Whether you need to protect your property against burglars, respond to emergencies, or proactively respond to natural hazards, alarm systems are the critical infrastructure behind threat detection and prevention. A good alarm system provides peace of mind and faster emergency response when it matters most.
Types of Alarm Systems
All alarm systems have one thing in common: they must detect hazards and alert all relevant parties quickly. In emergency situations, time is of the essence, and so the effectiveness of any alarm system is directly proportional to the speed and magnitude of its response.
Burglar Alarms
- Meant to detect, deter, and respond to intruders. Typically a network of sensors consisting of door contacts, motion sensors, and glass break sensors. Deterrence can include sirens, strobes, talk-down speakers, and automated or agent-verified police dispatch.
Fire Alarm Systems
- Meant to detect and respond to incidents involving smoke and fire, integrating with local fire departments and sprinkler systems, as well as sirens and strobe lights to prompt evacuation from the facility.
Medical Alerts
- Typically consisting of wearable devices/buttons that allow patients to summon medical staff or emergency services.
Gas Detection
- These alarms monitor the presence of certain types of gas (propane, natural gas, methane, etc) to alert in the case of potential leaks.
Carbon Monoxide
- Respond to high levels of carbon monoxide, a deadly and otherwise unnoticeable gas.
Access Control
- Typically meant to allow/restrict physical access throughout a facility, these systems often work hand in hand with Burglar Alarms to detect unauthorized entry to restricted areas
Video Surveillance
- Similar to Access Control, Video Surveillance systems often stand alone to monitor facilities and provide post-hoc context to investigations. However, some Burglar Alarm systems are able to leverage cameras to provide proactive responses with high visibility into events.
Leak Detection
- Detect leaks and flooding
Environmental/Air Quality
- Designed to detect and respond to incidents involving the environmental health and safety of a building, including temperature, humidity, and Air Quality Index readings.
Panic Buttons
- Geared toward responding to emergency scenarios in real-time, calling emergency services with the press of a button and allowing security personnel to secure the facility accordingly.
Alarm System Architecture
Regardless of the type of alarm, the majority of systems follow a familiar hub-and-spoke architecture, with nodes spanning out from a central “brain”, which may or may not be connected to the local network.
Inputs
Door contacts, motion sensors, and glass break sensors.
Smoke detectors
Water leak sensors
Panic buttons
Brains
- Centralized panel that processes inputs and coordinates outputs
Outputs
- Sirens/strobes, notifications to dispatch centers, Access Control Lockdowns, etc
Responses
- Police are called, facilities teams take action, situations get resolved or escalated
Factors When Choosing the Right System
When it comes to selecting the alarm system that’s right for you, there are a number of factors to consider. Everything from the type of threat that needs to be detected, what you need to have happen in response to the threat, and the scale of the system will all have implications on scoping the correct system.
Considerations
Type of threat — What situation are you trying to protect the system against?
Scale — How large is the physical footprint of the property? Are there multiple buildings?
Desired response — How would you like to respond to the threat when it occurs? Do you need immediate physical responses such as sirens and sprinklers, or is a passive alerting system enough? Do emergency services need to be involved, and if so, which services?
- Cost — What is the budget for the project? How much would a potential security incident cost, and what is the ROI of the system over the life of the warranty? Is it preferable for the investment to hit the books as a CAPEX project or is an ongoing OPEX structure more desirable?
- Installation — How permanent is the system expected to be? Hard-wired systems will require more intensive installation, whereas wireless systems may be easier to install at the cost of more frequent maintenance.
- Reliability — What is the potential impact of a system outage? How resilient does the system need to be against internet outages, power outages, and attacks? This will influence the installation approach and potential cost of redundancies for power and connectivity.
Some systems act in combination with each other and can serve more than one purpose. For instance, a burglary alarm may tie into a fire alarm system, or act as a 2-in-1 system with environmental sensors. Each situation is unique, so it is important to consult a professional to appropriately scope and design the alarm system that’s right for your needs.
Why Modern, Integrated Alarm Systems
Alarm systems are a crucial investment in safety, protecting people and property from a wide range of threats. Whether deterring intruders, detecting fires, or monitoring environmental hazards, a well-designed system ensures that appropriate measures are taken quickly to minimize potential risks or damages.
A powerful alarm system is one that is able to seamlessly integrate different building security systems such as surveillance, access control, and environmental sensors into the burglar alarm system to provide complete context on all potential events. Additionally, an effective alarms provider will allow for the flexibility to meet a variety of scalability, reliability, and installation needs to provide the maximum efficacy for any budget and risk tolerance.
As each situation is unique, choosing the right system requires careful consideration of the type of threats to protect against, the scale of the system, and desired responses.
Experience Fully Integrated Cloud Physical Security
Verkada provides a best-in-class security solution designed to keep your facility secure, no matter the industry or scale.
Unified Security Platform – Manage cameras, alarms, access control, intercoms, and sensors from a single, unified cloud platform.
Reduce False Alarms – Advanced analytics reduce false alarms by distinguishing between real incidents and harmless events with AI-driven monitoring and alerts.
24/7 Professional Monitoring – Ensure fast response to any security event. Trained agents can review footage, resolve false alarms, call designated contacts, talk down intruders, and request police dispatch if needed.
Seamless Integration – Connect alarms with video surveillance and access control for complete visibility on any event, instantly.
Cloud-Based & Remote Access – Manage and monitor security from anywhere via web or mobile app, with real-time notifications.
Automated Incident Response – Intelligent automation enables lockdowns, custom alerts, and emergency workflows based on detected threats.
Scalable & Easy Deployment – Wireless and PoE options simplify installation and easily scales across multiple locations/states/countries.
Role-Based Permissioning – Limitless scalability for stakeholders to have access to everything they need, and nothing they don’t.
Reliable & Redundant – Works during power or internet outages with backup power, cellular connectivity, and local storage.
Minimal Maintenance – Automatic software updates ensure security systems stay up to date without manual intervention.
Learn How You Can Protect What Matters Most
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