New security risks arise every day for businesses and their sites. With developing technology and innovations come new opportunities for criminals to target businesses, meaning businesses need to be in the position to respond promptly, or ideally, stay ahead of the criminal’s game! Although many will invest in advanced security systems, alarm monitoring is something that often gets overlooked. In this blog, we’ll explain the importance of alarm monitoring in business security and why it should be an integral part of your security strategy.
- What is Alarm Monitoring in Business Security?
- What Types of Alarms Can be Monitored?
- Why is Alarm Monitoring Important?
- Do Businesses Need Alarm Monitoring?
- Alarm Monitoring with RMS
What is Alarm Monitoring in Business Security?
Alarm monitoring, also referred to as remote monitoring, is the active monitoring of a system’s alarm system via an alarm receiving centre (ARC). Usually, a third-party service, a remote monitoring provider, will provide an alarm monitoring service, in which they will receive an instant signal when an alarm is triggered. Their team of dedicated, in-person monitoring operatives will carry out a rapid response to the triggered event, which can be bespoke to the site’s needs, such as a call to the site key holder or police response.
Alarm monitoring as a service therefore provides 24/7, around-the-clock monitoring of a business’ sites which helps support and improve business security, especially during periods such as out-of-hours.
What Types of Alarms Can be Monitored?
Alarm monitoring can be applied to a range of alarm types and systems within business security. Popular types of alarm monitoring include intruder alarm monitoring and fire alarm monitoring, both of which provide an extra layer of security and safety to a site, its people and assets.
Additional types of remote monitoring that can be implemented within sites, which also help to improve business security include CCTV monitoring, access control system monitoring and lone worker monitoring.
Why is Alarm Monitoring Important?
From small-scale businesses to large-scale corporations operating across multiple sites, outsourcing alarm monitoring to a remote monitoring services company can be extremely beneficial for a multitude of reasons, helping them to stay ahead of potential threats and keep what matters to them, safe. With 28% of all business premises being a victim of crime within the last 12 months, it is more important than ever to have the right security measures in place to protect business sites.
1. Proactive Threat Detection
Alarm monitoring provides sites with an extra layer of protection, equipping them to proactively detect possible threats before they are carried out, which is important for stopping them from escalating further.
For example, an unmonitored alarm system would only notify a site if someone was present or a passerby contacts the site. It could therefore be several hours before the emergency services are contacted. With an alarm monitoring contract in place, monitoring operatives could identify suspicious activity on CCTV cameras before the alarm system has been triggered and begin to initiate a response. This concept is sometimes referred to as proactive video monitoring. In addition, they can respond immediately to an alarm activation either helping to catch the criminal or prevent the crime or intrusion from escalating further.
Alarm monitoring therefore helps to identify threats and validate incidents early on which allows for more proactive threat detection.
2. Automated & Rapid Response
Alarm monitoring is also important for providing a rapid response to alarm triggers and any incident, something which unmonitored alarms cannot provide, and therefore leaves potential security and safety risks to a business.
When alarm monitoring is in place, an immediate response to every security threat and alarm trigger will be responded to in one way or another, even if it is a false alarm. This means that no alarm notification will go unnoticed, which will significantly increase the security of a business and its sites. Due to the automated notification to the monitoring company, the dedicated monitoring operative can provide an immediate and rapid response that is appropriate for the incident at hand. This quick response increases the likelihood of deterring a criminal or bringing them to justice, as well as minimising site and property damage, and financial loss and mitigating further business risks. Having a rapid response can also be tied to a professional key holding service to ensure that site access is available to emergency services without delay.
3. Enhanced Site Security & Employee Safety
Having alarm monitoring in place is important for sites as it can significantly enhance site security and employee safety. Not only does that add an extra layer of protection for site assets and property, but employees will also feel safe within their place of work, especially if they are in a lone worker role, which can leave many feeling vulnerable and at risk. Remote monitoring offers peace of mind regarding employee safety and wellbeing. Employees who feel safer will be more productive, happier and more efficient in their roles which will positively impact overall business activity.
4. Reduces False Alarms
False alarms are a common issue for many business sites and can lead to financial loss from site downtime and a decrease in productivity, all of which will negatively impact a business and its sites. Alarm monitoring helps to reduce false alarms by having every alarm notification confirmed and validated before a response is actioned. With this level of alarm validation in place, it means that only true alarm triggers are acted upon, meaning emergency service time isn’t wasted and businesses are not unnecessarily disrupted. The scale of this problem is significant; in the last year, Fire and Rescue Services in England attended over 250,000 fire false alarms, many of which were due to apparatus faults. Reducing this number is key to improving both safety and efficiency, as explored further in our guide on reducing false fire alarms.
5. Keeps Security Devices in Peak Health
Alarm monitoring services not only respond to alarms but can also identify any faults within the system, which is important for ensuring optimal security within businesses. Many sites will know too well the moment they learn their security or alarm system is faulty or not working effectively, only when it is too late and at the moment they need it most. Remote alarm monitoring prevents this and can inform sites of faulty or inefficient alarm systems.
6. Optimises Resources
When implementing alarm monitoring for a site, allows the business to optimise their resource and focus on other areas that need their attention. Self-monitoring can be expensive and time-consuming, so outsourcing the process to a third-party dedicated company can prove to be an efficient and effective solution.
7. The Financial & Operational Impact of Inaction
While the immediate costs of a security breach are clear—such as stolen property or malicious damage—the long-term financial impact of not having adequate alarm monitoring is often overlooked. Recent figures show that criminals are increasingly targeting businesses, with a 50% increase in the robbery of business property in the year ending March 2025.
Furthermore, economic crime is a massive and growing threat; the Economic Crime Survey 2024 revealed that 71% of businesses had incurred a direct or indirect financial loss from frauds experienced in the last 12 months. Without an immediate, monitored response, a business risks a significant loss of protecting valuable assets, severe damage that extends the cost of downtime, and increased insurance premiums. Alarm monitoring acts as a critical line of defence to minimise these impacts by ensuring the swiftest possible mitigation.
8. Beyond Security: Health and Safety Monitoring
The utility of remote monitoring extends far beyond typical security threats like intrusion and fire. A modern Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) can monitor a host of environmental and industrial alarms that pertain to critical business operations and safety. This includes monitoring for environmental hazards such as extreme temperature fluctuations, power failures, or the detection of hazardous materials. For example, systems can be put in place for gas leak monitoring or to monitor key operational parameters via a building management system (BMS) monitoring.
This holistic approach helps businesses ensure compliance with strict fire safety regulations and prevents costly equipment failures that could halt production. By integrating all these signals into a single, monitored system, you gain comprehensive control and peace of mind over the entire operational health of your site.
Do Businesses Need Alarm Monitoring?
Alarm monitoring is not a legal requirement for businesses and sites but it can be extremely beneficial and increase their level of security and protection against threats and crimes. Alarm monitoring has a vital role in enhancing existing security and alarm systems and allows for immediate response to incidents that are often difficult to do in-house. Reducing false alarms and identifying system faults is also another advantage of utilising alarm monitoring which will have a positive impact on improving overall business efficiencies.
Alarm Monitoring with RMS
The importance of alarm monitoring in business security mustn’t be overlooked. It can be a vital investment that could make all the difference when it matters most. At RMS, we provide a variety of security and non-security monitoring services that enhance sites across all sectors. Understanding the nuances of a remote monitoring system is essential to getting the most out of your security investment, and reviewing best practices for remote monitoring is highly recommended.
Click here to find out more and discover how our NSI gold-approved services can benefit your business.
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