Choosing Emergency Contact Numbers

Choose your emergency contact numbers wisely. These are the numbers given to the monitoring company to call in the event of an alarm being triggered in your home. They will try to contact someone in the house first, then the proper authorities. After that they will call the numbers you provide in the order you give them. Having a trusted neighbor or family member who lives nearby is the safest bet. You want it to be someone who can get to your house quickly after being alerted to an incident. In the case of an accident or medical problem a nearby emergency contact may be able to get there before the authorities. You can usually provide up to three contacts with two numbers for each person. Choose people that are typically easy to get in touch with so they can be reached quickly. Do not use pagers or answering services. Other important emergency numbers you must provide the security and monitoring company with are for the local police and fire departments. These are the numbers used to send help to your home when an alarm is triggered. You will be asked to include these on most order forms when purchasing a security system. DO NOT put 911 down. If you use 911 it will simply connect the representative to the emergency dispatch in their area, not yours. Look up the number for the local police and fire dispatchers in your area if you are not sure what they are.