I just tested a smoke detector as the other day I cooked something a little too much and was surprised it didn’t go off; I had my phone in my hand and canceled the alarm the second it started. I did not get a call but assumed that was because I canceled it immediately. A few minutes later I hear a diesel engine out front and in my head immediately began cursing, just as I get to the door there’s a knock with 4 fire fighters standing there.
I’m concerned that a dispatch was made (I believe we only get one false one where I live before getting charged) with no call on a literal instantaneous disarm.
In the future, you should always place your system on Test Mode before intentionally triggering an alarm. This can be done through the Alarm.com app. Tap on the three lines that say MORE on the bottom right, then tap on Monitoring Settings. Tap on System Test Mode and select how long you would like the system placed on Test Mode. During this period the central station will not respond to alarms from your system nor will they request dispatch of emergency services.
I’ve looked into this event and I can confirm that the monitoring station did call the contact number you have on your account, though there is only one.
When they dialed the number they were immediately sent to voicemail and left a message.
You can review, edit, and add to your monitoring contact numbers in the system manager here under the professional monitoring tab.
I would recommend for most cases unless you are explicitly testing operator response to put the account on test mode first to avoid any chance of unintended dispatch.
Test mode can be placed in Alarm.com as stated by the other post above, or you can also do it in the system manager under the Test my System tab for up to 1 week at a time.
I’m sure the system uses an auto-dialer, but is it possible there was a glitch? I had already checked but just quadruple checked, I have no missed calls and no voicemail and as I said I had my phone in my hand at the time . I also have the number the monitoring station calls from (801-781-6101) stored in my phone with it set to bypass DnD mode/ring no matter what.
I do generally use test mode when working on the system but in this case didn’t think about it but am a bit glad I didn’t since it identified an issue (where that issue lays seems TBD).
Edit: I just also confirmed the number I have on file is the correct number and has not been changed.
According to records the number which was contacted matches your settings. There is an immediate voicemail prompt and the operator leaves a message in the audio log. It is possible the phone carrier had an issue, it doesn’t look like it was an issue with what was dialed from the information I have.
I’ll reach out to the monitoring station to be sure, in case they can see additional details.
I’ll check with AT&T but I would think even if there was a service glitch I’d have gotten the voicemail. I did check both the voicemail app and the old school calling voicemail to confirm I didn’t have any. I also was able to call the dispatch number just a couple minutes later with no issue, but of course outgoing working doesn’t mean incoming works.
I’m not overly concerned but do want to figure out where the glitch happened just to ensure I can resolve it.
ETA: Just to make sure I wasn’t crazy I checked the call logs on my AT&T account, I had 2 incoming calls listed Sunday, both from friends.
Like I said I’m not upset or anything, just trying to get to the bottom of it as I’m not a fan of not knowing why/how something out of the ordinary happened.
Try logging into your Alarm.com account on a web browser, tap/click the three lines at the top left and tap/click on Settings. Then tap/click on Login Information.
Ok, did. When I go to “login info” I see the correct login/user, and when I put in the very same pw I used to log in to the site, it says “login name is invalid”. Uggggh.
Yes, except I am missing the monitoring settings option.
You do not have professional monitoring enabled on your subscription. It looks like you have Complete and opted out of monitoring at the time of purchase.
You will only see the option to place accounts on test mode with the monitoring station if you have professional monitoring enabled. There is no need for test mode if you do not have professional monitoring, because you would be the only one getting the alarm notifications based on your Alarm.com settings.
If you want to add professional monitoring to your account you can do so at any time in the system manager here, on the Professional Monitoring tab.
