Re: Commercial Alarm - help

[J. Sloud <jsloud@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 9 Nov 2005 20:34:45 -0800, "Jim" <alarminex@xxxxxxx> wrote:

>

>An oil burner service company recieves constant calls from people who
>claim to have furnace problems.  Less than 1% don't have problems. Upon
>reviewing their service records the service company comes to the
>conclusion that since 99% of the people who called saying they had oil
>burners problems, actually did have problems ..... Therefore, oil
>burners are no good, aren't useful and don't heat homes.

That analogy doesn't stand up. To make it true, you would have to say
that 99% of people who have oil burners expeience no heat when the
device is activated.  Upon further examination by the service company,
it is discovered that some oil burners are broken, some weren't
installed correctly, some weren't designed for the application in
which they are installed, and the vast majority are too complicated
for the average consumer to operate.  Regardless of the reason, 99% of
the time, the device doesn't operate as intended.  99% of the time,
the consumer is left freezing.  How long would oil burners be around?


In my view the primary value of alarm systems is the monitoring
service that initiates police response. The equipment is just a means
to an end.  The percentage of actual break-ins vs. unnecessary police
dispatches is all that is relevant.  If 99% of the time, the police
are dispatched due to a false alarm, then the failure rate of
detecting break-ins and providing police response is what?


The "system" includes everything installed in the house or business as
well as the monitoring center and dispatch.  All must function
correctly to ensure a dispatch and police response to a break-in.  If
any one of these do not work correctly, the system is broken.  The
average consumer only cares about the ability to detect an intruder
and to dispatch the police if an intrusion takes place.