I live in an area that requires verified response, and I’ve opted in to the private guard service. As I’ve been thinking about this, I have a few questions that maybe a user can answer, or maybe a Ring representative.
I understand that if my alarm goes off and I am called and can not verify that there is for sure an emergency, a guard will be dispatched. But what about these situations…
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My alarm goes off and I can see on my Ring camera that there is someone in the house. When I get the call can I say “Yes, there is definitely an emergency” and have the police dispatched immediately or does a guard still need to be sent?
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What about if I initiate the panic button or enter the duress code? Does that send a guard or the police?
Are there other situations where the poilce are dispatched instead of a verified reponse guard? I’m also wondering what would happen if my alarm goes off and I cancel it when the call from Ring comes in but then I call 911 and tell them my alarm just went off and I believe it is authentic. Will my police department check it out or will they require a verification?
This whole verified response thing is new to me since my last alarm was 10 years ago in a different state. I completely understand why some municipalities think it is necessary so they don’t chase down false alarms but it’s a little confusing exactly what happens with the guard service.
Thanks to anyone who can offer answers to those questions and thoughts above!
Great questions @sixstringbuzz! It’s certainly important to be prepared for any situation.
To best answer your question about verifying an emergency, the Central Monitoring Station will ask the emergency contact if they are on site or able to verify there is an emergency. At that time the dispatched entity will be based on the situation and the verified guard response guidelines in your municipality.
As for the Panic or Duress events, these will trigger a direct dispatch of police emergency services.
I hope this helps! 
That doesn’t answer his questions about the camera verification.
Doea a guard still get sent to the house if it is visually verified by the owner of the home via camera ???
To add on to this…
Who is this guard that comes to the house?
Who employs them?
How far away is this guard?
How can they verify a fire if it has not yet reached the external parts of the structure?
These are questions that I find ring has been unable to answer. If ring is imposing a $75 fee for such guard, it would be nice to have some answers.
I’d be happy to clarify further! In the case of an Alarm emergency event, while professionally monitored, our monitoring station will reach out to confirm the emergency, or if dispatch is needed.
If you are opted-in to using a verified guard response, our professional monitoring center will call your emergency contacts to verify if there is a true emergency on site. The guard’s purpose is to confirm an emergency if you are unable to, or if your emergency contacts do not answer. Either verifying a true emergency, or a verified guard confirming an emergency, will result in emergency dispatch.
Check out our help center article which outlines the dispatch process for each emergency type, and this article for more information about the verified guard response.
As far as information specific to the guards and the verified response program; verified response is a program instituted by local government authorities in certain areas in order to cut down on the number of false alarms received. We work with a leading Guard Response company to provide this service as an option for neighbors who live in areas that require a verified response. I hope this helps!