West Olive, Michigan (November 5, 2026) — Ottawa County Central Dispatch Authority (OCCDA) last month joined the growing number of emergency communications centers (ECCs) across the United States when it went live with ASAP Service, a standards-based solution developed by The Monitoring Association. OCCDA serves law enforcement, fire/rescue, and emergency medical agencies in Ottawa County, including cities of Grand Haven, Holland, Zeeland, Hudsonville, Coopersville, Spring Lake Village and Ferrysburg.
ASAP Service leverages the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP), an Associated Public Safety Communications Officers (APCO) and American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-accredited standard. The solution delivers verified alarm notifications generated by residential and business alarm systems automatically and digitally into the Tyler Technologies computer-aided-dispatch (CAD) system used by ECCs like Ottawa County, MI, across the country. In 2025, OCCDA received 6,013 alarm notifications.
Faster processing and response to alarm incidents — One of the most significant benefits of ASAP Service is its ability to eliminate delays associated with traditional telephone-based alarm notifications. Previously, an alarm monitoring center had to call Ottawa County and wait for a 911 call-taker to answer, gather the information, enter it into the computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system, and make it available to the appropriate dispatcher, a process that can take from two to eight minutes according to TMA. Given OCCDA’s alarm call volume last year, ASAP Service is expected to save telecommunicators between 17 and 67 hours each month.
During periods when emergency calls are stacking up, alarm calls could wait to be answered because 911 calls appropriately receive higher priority. ASAP Service changes that workflow by delivering alarm information digitally and directly into Ottawa County's CAD system through the Direct Connect interface developed by CAD system vendor Tyler Technologies.
Greater efficiency for telecommunicators — The manual steps identified above consume time and attention that otherwise could be devoted to emergency calls or radio traffic. This is a problem because dispatchers must remain attentive to field units, as an officer or other responder could suddenly require assistance.
Because alarm incidents generally involve a predefined type—such as burglary, fire, or medical—with relatively predictable response options, notifications generated by alarm monitoring centers are well suited for automated digital transmission directly into the center’s CAD system.
“Where alarm transactions generally are predictable, 911 calls are dynamic,” said Matt Groesser, OCCDA’s executive director. “What initially appears to be one type of emergency may turn out to involve several other circumstances. These calls require questioning, listening, judgment, and continual reassessment. Reducing the amount of attention telecommunicators must devote to routine alarm processing therefore enables them to focus more intensely on complex emergencies and radio communications.”
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Improved accuracy and reduced risk of human error — Yet another expected benefit of ASAP Service is greater accuracy. Traditional alarm processing requires information to pass verbally from a monitoring-center representative to a telecommunicator, who then must interpret and enter that information into the CAD system. Each handoff creates opportunities for misunderstandings, transcription errors, and discrepancies, especially when personnel are busy.
However, accuracy problems are not always the result of personnel mistakes. Something as basic as pronouncing a street name can create ambiguity when multiple streets have similar names but different spellings. ASAP Service eliminates all these challenges.
“In emergency response, even a relatively small location error can have serious consequences,” said Jason Frank, OCCDA deputy director. “Digital transmission reduces the need to verbally relay and manually re-enter such information.”
While OCCDA opted to implement ASAP Service via the Tyler Technologies interface, that’s not the only way to access the solution, which is hosted in the highly secure and resilient Amazon Web Services GovCloud platform. ECCs can also access ASAP Service via a connection to Nlets (the International Justice and Public Safety Network) provided by a statewide criminal-justice message switch, which is the traditional approach. However, leveraging a direct interface between ASAP Service and a CAD system reduces implementation time by about half.
Learn more about how TMA's ASAP Service is saving lives every day nationwide at www.ASAP911.org.
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About The Monitoring Association
The Monitoring Association (TMA), formerly the Central Station Alarm Association (CSAA), is an internationally recognized nonprofit 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 (AHJ) over the industry. Learn more online at https://tma.us/about-tma/.
About TMA’s ASAP Service
Launched in 2011 as a public-private partnership, TMA’s Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP) Service enables direct electronic dispatch of emergency calls for service from alarm companies to emergency communications centers. To improve dispatch accuracy and efficiency, ASAP Service uses American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-accredited protocols developed cooperatively by TMA and the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO).
CONTACT:
Julie Howerter, marketing strategist
ASAP Service
815-501-5832