Q. Why Use Two-Way Voice?

A. American Two-Way believes that two-way voice is the future of the alarm industry. Two-way voice sharply decreases false alarms and fines, chases intruders from premises and gets priority response from the police. Two-Way increases customer satisfaction in their alarm system, and at the same time makes their system much more user friendly. Using two-way voice reduces your account attrition. Most importantly, Two-Way voice saves lives!

We can work with you to implement a quality in-home sales demonstration of Two-Way Voice. Because the customer is actively involved in a live demonstration, our Dealers have proven it to be the most powerful closing tool an alarm company can have!

Two-way voice has made the medical alert business possible. Along with wireless transmitters, a medical alert system can literally make the difference between life and death for those customers that have personal emergencies.

Q. What is True Two-Way Voice?

A. American Two-Way is one of the only major monitoring centers that uses Two-Way Voice in the manner it was intended - to immediately determine the nature of an emergency as it happens. Unlike other centers that, after receiving an alarm, call back to the alarm premises in an attempt to access the two-way voice system, American Two-Way instantly engages the two-way audio, listens in as the emergency unfolds, and immediately communicates with whomever is at the alarm location.

We staff and train our center to interact with Two-Way Voice within 8 seconds of receiving a two-way alarm signal. In an emergency, every second counts.

Q. What Is Two-Way Voice?
A. Two-Way Voice is an audio device added to an alarm or emergency response system, incorporating a speaker and microphone. This allows the Central Station to hear what's going on at the premises when the alarm goes off, and directly converse with the client or intruder. This feature has saved thousands of lives.

Q. How Does Two-Way Voice Work?
A. Once the alarm has been triggered, a microphone (no longer than a pencil eraser) is activated, allowing us to listen in to the protected premises. The dispatcher, through a speaker also located on site, converses directly with the premises, controlling the audio using DTMF tones.

Q. What Are the Best Uses For Two-Way Voice?
A. Every residential security system should have two-way voice. This allows for more accurate verification of false alarms, better determination of break-ins, and is invaluable in the event of medical emergencies. Two-way voice can also be used in numerous small commercial or retail businesses.

Q. How Does Two-Way Audio Verification Compare to Video Verification?

A. Unless your customer wants to be the star of the next reality t.v. show, we doubt they’ll allow you to put cameras in their home. While video can be a good tool for alarm response in certain cases, it remains an expensive option and not a realistic solution for residential applications.

60 percent of all alarm systems are residential. In most cases, residential customers are concerned about privacy and will not allow cameras to be installed in their homes, especially if a remote site can monitor and view those cameras at any time. While video may work well for some businesses, it struggles for acceptance in the residential market.

In addition, the installation of video is labor intensive, extremely expensive, requires separate phone lines and/or special high-speed internet connections and requires a fair amount of wiring in order to properly cover a premises.

Two-Way Voice has been and will continue to be the best alarm verification tool for residences and small businesses. Virtually every manufacturer has either designed alarm panels with two-way already built-in to the system or provides add-on cards specifically designed to seamlessly interface with the alarm system. There are no separate phone connections, high additional expenses or difficult installation requirements.

Q. How Do I Install Two-Way Voice?

A. Two-way Voice works best when you use a security system that incorporates two-way as a standard feature. In such cases, adding two-way is no more difficult than activating a feature in the program. There are also several companies that make Two-Way Voice modules that can be added to existing alarm systems that do not already have or offer Two-Way Voice. These can be wired in ahead of the dialer, and activated by a trigger or bell output.

If you're installing personal response systems, two-way voice is usually already directly incorporated into the unit and is ready for use.