7.7.21 – News 13 – VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla.
The system has already resulted in about 1200 fewer calls to VSO dispatchers.
Dispatchers in Volusia County are now responding to emergencies faster than ever, and they say it’s thanks to a new automated system that responds to burglar, fire and medical alarms instantly.
What You Need To Know
The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office has implemented the ASAP dispatch system
In the past, when an alarm went off, the company had to manually call dispatchers to report it
With the ASAP system — for participating companies — the alarms are automatically entered into the computer-aided system
At Sweet Marlay’s Coffee, owner Tammy Kozinski knows minutes matter.
“When we were robbed that Easter Sunday, the person who came in here was not in my shop four minutes,” said Kozinski. “He was in and out of here in under four minutes time.”
Luckily, her alarm company notified authorities what was going on so they could respond.
Thanks to a new system now being implemented at the Volusia Sheriff’s Office Communications Center, for many, that process is speeding up.
“It is called ASAP, as in the acronym, that stands for Automated Security Alarm Protocol,” said James Soukup, Director of Communications at the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.
In the past, alarm companies had to manually call the non-emergency line to report a burglary, fire or medical alarm activation — with a dispatcher having to answer that call and input the information in to the dispatch system.
Now ASAP, which was implemented in May, essentially takes out the middleman — with the alarm automatically sending the information to the computer-aided dispatch system.
“You are looking at saving anywhere from two to three minutes getting that call dispatched once the alarm is activated, and with this ASAP program, we were able to get calls out within 15 to 20 seconds or so, which is a tremendous difference,” said Soukup.
After experiencing a break in, Kozinski said she is thrilled to learn about the change.
“That is a huge difference,” she said.
While her alarm system is not one that currently participates in ASAP, Kozinski is planning to reach out to them so she can hopefully be included soon.
The companies participating include ADT, Stanley Security, Rapid Response Monitoring, Vector Security, Security Central, Securitas, Tyco (Johnson Controls), Quick Response, ADS (Nashville), Alert 360, Guardian Protection, Affiliated Monitoring, National Monitoring Center, AT&T Digital Life, Protection One, Vivint, and Brinks Home Security.
“Because even though Simply Safe, which is who we use isn’t included now I am sure they are working with a handful of companies now and that will just grow,” said Kozinski.
VCSO officials say the ASAP system has already taken about 1,200 calls in the last month, which allows dispatchers to answer other 911 calls more quickly.