URBANA, Il. (October 15, 2024) – The Monitoring Association (TMA) announced today that the Champaign County (Illinois) Emergency Communications Center (ECC) – also known as METCAD 911 – is the latest ECC to go live with ASAP Service. METCAD is the 148th active ECC nationwide to implement ASAP Service, which currently covers a population of more than 57 million people across the United States.
Since its launch in 2011, ASAP has been helping ECCs reduce the time it takes to dispatch emergency responders by an average of two minutes for alarm and sensor generated calls initiated by alarm monitoring centers. By delivering information directly to a ECC’s computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems and automatically creating a call for service without human interaction, the ASAP Service is reducing time to action, workload and human errors to improve emergency-response outcomes. ASAP utilizes ANSI standard protocols developed cooperatively by the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) and TMA.
“By sending the alarm signal over ASAP, information like the caller’s name, address, alarm type, and other details can be instantly transmitted without the need for the information exchange to occur during a telephone call. That translates to valuable seconds being shaved off the time it takes to get first responders dispatched,” said Jeff Wooten, METCAD 911’s Deputy Director.
METCAD 911 receives and processes approximately 5,000 alarm calls annually. It is anticipated that about 80 percent of these calls will now be processed through ASAP Service rather than over the telephone.
METCAD 911 went live with ASAP Service on October 7, 2024, which is supported by the following alarm companies: Rapid Response Monitoring, ADT, Affiliated Monitoring, Brinks Home Security, Dynamark, Guardian Protection, National Monitoring Center, Protection One/Everon, Quick Response, Security Central, Securitas (Stanley Division), Tyco (Johnson Controls), United Central Control, Vector Security, and Vivint.
Learn more how TMA's ASAP Service is saving lives every day nationwide at https://tma.us/programs/asap/
About METCAD
Today, METCAD answers emergency 911 calls for all of Champaign County and provides direct dispatch service for all law enforcement and fire agencies.
About The Monitoring Association
The Monitoring Association (TMA), formerly the Central Station Alarm Association (CSAA), is an internationally recognized non-profit trade association that represents professional monitoring companies, security systems integrators, and providers of products and services to the industry. Incorporated in 1950, TMA represents its members before Congress and regulatory agencies on the local, state and federal levels, and other authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs) over the industry. Learn more online at https://tma.us/about-tma/.
