The Monitoring Association (TMA) announced that the Rochester-Olmsted County Emergency Communications Center (ECC) has gone live with ASAP Service, a standards-based solution designed to accelerate emergency response and reduce alarm-handling errors.
ASAP Service automatically and digitally delivers prioritized notifications from residential and commercial alarm systems to the ECC’s computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems, removing the need for manual data entry and follow-up calls with alarm monitoring centers.
The system is expected to reduce response times while eliminating transcription errors, miscommunications, and misinterpretations. Before implementation, telecommunicators often had to make multiple calls to alarm-monitoring centers to gather information needed to dispatch emergency responders, adding an estimated two to eight minutes to the response timeline.
“ASAP Service is going to speed things up — the time savings for handling and processing alarms is where we’re going to see the biggest impact,” said Melissa Burns.
“But there’s no doubt in my mind that we’re also going to experience fewer data errors because the back-and-forth phone calls largely will be eliminated.”
Time Savings And Operational Benefits
In 2025, the ECC handled 4,161 alarm notifications. With ASAP Service, the center estimates savings of 11 to 46 hours each month, allowing telecommunicators to focus on higher-priority incidents and recovery time from demanding workloads.
ECC officials implemented ASAP Service in two phases. The first phase used ASAP View, a web-based portal that enabled the center to begin receiving alarm data within about two weeks.
“It was a fast, low-barrier way to start receiving alarm data right away,”
Burns said.
The ECC is now migrating to a CAD-integrated version of ASAP Service connected to systems from Tyler Technologies. Both versions are hosted on the Amazon Web Services GovCloud platform for reliability, scalability, and security.
The CAD-integrated solution delivers alarm data directly into the CAD platform, eliminating manual data entry and streamlining dispatch workflows. ASAP View will continue serving as a backup and complementary tool.
“ASAP View provides redundancy in case we experience a technical issue,” Burns said.
“In emergency response, it’s always good to have backups.”
Standards-Based Emergency Communications
ASAP Service was developed by TMA in collaboration with the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO). The solution is built on the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP) and the Alarm Verification Scoring Standard (AVS-01), both accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
According to Karen Carlson, standardized and automated data delivery helps ensure critical information is transmitted accurately and consistently.
“ASAP Service represents a meaningful advancement in how alarm data is relayed to public safety agencies,” Carlson said.
“We’re proud to support Rochester–Olmsted County as they take this important step toward faster, more accurate emergency response.”
Participating Alarm Monitoring Companies
As of the go-live, the following alarm-monitoring companies are transmitting notifications through ASAP Service to Rochester-Olmsted’s ECC:
- Affiliated Monitoring
- Everon
- Guardian Protection
- National Monitoring Center
- Per Mar
- Quick Response
- Rapid Response
- Security Central
- United Central Control
- Vivint
The Monitoring Association (TMA), formerly known as the Central Station Alarm Association (CSAA), is a nonprofit trade association representing professional monitoring companies, security systems integrators, and service providers across the security industry. Founded in 1950, the organization advocates for the industry before Congress, regulatory agencies, and authorities having jurisdiction.
Launched in 2011 as a public-private partnership, TMA’s Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP) Service enables direct electronic dispatch of emergency calls from alarm companies to emergency communications centers. The service uses ANSI-accredited protocols developed cooperatively by TMA and APCO to improve dispatch accuracy and efficiency.
Internal links URLs
https://security.world/
External links URLs
https://tma.us/
https://www.asap911.org/
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What Is ASAP Service?
ASAP Service is a standards-based platform that electronically delivers alarm notifications from monitoring centers directly to emergency communications centers.
2. How Does ASAP Service Improve Emergency Response?
The platform reduces manual data entry and follow-up phone calls, helping emergency responders receive information faster and with fewer errors.
3. What Benefits Did Rochester-Olmsted ECC Report?
The ECC expects to save between 11 and 46 hours per month while improving accuracy and reducing dispatch delays.
4. What Is ASAP View?
ASAP View is a web-based portal that allows ECCs to receive alarm data quickly before full CAD integration is completed.
5. Who Developed ASAP Service?
ASAP Service was developed by The Monitoring Association in collaboration with the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO).
Source: tma.us