Monitoring a Fire Alarm System 24 hours a day, 7 days a week is a cost to the person who pays the contract on an annual basis.
What Type of Connection You Use
A monitored fire alarm system is only as good as the signal path from your fire alarm panel to the monitoring centre, i.e. the communicator(s). The cheapest option for monitoring a fire alarm system is likely to be a simple digital communicator connected over a telephone line. However, the number of analogue lines are decreasing and it is recommended that IP/GSM communicators are used instead. Not only are these more expensive to install than their analogue counterparts, they also form the basis of a dual-path system (more later).
The Grade of Your System
A higher grade system (e.g. Grade D up to Grade A under BS 5839-1) may command a higher rate for monitored Fire Alarms due to the nature of the contract needing to offer a quicker response with greater reliability of signal transmission.
ARC Contract Costs
A contract with an Alarm Receiving Centre (approved under BS 8591-1, section 8) can cost anywhere from £120 to £250 per annum (dependent upon the required response and grade of the fire alarm system installed within the building).
Setup Fees and Annual Splits
These costs can form part of a businesses’ overall Fire Alarms Northamptonshire costs, and therefore it is worth getting them broken down for your monitoring contract. This will also highlight the additional costs of servicing etc. for your specific Fire Alarm system.
Optional Extras
Add the cost of key-holding services to your basic monitoring costs, these can cost in the region of £100 to £200 per year.
Comparing quotes for monitoring contracts is easy if you get a breakdown of what is included in the contract.