How do Duress Alarms Work?

SimpliSafe® Security Systems are equipped to set up a duress PIN (opens in new tab) that you can enter if you are being forced to put in your system information (opens in new tab). This PIN type is for emergencies. You will not hear an alarm siren for your safety. We hope you never have to use this feature, but it’s important to set it up and learn more about it to arm yourself with the knowledge to protect yourself.

Entering the duress PIN into your Keypad will unlock your door and/or disarm your system, all while alerting the monitoring centre that you are under duress. Pressing the Panic Button can also trigger a duress alarm (opens in new tab) if you have configured it to respond as a Silent Alarm.

Engaging the duress PIN or pressing a Panic Button configured to Silent Alarm will not result in an audible alarm from your system. This means you will not receive an Alarm Text (opens in new tab) or a push notification (opens in new tab) alerting you to the duress alarm occurring. This ensures your safety by not potentially alerting the intruder that the monitoring centre has been notified.

Duress PIN and Silent Alarms are intended to be used in situations where setting off the system alarm may not be ideal. For example, if someone is threatening you or forcing you to enter your PIN to gain access to your home or business. Using the duress PIN would allow you to safely gain access to the property by disarming your system, but would send a signal to the monitoring centre that you require immediate assistance.