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SoCalSimpli89

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Friday, February 3rd, 2023 6:30 AM

Instant trigger alarm signal?

How long does it take for the base station to send its signal to monitoring once an instant trigger sensor is set off? Is it instant or does it take a few seconds?

To clarify, I’m not asking about the amount of time it takes to get a call from monitoring once an alarm signal is received, as I know that takes about 30 seconds. 

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10 months ago

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captain11

Captain

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6.1K Messages

2 years ago

@SoCalSimpli89 All of my intrusion sensors are set to instant trigger, accept for the one door we normally use to enter the house (even in home mode we get the same effect by making the exit and entry delay to 0.)

That said, from actual experience through deliberate testing and of course the occasional false alarm, it is literallly "instant". The base will not sound the siren until after the signal is sent to dispatch. The time from the instant trigger sensor is tripped to the siren sounding is within seconds. You can call monitoroing, have them put your entire system in test mode for x amount of time and test this yourself.

(edited)

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emily_s

Community Admin

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3.4K Messages

2 years ago

Hi @SoCalSimpli89, 

As Captain said, when your sensors are set to Instant Trigger, an alarm will sound and monitoring services will be alerted instantly - with zero delay.

(edited)

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_WH

3 Messages

10 months ago

Based on this post and others, is the below table correct?

SENSOR TRIGGER SETTING WHEN ALARM EVENT SENT TO SS MONITORING WHEN SIREN ACTIVATED DISARMED WITHIN X SECONDS NOT DISARMED WITHIN X SECONDS
Instant Trigger ON Sent IMMEDIATELY upon sensor tripping Activated after alarm event sent to SS Monitoring (basically immediately after sensor tripped) SS Monitoring will ignore alarm event if disarmed within 30 seconds. SS Monitoring will initiate alarm protocol - calling user, viewing cameras, alerting police, etc. after 30 seconds.
Instant Trigger OFF Sent AFTER user defined delay countdown. (SS Monitoring will never know the sensor was tripped if Base Station was destroyed during this time.) Activated after alarm event sent to SS Monitoring, which would be after the user defined delay time. NO alarm event sent if disarmed within user define delay time. (SS Monitoring does not know that sensor was tripped.) Alarm event is sent to SS Monitoring AFTER user defined delay and SS Monitoring will then initiate alarm protocol - calling user, viewing cameras, alerting police, etc. after around 30 seconds.

If this is accurate, I would think that better mode of operation for the "Instant Trigger OFF" scenario should be just like the "Instant Trigger ON" Scenario in that the alarm event is sent to SS Monitoring immediately except that the Siren is activated is after the user defined time delay.

Thank you!!

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shiherlis

739 Messages

@_WH​ 

I would say disarming will most often still prompt a call from monitoring when a sensor is on Instant Trigger (which I take no issue with and prefer).

 

A few weeks ago, I was sleeping on the third floor and entered my office on the first. I forgot I had set my office Motion Sensor to Instant Trigger in Home mode (usually only assigned to Away). As soon as I opened my office door, the alarm was blaring, and since I was inches away from the Keypad, it took only seconds to turn it off. Monitoring still called me and my second number contact to ensure everything was okay. It has also happened other times, but only on the sensors set to Instant Trigger. Which, like Captain, is all but one – the one I use to enter my residence mainly. I always feel bad when I open an entry point, which triggers the alarm, but monitoring seems to genuinely not mind (it is not often, but human error allows it to happen). They want to know I am safe, and that is incredible.

 

While some may find fault with it, I would have it no other way. Instant, in my experience, is literal.

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10 months ago

_WH

3 Messages

Thank you for sharing your experience.

In the event that a sensor is NOT set to Instant Trigger and is tripped, it seems that there is still a vulnerability where during the countdown the alarm event will not be sent to SS Monitoring until the countdown is over and thus the security system is vulnerable to Base Station destruction and thus will not send out the alarm event during this time and thus SS Monitoring has no idea that a break-in has occurred.

Although I have mine set to Instant Trigger for most sensors except for one door, that door is a point of vulnerability with the way I understand SS sends (or rather delays sending) the alarm event. I hope SS has resolved this security loophole, but I did not see anything to suggest that they have.

On the other hand, I am happy to hear that SS Monitoring is on top of things when they get the alarm event.

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10 months ago

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emily_s

Community Admin

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3.4K Messages

@_WH​ During the Entry Delay countdown before an alarm sounds, the Base Station hides by turning off its light and doesn't make any sound (which is why the countdown comes from the Keypad, as it also distracts from the Base Station.) And if the Base Station is ever unplugged during an Entry Delay, an alarm signal will immediately be sent to our Monitoring Center. 

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10 months ago

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