4 Messages
Monitoring response
I chose a 30 second entry delay. If I don't get the PIN in before 30 seconds, then the alarm goes off. When the alarm goes off, Simplisafe allows another 30 seconds while the siren is blaring, before they call. This is a mistake. We need to be able to set that to 0, so that there is only a 30 second entry delay before we get a call.
POTENTIAL SITUATION. My 11 year old daughter is abducted outside my home on her way in from school. The abducter forces her, at gunpoint, to disarm the alarm. If she does so within 30 seconds, the abducter is free to do as he will. If she somehow delays entering the code, the siren starts. The abducter gets VERY motivated and he STILL HAS 30 SECONDS TO GET HER TO TURN IT OFF BEFORE SIMPLISAFE WILL MAKE THE CALL TO SEE IF IT IS A FALSE ALARM OR NOT. THAT IS AN ETERNITY. She could never withstand the pressure at a gun point.
Simplisafe's answer - a duress code. This is a bad idea. Imagine a duress code set months or years ago. Then imagine an 11 year old, AT GUNPOINT, trying to remember a duress code that is, by nature, not a code that would be common to the family (like the disarm code is). NO WAY this works.
ANSWER - Allow us to program the amount of time following an alarm trigger for that call to come. I would program that at 0. As soon as the siren goes off, I want the call. My old system with ADT did this, and SIMPLISAFE should do this. At the very least let us program the delay time DURING THE SIREN. And it should be a quick call once the time has elapsed.
Official Solution
nicoleleboeuf
Community Admin
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6 Messages
2 years ago
Hi @fdebuysx,
Thank you for your question, we can help bring some clarity to how alarm events are handled. When an alarm is triggered, our monitoring center is informed immediately. Our monitoring center will wait for the entry delay to end (30 seconds for you, but it could be customized as you noted), and if the alarm isn't canceled within that time you will be queued for an agent to contact you. There is no set time between the end of the entry delay and you receiving the call, our monitoring center moves as quickly as possible but depending on the length of the queue the call may not be immediate.
We'd also like to discuss the duress PIN. We understand that remembering multiple PINs can be difficult, especially in a situation where you or a family member is worried for their safety. But the purpose of the duress PIN is for the exact scenario you described, by making it appear as though the system was turned off while sending a signal for our monitoring agents to dispatch emergency services immediately--all without alerting the intruders.
What we recommend is to have periodic emergency drills with your family so they know what to do in an emergency situation, where you can review things like what your SimpliSafe settings are, including duress PIN and SafeWord.
If you have more questions about the process or the process of customizing your settings, please call us at 800-548-9508.
(edited)
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fdebuysx
4 Messages
2 years ago
A duress pin is a waste of energy. You decide what it is and you may never need it. Or it may be years before you do. It is also NOT going to be a normal PIN that a family would use because to use one that is familiar could create confusion, ESPECIALLY IN A PANIC SITUATION.
When the siren goes off, you should call and check in on us. NO DELAY. And if you do not think this is necessary, you must not have children.
When the siren goes off, you should call.
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worthing
702 Messages
2 years ago
Realistically this is never going to get changed because 1) they disagree with your logic and 2) even if they agreed with you they make changes at a glacial pace, measured in years if ever. I'm not trying to be snarky, just calling it like it is.
Might I suggest in the meantime setting the duress PIN to 4357 which spells HELP which you can see on the keypad? It's not a perfect solution but in my experience it's a PIN that most people can remember. In the interest of transparency I don't have an 11 year old so I can't say how well it works on them when they have a gun pointed at them. (Which, honestly, seems like a realllllly specific and infrequent scenario....)
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fdebuysx
4 Messages
2 years ago
Thank you for your honesty. This company is pretty much an internet company that responds to nothing human. Glacial is probably aggressive. Everything I ask about is answered with a standardized bill-hockey reply.
I hate SimpliSafe. And I think they are 90% effective. But the 10% is a problem.
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fdebuysx
4 Messages
2 years ago
When the siren goes off, there is a problem OR there is not a problem.
Monitoring should call to find out.
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