Alarm.com
Unified Intelligence: Alarm.com & IMS
For the professional bureau, Alarm.com represents more than just an interactive app; it is a powerful, cloud-based engine that bridges the gap between on-site hardware and the IMS A1R1-Graded Monitoring Centre. By integrating intrusion detection, video analytics, and smart access control into a single interface, IMS provides bureaus with a comprehensive toolset to manage risk, reduce false alarms, and deliver a premium security experience.
Proactive Video Analytics
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The Alarm.com ecosystem at IMS utilise advanced Video Analytics to transform surveillance into a proactive deterrent. By identifying people, vehicles, and animals in real-time, the system filters out harmless movement like shadows or swaying trees. This ensures IMS operators only receive high-priority alerts, allowing them to assess "Tripwires" and "Protected Zones" before a threat even reaches the building.
Real-Time Filtering
Edge-based processing identifies potential threats before they escalate, ensuring that IMS operators are only alerted to high-priority events.
By utilising sophisticated algorithms, the system can distinguish between harmless movement—such as shadows or rustling foliage—and specific targets like a person lingering near a secure entry point. This advanced discrimination allows IMS to establish "Tripwires" and "Protected Zones" that, when breached, provide operators with an immediate pre-alarm clip, ensuring the context of the threat is understood before the intruder even reaches the building.
Perimeter Guard™ Deterrence
Perimeter Guard™ moves security from passive recording to active deterrence. When an intruder enters a restricted zone, the camera’s built-in AI triggers immediate visual and audible cues, such as flashing LEDs and high-volume whistles. This "digital shout" alerts the trespasser they are being monitored, often stopping a crime by discouraging them before a break-in can even be attempted.
A1R1 Strategic Ecosystem: Alarm.com Cloud & IMS Monitoring
The Central Nervous System
For the modern bureau, Alarm.com serves as the central nervous system of a high-security site, bridging the gap between field hardware and the IMS A1R1-Graded Monitoring Centre. By consolidating intrusion, video intelligence, and access control into a single, cloud-managed stream, IMS empowers bureaus to move beyond basic monitoring into a proactive, data-driven security model. This unified approach eliminates the friction of managing disparate systems, allowing for a more responsive and premium service delivery.
Seamless System Interconnectivity
The true strength of the IMS-monitored Alarm.com solution lies in its Smart Interconnectivity, where all components—cameras, sensors, and locks—communicate through a centralised cloud. This allows for Visual Verification, where alarm signals from motion or door sensors are automatically "attached" to relevant video clips for instant IMS operator assessment. Furthermore, Automated Safeguards can be enabled to shut down HVAC systems during a fire to prevent smoke circulation and automatically unlock smart doors for emergency responders.
Bureau-Grade Scalability & Control
For bureaus managing multiple sites, the Enterprise Dashboard simplifies high-density monitoring without the need for complex on-site infrastructure. It offers Zero-Config Deployment using a dedicated cellular connection to bypass port forwarding risks, ensuring a secure, encrypted "handshake" with IMS. This allows bureaus to scale effortlessly, managing hundreds of user codes, access schedules, and camera feeds across various locations from a single, unified login.
Exclusive "Crash & Smash" Protection
Alarm.com provides a patented layer of security that ensures a signal reaches IMS even if the security panel is physically destroyed during the entry delay. By notifying the cloud as soon as a door is opened, the system anticipates a "disarm" signal; if the panel goes offline before that signal arrives, IMS is immediately alerted to a suspected "Crash & Smash" attack. This ensures that an intruder cannot disable the monitoring link by simply smashing the hardware.
Because this action takes place on Alarm.com's secure cloud platform, it doesn't matter how effectively the intruder smashes your security panel.
IMS Monitoring
On receiving a crash and smash alert, a trained security professional at your home's monitoring station assesses the situation, and can quickly alert your local police department to dispatch help to your home.
Integrated Access & Video Audit
Bureaus can provide clients with a comprehensive audit trail by linking access control events directly to video footage. When a user enters a code or swipes a fob, the system flags the specific moment in the video archive. This allows IMS or the bureau to instantly verify who accessed a site, eliminating the need to manually search through hours of footage to find a specific entry event.
Key Advantages for bureaus
1. Patented "Crash & Smash" Protection
Unlike standard systems that can be silenced if an intruder destroys the control panel during the entry delay, Alarm.com features patented Crash & Smash technology.
- How it works: The moment a "protected" door is opened, a signal is sent to the Alarm.com Cloud. If a "disarm" signal isn't received within the programmed time, the cloud automatically generates an alarm to the IMS monitoring centre, even if the panel has been smashed or disconnected.
2. AI-Driven Video Analytics & Deterrence
Alarm.com transforms cameras from passive recorders into active security guards.
- Object Classification: The system distinguishes between people, vehicles, and animals, virtually eliminating nuisance alarms for the bureau.
- Perimeter Guard™: Uses on-camera sirens and high-intensity LEDs to deter trespassers the moment they enter a restricted zone, preventing crime before it occurs.
3. Dedicated Dual-Path Communication
For maximum reliability, Alarm.com utilises a dedicated, encrypted cellular connection alongside the property’s internet.
- Redundancy: If the client's Wi-Fi fails or an intruder cuts the phone lines, the system remains fully operational.
- A1R1 Integrity: This dual-path approach ensures a 99.9% signal delivery rate to the IMS control room, meeting the strictest Australian security standards.
4. Unified Ecosystem Management
Bureaus can manage intrusion, video surveillance, and access control through a single "pane of glass."
- Enterprise Dashboard: This allow bureaus to manage hundreds of sites, user codes, and schedules from one login.
- Visual Verification: When a sensor is tripped, IMS operators receive a high-definition video clip of the event instantly, allowing for a verified, high-priority police response.
5. Smart Automation & Energy Management
Beyond security, Alarm.com provides value-added services that increase client retention.
- Operational Rules: Automate lighting, smart thermostats, and locks based on security events (e.g., "turn on all lights if the perimeter is breached").
- Property Awareness: Real-time notifications for non-alarm events, such as a medicine cabinet being opened or a temperature drop in a server room.
