I am the alarm company contact

[hinesward]

When I took this job, it was a very open place. We didn't have an alarm system. Well, the inevitable happened--a break-in. Then we got an alarm system. It was put in around January or February.

A couple weeks later, I got my first call on a Sunday afternoon. I live only about ten minutes away. I went in and found out what I figured--someone was here who was supposed to be here. I called the alarm company and told them everything was fine.

In April, one of our European users set off the alarm. I called him from my place as I figured he was the one who had done it. It was a Saturday afternoon--I again told the alarm company that everything was fine.

The third time was the first time that I was truly annoyed. It was the night of the seventh game of the NBA finals. I was watching my beloved Lakers. This time, I told the alarm company to send in the cops. Again it turned out to be an employee who had stayed late.

The very next morning, I got another call. An employee who always goes in early had set it off. He said that he always disarms it. For some reason, he could not do it this time.

On Sunday, it happened yet again at about 3:00. This time, one of our employees simply walked in for a moment and then left. Nobody was there when I showed up.

Tonight I got a call simply because our power was out. Apparently the alarm company calls this for this as well.

I don't think I am the only contact for the alarm company. I also believe that other people are ahead of me on the list. The problem is that I am the first person who is dumb enough to answer his phone.

My fellow co-workers have been told what to do in the event that the alarm goes off. They all have been given the phone number for the alarm company. They have all been given the password. I am really getting sick and tired of dealing with this, as it was not in the job description when I took this job.

It would also be nice if the people who are ahead of me on this freaking list would actually answer their phones. I don't believe that I am first on the list. I might as well be, however.

This is starting to get really irritating. In about six months, I have now been called six times for this alarm system.
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[bigchiefdan]

We have a similar scenario. You should be able to ask the monitoring service who they have attempted to call before you as well as you should be able to obtain a list from your "security officer" or whomever wears a hat close to that one.

If your company has never had something like this before it could be something as simple as they have some wrong numbers before you or the list is not in the right order.
good luck.

 

[Welshbird]

It sounds to me like this is a training issue - surely the staff who 'inadvertantly' set of the alarm need to be properly briefed as to how to avoid doing that. I'd argue that the best outcome here would be to stop the alarm going off so frequently, as well as making sure that the correct people respond if it does.

Fee

"The cure for anything is salt water – sweat, tears, or the sea." Isak Dinesen