The CASTLE

Calamity has built Australia's most modern central monitoring station. Completed at a cost of several million dollars, the Centre for Advanced Security Technology and Leadership Excellence (CASTLE) in Sydney, represents the future for electronic security services in Australia. The facility has already been recognised nationally and internationally for its stunning design and implementation.

A1 Grading

Police and insurance companies mandate that security systems be monitored by a facility which is certified to Australian Standard 2201.2 - Monitoring Centres. A list of currently certified AS2201.2 monitoring providers can be obtained via The Australian Security Industry Association Ltd (ASIAL). Calamity's monitoring centre is certified to the A1 level, which is the highest possible rating within the Standard.

Five Diamond Certification

Given limited electronic security training opportunities within Australia, Calamity have partnered with the Central Station Alarm Association in the USA (www.csaaul.org) who administer the Five Diamond Program. This is a balanced certification program providing a differentiation in the central station monitoring marketplace with five points of excellence:

1. Commitment to random inspections and quality criteria standards by a nationally recognised testing laboratory
2. Commitment to the highest levels of customer service
3. Commitment to ongoing job-related eduation and testing and having 100% of its central station operators certified using the CSAA online training serieS
4. Commitment to raising industry standards
5. Commitment to reducing false dispatches.

Five Diamond certified stations are the World's best security monitoring facilities and Calamity's is the first Five Diamond certified facility in Australia.

While other providers can only talk about quality, we have independently verified proof that there is no higher standard than what we deliver.

Advanced Security Monitoring Technology

Most Australian security companies are selling the same security hardware and monitoring service as a decade ago. Calamity is committed to the next-generation of security technology and alarm monitoring practices.

Our core operating and automation systems are actively developed and highly flexible. This allows us to offer several key advantages unmatched within the Australian market.

1) Flexibility of instructions. We have the ability to respond differently to various alarms based on their zone, time/date, or other conditions. This means we can call (or not call) people appropriately to the situation, with no reliance on ‘notes’ or operators interpreting customer requirements. Experience shows that relying on operator discretion leads to errors. We manage decisions by sophisticated back-end automation logic which means operators can action alarms much faster with less margin of error than our competitors. A major part of our mission is giving our customers peace of mind. Our system and procedures also allow us to agree what signals are considered urgent and our customers do not need to be woken or rung unnecessarily for minor matters.

2) Online access. Customers can have access to account information via a secure website as well as automated phone systems. Contact and response details can be updated online and reports generated with no need to wait on hold to speak with an operator or send faxes and emails. For our enterprise customers, daily consolidated reports can be sent via email detailing all relevant information in a single report without bombarding your inbox.

 3) Tight integration with multiple systems. We can support a variety of modern monitoring technologies, including Emizon, Fratech MultiPath IP, Permaconn, Telstra Secure plus others with more to come as this technology evolves. This is in addition to conventional 'dialler' monitoring. We have the unique capability to write ‘middleware’ to interface our systems with any newly developed system for advanced customisation and integration.

Calamity can monitor all small, medium and enterprise level alarm systems currently approved for use in Australia. Additionally we can monitor a variety of environmental and system sensors for protection of data centres, plant equipment and workplace safety.

4) Future Focus on video. Our video monitoring platform can integrate with IP cameras from over eighty vendors and the list is growing. We are not restricted to one or two CCTV camera types like our competitors and will not require people to throw away their existing investment or go without advanced video verification and virtual patrols.

5) Telephony. Our telephony system is tightly integrated with our alarm monitoring platform. This means we can prioritise inbound calls based on caller-ID as well as establish custom indial numbers for premium customers e.g. their own security hotline. All alarm events are directly linked to call recording for rapid recovery of voice recordings to assist in both training and incident management with no need to trawl through hours of recordings. With a call-centre pedigree the technology also allows us to prioritise traffic in order to manage Service Level Agreements (SLAs), reduce or eliminate time spent on-hold and better serve our customers.

Physical Security

The CASTLE is a standalone structure with a secure perimeter. The site has full alarm and CCTV coverage, biometric access systems and all access is tightly controlled. Monitoring centre walls are windowless and constructed of steel-reinforced and lined concrete and a steel-laminate. Access is via three hardened, steel-lined solid doors in an airlock configuration. However the facility is fully accessible to support our numerous employees with disabilities. Our monitoring centre meets and exceeds requirements of AS22010.1 Grade A construction standards and is fully attack-resistant, as well as fire-resistant.

The whole building is protected by smoke detection systems. Our data centre is further protected by a Very Early Smoke Detection Alarm (VESDA) system to continually sample air for even the smallest traces of smoke and detect it before it is even visible to the human eye. Redundant air-conditioning units maintain the temperature of our data centre.