FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 12, 2017
Contact:
Kraig Troxell, Media Relations and Communications Manager, 703-771-5278
[email protected]
Laura Rinehart, Loudoun County Fire-Rescue Public Information Officer, 703-771-5332 [email protected]
Loudoun County, VA: Loudoun County became the twenty-ninth county in the United States and the second in the Washington, DC area to go live with the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP), a technology that allows alarm companies to transmit alarms to both the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office and Loudoun County Fire and Rescue communications centers without making a phone call.
This week data from residential and business alarms can now be transmitted electronically, allowing dispatchers to process an alarm in a fraction of the time it would normally take to process an alarm via telephone from an alarm monitoring company. “This new system will eliminate call volume from alarm companies and transmit alarm information to our emergency communications center in three seconds, ultimately reducing the response times of first responders,” said Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman.
ASAP will not only improve the accuracy and the speed of emergency response times, but eliminate potential human error and miscommunication between 911 dispatchers and alarm monitoring company operators. “In any emergency, response time and accuracy is critical,” said Chief Keith Brower with Loudoun County Fire and Rescue. “By directly transmitting the information all pertinent information goes directly to Loudoun’s first responders within seconds,” added Chief Brower.
ASAP was created in partnership with The Monitoring Association (and the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO).
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