Center Moves to Take Alarms Directly, Sparks Debate

An Illinois comm center serving three neighboring cities will install new alarm monitoring equipment so dispatchers can directly receive and dispatch fire, burglary and other alarms, instead of having the alarms received and transferred by a private company. The decision by the Tri-Com Central Dispatch board of directors to eliminate Alarm Detection Systems (ADS) as “middleman” in the process has sparked opposition from ADS and questions from citizens who ask if the comm center should be moving into the alarm monitoring business. Tri-Com was formed in 1976 to serve St. Charles, Geneva and Batavia west of Chicago.

The center monitors a certain number of alarms for city premises using Keltron Corp. monitoring equipment. Private alarms are handled traditionally by ADS—when an alarm is activated at a premise, it’s transmitted by phone line or wireless connection to ADS, who confirms the location, relays the alarm information to Tri-Comm, and notifies the premise emergency contact.

Now, Tri-Com wants to upgrade its Keltron equipment to create a wireless alarm receiving system. The upgrade would allow Tri-Com to take over the ADS accounts and receive them directly, cutting response times, board members say. The new wireless system would also connect directly to CAD, and save the center about $65 a month in phone line costs.

The board received approval from all three city’s councils to sole-source the bids for the upgrade, saying, “There is 1 type of equipment that can best work with the Tri-Com setup.” The board issued a Request for Proposal (RFP), and several of the seven Keltron authorized dealers in the area may have submitted bids by today’s deadline.

A coalition reportedly backed by citizens is opposing the alarm changes, saying Tri-Com is “dismantling” the private alarm business in the region, and that the logical next step would be for Tri-Com to mandate that any private alarm connect to its equipment instead of private alarm companies. Read about the ADS opposition here, and read about the coalition that opposes the alarm changes here. Download (pdf) the sole-source bid waiver request and RFP here.