Monitoring

For decades, Electro Watchman has operated its own in-house Central Station.  Our trained operators respond quickly and effectively to dispatch emergency services in the case of an alarm.  When you call our Central Station, you will speak to a live person without navigating an automated phone system, and we never outsource monitoring. Our Central Station is located in St. Paul at our corporate headquarters to provide services to customers in the Upper Midwest by folks local to the Upper Midwest.

What happens during an alarm?

When an alarm system is tripped, a signal is sent to our Central Station via telephone line or wireless alarm communicator. In the event of a burglary alarm, the local police or sheriff's department is dispatched. In the event of a fire alarm, the local fire department is dispatched. The Central Station operator will then contact designated keyholders, as provided by the customer, until someone is reached. The keyholder may then respond to the alarm by traveling to the site to investigate, allowing police or fire officials to take action as needed, or canceling the dispatch. If calls have been placed to all individuals on the call list and no person is reached, the operator will leave a voicemail or answering machine message alerting the individual to the alarm and dispatch will continue as ordered. If mechanical or low temperature alarms are triggered, the system will alert our operators who will notify designed keyholders without alerting police or fire departments.

Additional Support Services

We offer several services that support the monitoring of your home or business. Contact your nearest location to find out how these services can work for you.

  • Scheduled hours can be set to alert managers if a business is opened late or closed early.

  • Written reports of alarm activity provided by mail, email or fax on a weekly or monthly basis.

  • Elevator monitoring allows individuals trapped in an elevator to speak directly with a Central Station operator from the emergency telephone located in the elevator. Our operators will dispatch the proper authorities to assist the victim.

  • Service plans to provide repairs or maintenance required on your alarm – completed without the extra cost of a service call. Just give us a call to set up your customized service plan.

  • 24-hour emergency service is available for all customers. Our service department has on-call factory trained technicians available at all times to service damaged alarms. Our customers can also speak to a technician by telephone 24 hours a day.

    For UL certified alarm systems, our Central Station and service department are required to respond to system trouble signals within two hours of notice. This repair service keeps your UL system in tip-top shape.

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