BRADENTON, Fla. — Manatee County has become the second agency in Florida to adopt the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP), which allows alarm monitoring companies to send digitized information directly to 911 dispatch centers.
Vector Security and Rapid Response went operational with ASAP in Boca Raton, Fla., on Dec. 16, 2016, followed by MONI (formerly Monitronics) on Dec. 17.
The Manatee County emergency communications system comprises four public safety answering points (PSAPs), which serve the area’s 350,000 residents. In total, the county has approximately 45 call taking positions that process more than 250,000 emergency calls annually.
The protocol could help Manatee County emergency response personnel do their jobs up to two to three minutes faster and more accurately, officials tell the Bradenton Herald.
Dispatchers are able to view 911 calls on their screens, process the information and send the proper personnel. The ASAP service eliminates the need for alarm companies to call the 911 center to relay information.
Manatee County Emergency Communications Chief Jacob Saur tells the Bradenton Herald the average response time is about nine minutes from the moment first responders receive a call to arriving at the scene. Shaving off to two to three minutes in response time is “tremendous,” he says.
Gerry Tenorio, a Manatee County 911 dispatcher, said it should expedite the process because there won’t be time spent processing the call, which could take as long as 90 seconds. Time that could be the difference between life and death.
“Coming from the alarm company, we should have basically the general information already, so it could save seconds. That could actually improve our customer service by giving us the ability to answer another 911 call,” Tenorio says.
Not all Manatee County alarm monitoring companies are part of the new program but as the technology grows, Saur expects more monitoring stations to participate. Currently, they have nine alarm companies signed up.
Half of all Manatee County property owners with emergency monitoring — an estimated 75,000 homes and businesses – will benefit from the new technology, Saur said in a press release. That number is expected to rise to 75 percent when ADT joins the new protocol, which Saur says could be within the next month.
Manatee County is the 25th agency in the United States to adopt the technology, Saur says.
