensation. Presenter: Peter Goldring, SET, NICET #143428 Fire Alarm Systems, Level IV, ACFE Certified Fraud Examiner. Peter M. Goldring Consulting LLC Phone 516-640-1410 peter@goldringprotection.com www.goldringprotection.com Hosted by: Ken Kirschenbaum,Esq., Who should attend: Company owners, CEOs, CFOs, Manager, Human Resource Personnel Register Here: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/7491717510381999116 ************************ Comments on abort or cancel signals from article on January 22, 2022 ************************* Ken This is regarding the January 22, 2922 post about inconsistent response by “central station” to abort or cancel signals generated by an alarm system. From the relatively wide variety of responses by different operators at the central station it appears to be an “operator training issue”. A central station should have a regular training regimen for operators with ”retraining” on a regular basis. The central station should also be establishing standards regarding information and instructions that each dealer should supply when a new account is set up. Example - when we set up new residential account for burg and fire we instruct central station to call protected premises twice before dispatch, if no contact made or incorrect password, dispatch. Abort or cancel signal from alarm system does not change the above instruction. An abort or cancel signal from the alarm system could easily be generated by customer under duress. Seth Oginz Security Consultants Unlimited *************************** Another comment ************************** Ken, Regarding Anon and Abort/Cancel Signals from Jan 22, 2022: Different alarm companies, of course, may want their signals handled different ways for a variety of reasons, but here are some suggestions which have proved useful over the years: First, here are some descriptions which may be useful: Abort/Cancel signal Duress disarm signal Duress password Panic alarm signal The Abort/Cancel Signal is a signal which is sent after a normal non-emergency disarm. I suggest that the central station always call the client on this signal. It gives the client an opportunity to give to the central station the Duress Password, which will be explained below. It also give the client a warm fuzzy to know that his system is actually working, communicating with the central station, and that an actual person saw the signal and responded to it. That builds loyalty, knowing that when he makes his monitoring payment, that there really is someone "watching over" him, and he is not just sending money into a black hole, wondering if his system is actually working while hoping for the best. It is a contact with the client. The Duress Disarm Signal is a signal which is sent to the central station when the client disarms with a special disarm code instead of the regular disarm code. This feature can be used in the instance in which a client is being forced by the bad guys to disarm the system. The code can be anything, including something simple and easy to remember, such as reversing the first two digits of the regular disarm code. Most alarm panels can be programmed by the alarm company to send a standard disarm signal when that user disarm code is entered. The alarm siren is programmed by the alarm company to NOT sound. The central station will usually NOT call the premises so as to not alert the bad guys that anything is amiss. But if the central station does happen to call, then the client would give the Duress Password. The central station would notify the authorities that there was a duress situation, NOT a regular burglar alarm signal. The Duress Password is a verbal word or phrase which the client would use any time he is talking with the central station and there is a duress situation underway, and the client cannot actively ask for help. Perhaps the bad guys are standing next to him when the central station calls and asks if everything is OK. The client could then reply that everything is OK, but give the Duress Password instead of the usual password. The central station would say something to the effect of "OK Have a good evening." or similar. The central station would then notify the authorities that the client was on location and he actively gave a verbal duress password. Duress and Panic verbal passwords and signals usually are given a higher priority than a standard burglar alarm signal. Well, they were in previous staffing level times. A Panic Alarm Signal is a signal the alarm panel would send if a panic button on the keypad was pressed. Most keypads have this feature. Pushing the panic button usually is programmed to sound the local siren. The central station could call the premises and ask for a password. Perhaps the person who pushed the panic button could give further info which could be passed on to the authorities. The central station would call the authorities and say that the panic button at the premises was actively pushed by someone at the location, and stress it was not just a burglar alarm signal. I feel that the person who pays the central station is the one who gets to specify, within reason, how signals are handled, not the central station. Most modern central station automation software has the ability to attach instructions to the operators about how to handle each signal. Attaching instructions which pop up when a signal arrives for each type of signal would help eliminate different operators handling the signal differently. In this time of staffing shortages, specific instructions attached to each kind of signals would help poorly or partially trained operators better know how to react to that signal. If any central station cannot or will not follow the alarm company's instructions, then the relationship with the alarm company and the central station needs to be re-evaluated. If the central station says, "my way or the highway", then the highway might be the better answer in the long run. There are several central stations listed in Ken's Alarm Exchange which would be glad to follow reasonable instructions given by the alarm company on how to handle alarm signals and passwords. Ken, please list me as Anon *************************** Response *************************** It’s important for central stations to train operators and there should be standard procedures for responding to common signals. I believe companies like NFPA, ETL and UL offer guidelines for response. Whatever the procedure it should be in writing, it should be available to the dealers and it should be provided to the customers upon request. We are not talking about a central station’s proprietary training manual, but a list of signals and how they are to be responded to. Despite operator training, technology sophistication, pop-up instructions, I think it increases risk when a customer asks the dealer and the dealer asks the central station to deviate from standard procedures. I think it adds to operator mistakes. So be careful what you ask for. *********************** To order up to date Standard Form Alarm / Security / Fire and related Agreements click here: www.alarmcontracts.com *************************** CONCIERGE LAWYER SERVICE PROGRAM FOR THE ALARM INDUSTRY - You can check out the program and sign up here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/concierge or contact our Program Coordinator Stacy Spector, Esq at 516 747 6700 x 304. *********************** ALARM ARTICLES: You can always read our Articles on our website at ww.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-articles updated daily ******************** THE ALARM EXCHANGE - the alarm industries leading classified and business exchange - updated daily ************************* Wondering how much your alarm company is worth? Click here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/what-is-my-alarm-company-worth ****************************** Getting on our Email List / Email Articles archived: Many of you are forwarding these emails to friends or asking that others be added to the list. Sign up for our daily newsletter here: Sign Up. You can read articles and order alarm contracts on our web site www.alarmcontracts.com ************************** Ken Kirschenbaum,Esq Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum PC Attorneys at Law 200 Garden City Plaza Garden City, NY 11530 516 747 6700 x 301 ken@kirschenbaumesq.com www.KirschenbaumEsq.com
