If you are among those who believe that (or even wonder if) the incidence of extreme weather events is on the rise, you might find it validating — while not exactly reassuring — to know that the data backs that up. The same is also true at monitoring centers.
According to the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Information, since 1980, the average annual number of weather-related disasters (those with losses exceeding $1 billion) is nine; however, during the past five years, the average has more than doubled to 23.
We talk about “securing the security” when it comes to cyberthreats, but, increasingly, this also applies to the physical aspects of systems and monitoring.
A Critical Topic for Monitoring Centers
This is a critical topic that I touched upon in this space last November. I subsequently persuaded The Monitoring Association to spotlight it as the leadoff session of the Operations Day lineup at the TMA 2025 Virtual Mid-Year Meeting.
Formerly an annual in-person event that was folded into ESX (the Electronic Security Expo), the Mid-Year Meeting became exclusively an online affair after TMA pulled out of that event and the pandemic hit. In the process, this virtual conference has become, today, what I consider the security industry’s pre-eminent online event.
That said, given that those attendees represent only about 1% of SSI’s audience, I wanted to ensure this valuable information reached a broader group.
I was delighted to lead and moderate “Ready for Anything: Building Disaster Resilience in Monitoring Centers.” This information is relevant for not only monitoring centers themselves but also dealers/integrators and end-user customers that contract with third-party stations or that run their own security operations command centers.
In the face of increasing natural disasters, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, snowstorms, floods, droughts, wildfires and hurricanes, as well as human-caused catastrophes (e.g., terrorism, riots, cyberattacks), and even unpredictable scenarios like pandemics, monitoring facilities must be prepared to maintain seamless operations.
The material covered proven strategies and tools to enhance disaster resilience and ensure continuous service delivery. These critical preparedness measures encompass georedundancy, real failover testing, business continuity planning and infrastructure resilience.
Additionally, there were insights on the role of community support and collaboration in disaster response.
Robust Emergency Action Plans
Emphasizing the importance of robust emergency action plans (EAPs), the 75-minute discussion also featured panelists Scott Blakeman, vice president, client success and security solutions, Elite Interactive Solutions; Morgan Hertel, vice president of technology and innovation, Rapid Response Monitoring Services; and Tommy Whisnant, director of compliance, CPI Security Systems.
The panelists shared compelling firsthand experiences from real-world disasters and looked at how emerging technologies can help.
What follows are some of the highlights from our discussion:
Redundancy Is Key: Implement robust backup systems for power, connectivity and facilities, with active-active setups preferred over backup modes. Aim for “two is one, and three is best” for critical resources.
People Matter: Ensure adequate staffing, cross-training and clear communication channels. Consider the well-being of employees and their families during disasters. Have plans for remote work, if necessary.
Continuity Planning: Evolve continuity plans to address not only natural disasters but also cyber threats and infrastructure failures. Regularly review and update plans, gathering input from all departments.
Community Support: Integrate community resources into disaster-preparedness plans and establish communication channels with first responders. Be prepared to assist customers and the community both during and after disasters.
Testing Is Essential: Continuously test and drill emergency action plans to ensure they are effective and that personnel are familiar with their roles. Conduct post-incident reviews to identify vulnerabilities and improve future response.
Unexpected Lesson Learned at Monitoring Centers
Lastly, what follows are excerpts of each panelist’s unexpected lesson learned after conducting a post-incident review:
“The number of screens we had with our remote plan when COVID-19 hit. To operate as efficiently as possible, adding that is the one for us.” (Blakeman)
“After the hurricane, you don’t realize how many people lose communication that you can’t reach. For us, it’s communicate. Communicate in case something happens again.” (Whisnant)
“With a storm, earthquake or fire, you don’t realize the fallout goes on for weeks. It ties back to staffing and how you’re going to manage it. Being in an emergency mode for two weeks is very different from two hours.” (Hertel)
Elite Interactive Solutions’ marketing director, Scott Goldfine, is an SSI Industry Hall of Famer who spent 25 years as Security Sales & Integration’s editor-in-chief.
