What is the private guard response service?

With the private guard response service offered by Bell Smart Home, a trained and certified guard is dispatched to investigate an alarm at your premises. Private guards are meant to complement a police dispatch. They typically arrive more quickly and can help avoid police fees if it turns out to be a false alarm.

NOTE: Private guard response is only available in select areas; check the availability of the service at your home address with a Smart Home representative.

When an alarm is triggered, the Bell Smart Home central monitoring station responds quickly over the two-way voice system (and if necessary, by phone) to verify the alarm. Depending on the response from someone at the premises, one of the following may occur:

• A false alarm is confirmed.
No further action is required.
• The alarm is confirmed to be real. The police is dispatched.
• The alarm cannot be confirmed or no one answers. Private guards are dispatched. Note: Guards only respond to security alarms. The appropriate emergency services will respond to Life Safety alarms such as flood, smoke and CO when necessary.

Advantages of the private guard response

• Response times are typically faster (police often treat unverified alarms as a low priority or will not attend).
• The exterior of the premise is thoroughly checked.
• Central monitoring station agents are able to track the response of guards in real time.
• Guards report back to Bell Smart Home after each incident.
• Police services may require customers to register their alarm system, complete with annual fees in some cases.
• False alarm charges from police can be high.
• Increasingly, police services are adopting a “verified response” policy, where they will not be dispatched unless it is a confirmed break and enter, or multiple zones in the home have been activated.

What a private guard will do

• Perform a full exterior patrol.
• Take photos of the premises.
• Verify and document anyone found on the site.
• Dispatch police if suspicious activity or a break and enter is detected.
• Provide reports back to the monitoring station.