Standards
AVS-01 Rollout: Insights From Alarm & Monitoring Industry Stakeholders
By Dave Holl
In response to the need for improved communication and situational awareness between the private security industry and public safety, the Partnership for Priority Verified Alarm Response (PPVAR) and The Monitoring Association (TMA) initiated a groundbreaking project years ago to establish an alarm-scoring standard.
PPVAR recently interviewed executives from monitoring centers and emergency communication centers (ECCs) involved in the initial pilot programs, delving into their program origins and ongoing experiences.
Coming up we hear from a pair of ADT security industry veterans, Tom Nakatani, vice president of customer monitoring technology, and Mike Picciola, vice president of monitoring and customer care. They share insights into ADT’s first AVS-01 pilot with NETCOM 911, which deployed on Aug. 7, 2023.
Be sure to check out the online version of the conversation, where we go even deeper into AVS-01 with a handful of other key stakeholders, including: Heather Hummel, emergency services dispatch supervisor, Fresno, Calif., Police Department; Terese Kent, public safety liaison, ADT; Morgan Hertel, vice president of technology and innovation, Rapid Response Monitoring; and, Anita C. Ostrowski, director of central station services, Vector Security.
How did your team prepare for the implementation of the AVS-01 standard? What approaches did you use to target and effectively communicate with the ECCs?
Nakatani: ADT was deeply involved with the creation of the AVS-01 standard and has been routinely working with many AHJ’s across the country. Our preparation started very early with preparation of training materials and application changes. Through our AHJ relationships and outreach, the ADT team was able to educate ECCs and their first responders on the AVS-01 standard and get their agreement to receive the alarm level. This pilot program has been mutually beneficial in creating a feedback loop and learn how the ECCs are training their staff and adjusting their internal procedures for enhanced alarm response.
How do you facilitate the AVS-01 standard communication with the ECCs? Is it primarily through verbal or electronic means (describe path)? Additionally, please share your experiences and perspectives on the effectiveness of these communication methods in ensuring timely and accurate responses.
Nakatani: Verbally, as that was the fastest way to begin using the standard. ADT is fully committed to pioneering and driving AVS-01, and the vast majority of ECCs do not currently have capabilities to accept the information electronically. Our monitoring systems have been updated to provide alarm level scores for all of our customers and we’re prepared to send the information electronically as ECCs are trained and indicate their readiness to accept the new data.
The important part of communicating any information is making sure it’s meaningful and easy to comprehend. The AVS-01 alarm level was easily implemented as part of the protocol used between our agents and the ECC, and more importantly was actionable by the first responder.
How did your team prepare and train for the rollout of AVS-01?
Picciola: ADT used the resources made available by PPVAR and TMA to develop a comprehensive training plan including education, scenario-based practice and agent audits to prepare for the AVS-01 Alarm Scoring rollout. The training consisted of conducting an overview of the standard’s importance, creating scenario-based knowledge checks, and completing deep dive research of each ECC notification to ensure proper communication occurred.
Our research of each ECC notification enabled us to gain valuable insights that we could share with team members and then adjust our training curriculum for other monitoring work groups. Emphasis was placed on the importance of alarm level accuracy, which enables authorities to respond with the appropriate safety measures, protecting themselves and our customers and most importantly may prioritize alarm response. Our public safety partners trust us to provide reliable and valuable information, and this is critical to adoption of the AVS-01 Alarm Scoring standard.
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In implementing the AVS-01 standard, can you share the steps and strategies your monitoring center employed?
Picciola: We started off in a purely manual environment in working with a small team of operators and a small set of agencies. In implementing AVS-01, ADT’s monitoring center took steps such as routing the pilot agency alarms to a specialized team, verifying alarm levels provided in ECC notifications, and investigating each Alarm Level 2,3,4 incident by following up with responding agencies and customers.
Leaders reviewed daily all interactions for each alarm event handled. Account reviews were followed by individual meetings with team members to provide feedback, review opportunities, and gain a better understanding of decisions made while handling each alarm event. Weekly team meetings included a review of learnings from the previous week’s call reviews. We consistently utilized role plays to allow team members to practice proper communication of alarm levels and asking appropriate probing questions to gather information that ensured accuracy in the information provided to law enforcement.
What insights and lessons did your team gather that could be valuable for other monitoring centers considering or preparing for a similar rollout?
Picciola: Valuable insights for other monitoring centers include the importance of thorough training, which includes scenario-based situations that may be encountered, verification of communication protocols, and post-incident follow-ups to validate appropriate handling. We identified that probing questions were an important area of focus to ensure our team members gathered the necessary details to identify the correct alarm level.
We emphasized the importance of relying on fact-based information. Often customers have additional information to provide if the appropriate questions were asked. Such as: Do you have cameras you can view? What is happening in the video? Do you recognize the person in the video? Can you describe the person in the video? Are you aware of anyone being on site? Were you expecting anyone? Are you at the premises?
When communicating an alarm event to an ECC, we required a standard opening script to ensure consistency in how alarm levels were communicated with each notification.
Any other thoughts or insights that would be helpful for others who have not implemented AVS-01 yet?
Given how clear and straightforward the standard was developed, rollout and adoption for our monitoring center was relatively easy. Adoption of the standard does not require a significant investment in technology to get started. In many cases, the monitoring center was performing similar procedures and asking the appropriate questions in normal standard operating procedures to determine the alarm score.
Operators embraced the clarity, the standard communication protocols, and confidence knowing that they are providing the right information to keep customers safe. Encourage critical thinking by asking open-ended questions to understand their alarm level reasoning. Critical thinking and problem solving is an essential skill that is becoming even more important in the role of a monitoring agent that is consistently required to analyze and evaluate information from multiple sources that may determine their next course of action.
What impacts to call center employees are you expecting with continued roll out of the standard?
Picciola: Nationwide adoption of AVS-01 will actually make the monitoring center agent’s job and overall training easier due to the clarity and way in which the standard was so thoughtfully put together. It creates a common language and protocols for the delivery of information which ultimately will keep more people safe. MT
David Holl is the Director of Public Safety for Lower Allen Township, Pennsylvania. In that role he oversees the police department, emergency medical services, is liaison to two Township volunteer fire companies, and serves as the municipal Emergency Management Coordinator. He is also the Immediate Past President of the Partnership of Priority Verified Alarm Response (PPVAR).
