RMS is delighted to announce that we are among the first Alarm Receiving Centres (ARCs) to become ECHO-connected – fast tracking alarm signals to the Police. Being at the fore-front, RMS understands that every second counts when an alarm is raised, being able to quickly alert the Police to an on-going incident is paramount for protecting lives, property & livelihoods.
RMS is passionate about delivering improvements to our service which protect our customers, we constantly assess emerging technology and solutions to drive this ethos forward.
ECHO (Electronic Call Handling Operations) is set to transform intruder and hold-up alarm signal handling to police. By transitioning from telephone communication between RMS and participating Police Forces, to the ECHO-connected machine-to-machine system, police response times can be reduced by between 1 and 4 minutes.
ECHO is available to accredited ARC’s and Police Forces, from the 1st October, Essex & The Metropolitan Police Forces will be live on the ECHO platform, with more Police Forces joining in stages.
The Benefits of ECHO
FAST ALARM TRANSMISSISON
Electronic alarm transmission via the ECHO hub replaces the traditional handling of alarm calls by voice calls from the ARC to the blue light responder. The switch from slow and manual call handling to machine-to-machine signalling will save up to between 1 and 4 minutes in response times.
ACCURATE INCIDENT INFORMATION
Despite being well trained and dedicated call handlers know that mistakes can happen. ECHO reduces the potential for human error, such as mishearing an address or transliterating an incident type, ensuring accurate information is transmitted automatically.
AUTO EVENT INCIDENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FROM ‘BLUE LIGHT’ SERVICE TO ARC
ARC’s signalling alarm activations to the police need an incident number for their event log to confirm safe receipt by the police. With ECHO this can be communicated electronically often within seconds, saving time and freeing up operatives for more valuable tasks than taking details over the phone.
The Future of ECHO
WILL ENABLE URN STATUS MACHOINE-TOMACHINE CHECKS TO BE UPDATED REGULARLY
The Police occasionally withdraw or suspended URNs which enable police response. ECHO will in future ensure the ARC is aware, reducing unnecessary calls.
ADDITIONAL SITUATION INFORMATION TRAFFIC MAY BE PASSED
In future often valuable additional information about an event from an alarm system eg. “roller shutter door rear premises open” or “fire 3rd floor temperature 80 degrees“, may be part of the alarm transmission service, improving outcomes for property owners, occupiers and blue light responders.
FASTER AUTOMATED URN APLLICATIONS
The URN application and payment system is slow and manually intensive for all parties. ECHO anticipates future collaboration with the various players to automate this service for the benefit of all concerned.
FURTHER DEVELOPMENT MAY SEE THE ABILITY TO PASS LIVE AUDIO/VIDEO TO THE RESPONDER
As technology progresses ECHO envisages live streaming video images from premise with activated alarms to the responder through secure networks, again improving outcomes for all concerned.
For more information on ECHO visit their website https://www.echo.uk.net
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