Nigel Allen <ndallen@contact.uucp> (09/23/90)
Walter Kemmerer describes receiving strange calls at five-minute intervals that turned out to originate from a fried alarm system. It is probably a bad idea to rely upon an alarm system that calls 911 itself. In Toronto, the police will not respond to computer-generated emergency calls because if the large number of false alarms. If you want a burglar alarm system, you should probably consider having one installed by a reputable contractor and monitored by a reputable security company. When an alarm comes in, the security company calls 911. Security is more than just alarms, of course. Your local police department can offer advice on making your house less attractive to burglars (good locks everywhere, lights above all entrance-ways, Neighborhood Watch programs, etc.). If you run a BBS and ask new users to request validation in writing or to send you a financial contribution, consider using a post office box so that your address is not widely known.
pacolley@violet.uwaterloo.ca (Paul Colley) (09/26/90)
In article <12479@accuvax.nwu.edu> ndallen@contact.uucp (Nigel Allen) writes: >Walter Kemmerer describes receiving strange calls at five-minute >intervals that turned out to originate from a fried alarm system. >It is probably a bad idea to rely upon an alarm system that calls 911 >itself. In Toronto, the police will not respond to computer-generated >emergency calls because of the large number of false alarms. As I recall the announcement a couple of years ago, they announced that they would stop responding after a certain number of false alarms, something like two in a one-year interval, not that they wouldn't respond at all. Paul pacolley@violet.waterloo.edu or .ca [Moderator's Note: In Chicago, the Fire Department continues to respond to each automatic fire alarm -- false or not. However they send bills to companies which generate 'frequent' false alarms, to the tune of $550-575 per thirty minutes of service: responding, investigating and returning to Quarters. An expensive lesson, eh? Likewise, the police respond to automatic alarms. Our city officials said they have no intention of jeopardizing a citizen actually in distress because of a history of malfunctioning alarms at the same location. Instead, the offending alarm owner is sued or fined by the city after the second or third time around. PAT]
cmoore@brl.mil (VLD/VMB) (09/27/90)
Moderator writes: >Our [Chicago] city officials >said they have no intention of jeopardizing a citizen actually in >distress because of a history of malfunctioning alarms at the same >location. Instead, the offending alarm owner is sued or fined by the >city after the second or third time around. So no redlining here? Apparently, in areas which are redlined for a history of phone (credit card?) abuse, it is harder to identify who is committing the fraud. [Moderator's Note: You are correct. No redlining by the City of Chicago where false alarms are concerned. *Nor should AT&T be permitted to do it.* Maybe they will get sued to make them stop redlining. Instead of punishing the whole community, punish the guilty persons. Imagine the confusion AT&T's policy must cause for the unsophisticated but legitimate user of their 'Universal Card' -- universal that is except for calls to several countries from several neighborhoods they (AT&T) don't like doing business in. PAT]