Cancel alarm by text - how to opt out?

@Boring_Joe,

Currently, you cannot opt out of the ability to cancel an alarm via text without opting out of Alarm Texts altogether. However, as Davey said, Alarm Texts will not replace your Duress Pin - you can use it in any alarm event. 

It is a great suggestion to opt out of canceling an alarm through text while still keeping Alarm Texts. I'll pass this idea along to our dev team.

@Boring_Joe​ that "2-minute timer" only applies to canceling via the Alarm Text, and the phone call sequence is in parallel to that. I have more detailed answers here.

@davey_d​ I have read that support article before and read it again just now. I still don’t understand.  If monitoring calls anyway shortly after the alarm is triggered and will send authorities if I don’t answer, then I really don’t have 2 minutes to cancel the alarm by text. Correct?

Also, just to confirm an alarm is not considered triggered until after the entry delay expires, correct?

Does instant trigger override any entry delay?

Finally, if entry delay is set to 30 seconds and my front door entry sensor is NOT set to instant trigger, does the base station notify central monitoring immediately when the front door is opened?  Then if a disarm signal is not received at central monitoring before entry delay expires, it’s considered a triggered alarm?  This would ensure that a burglar cannot destroy the base station during the entry delay period before it has a chance to send an alarm triggered signal to central monitoring. Is this how it works?

@Boring_Joe​ the phone call, and the Alarm Text, are two separate processes happening at the same time.

So as soon as the signal is sent from your Base Station that an alarm has started, our server sends you the Alarm Text. From the moment it is sent, you have a whole 2 minutes to request help or cancel via text.

At the same time, also right after the alarm signal is sent, the Grace Period begins, then our Monitoring agent will start the call to your Primary contact.

If you respond via text before you get the call, it cancels the call sequence, so you won't get a call. So for example, if you texted back an H, the operator will skip the call to you and call your local police right away.

If you miss the phone call, you still have however many seconds left to respond via text. The agent may already be on the way to calling your other Primary number, or even your local police. So yes, there's a chance that the agent is already talking to your local police before the 2 minutes are up. But if you send a "C" text at that time, the operator will still get that message and attempt to cancel dispatch.

The actual "Alarm Event", which triggers both the Alarm Text and the phone call from an operator, doesn't start until after the Entry Delay countdown ends.

If that Alarm Event doesn't appear on your timeline, there won't be any action via text or phone call.

Instant Trigger is a setting for each sensor. Yes, when that sensor is triggered, it bypasses the Entry Delay entirely, and the Alarm Event begins immediately.