Enhanced Call Verification
Proven Alarm Reduction Tool Serves
Law Enforcement, Alarm Users and Alarm Industry

Enhanced Call Verification (ECV) is proving to be the most effective program ever developed to reduce police dispatches to invalid alarms, according to case studies analyzed by the Security Industry Alarm Coalition (SIAC). In communities where Enhanced Call Verification (ECV) has been implemented, there is already evidence that the program is having a significant impact, with reductions of 25-60 percent in some jurisdictions.

For several decades, the alarm industry verified the authenticity of a burglar alarm by making a verification call to the premises. If an authorized person answered the phone, a simple exchange of a password allowed the industry to resolve the call without further action. This process allowed the industry to resolve 75% of all intrusion signals without need of a public response.

However, over time the net reduction to law enforcement was neutralized as the population of systems dramatically increased. In response to a request by law enforcement to once again find a solution that did not require any substantive action by police to the volume of calls the industry, under the umbrella of the Security Industry Alarm Coalition (SIAC), brought industry experts together to study this law enforcement challenge.

It was determined that while the industry continued to resolve 75% of all activity with a phone call, there remained this 25% of unresolved alarms in spite of the fact that as many as 80% of these were user error; and in order for there to be user error someone must be at the premises.

The concept of making two calls to different phone numbers seemed too simple to be effective enough to satisfy law enforcement. A test was run in the City of Boulder, Colorado, with the cooperation of the Boulder Police Department. The results of ECV were immediate. In the first month a 25% reduction was achieved and that built to over a 50% reduction in the first year, but the most impressive part was no ordinance was required, nor were there any fines to be collected. In Boulder, the simple process of having Chief Beckner issue a formal policy letter was successful. It stated that only those intrusion alarms verified by a minimum of two calls would be accepted for dispatch.

For law enforcement, ECV is a tool to reduce calls for service from alarm activations without reducing the crime deterrent and crime prevention benefits that alarm systems provide the community. ECV requires the alarm monitoring central station to make two telephone calls in response to any alarm activation in an attempt to verify the need for law enforcement response. ECV recommends the second call be made to a cell phone, an option that was not universally available 10 years ago.

Enhanced Call Verification was developed by the Security Industry Alarm Coalition (SIAC) and the affiliated professional alarm industry trade associations, and is endorsed by the IACP as a recommended practice. The IACP and SIAC also recommend that the community support local jurisdiction efforts to adopt policies or ordinances that require multiple call verification procedures.

"Studies have shown that an alarm company using ECV can eliminate up to 50 percent of alarm signals that would traditionally have resulted in a call for service because the signal was verified on the second call," explains SIAC Executive Director Stan Martin. SIAC is active in assuring that no new legislation is passed at the local level that does not include ECV. Additionally, there are now several states that require ECV, eliminating any need for law enforcement agencies to adopt it through either policy or ordinance. However, it remains for the local law enforcement agencies to enforce this provision. Enforcement action is actually a simple process where all that is required is for the call-taker at the local 9-1-1 center to ask each request for dispatch if at least two calls were made to verify and what are the two numbers that were called?

Martin believes this policy can achieve rapid results in a short period of time, and can benefit alarm dealers, law enforcement and the citizens who use alarms to provide crime prevention and security. "The local police will appreciate your attempt to reduce dispatches and be more inclined to take each alarm signal seriously," explains Martin. "The consumer will also appreciate that you are helping to ensure the efficient use of police resources. An additional benefit was that by reducing the volume of dispatches, the remaining calls actually enjoy a faster response by the police.

"Alarm companies should review ECV implementation with their legal counsel," said Ron Walters, SIAC Director. "We recommend companies adopt this for all new customers, then target the worst offenders first, since the vast majority of calls for service are generated from 10 percent of the customer base."

ECV should not be applied to manually activated alarms such as panic or holdup alarms. These types of alarms by their very nature are recommended for verification.

SIAC has developed guidelines on how law enforcement, alarm companies and citizens can implement Enhanced Call Verification. They are available at www.SIACinc.org.

The Security Industry Alarm Coalition (SIAC) is a non-profit organization formed to represent one voice for the alarm industry on alarm management issues. SIAC's primary charter is to significantly reduce calls for service and improve the lines of communication with law enforcement and end users to ensure the safety and security of more than 30 million alarm system users in homes and businesses throughout North America.

Revised January 2010