FAQs

Please check the phone number on your ID card for the correct station to call.

There are two stations that provide monitoring for Lynden Security accounts:

Before you switch, be aware that alarms do not work reliably with VOIP (internet phone) or with Magic Jack.  You must have a land line or cable for signals to reach the monitoring station.  If you only have VOIP, than you will require a GSM (cellular) communicator which results in slightly more costly monitoring than monitoring on a regular phone line.

If you are switching from one Phone Company to another (Bell or Cable) the new company must make their connection at the same demarcation point as your original phone line.    Please take a moment to test your alarm with the monitoring station before the phone tech leaves your premises and make sure the test signals were received at the station.

The normal procedure is for the station to first call the premises (where the alarm signal came from).  If there is no answer or no one on the premises can ID themselves with an authorized code, the operator will call the contacts that you have provided when the system was set up.    If an agency (guard or police) has been set up on your account, the operator will then call that agency to attend to the alarm.  The contact should also attend to the alarm.  If your account does not have an agency set up to respond to alarms, then the contact must attend.

When you are responding to the alarm call yourself, do not enter premises that appear to have been broken into.  Call the police at 911 to attend.  As you have verified that the alarm is not false and the police will not charge a false alarm fee.

All Regions have a false alarm program in effect by the Police.   Most programs include Annual Registration Fees and user fees for police response to alarms that turn out to be false.   When your system was set up for monitoring, you were given information regarding your Police Region’s Policy.  At set up you decided whether or not you wanted to have police called to your alarm signals.     Those instructions are on your file at the monitoring station.  You must confirm that all the other contacts on your call list are aware of your choice.

Guard response is available as an alternative.  There is a small monthly fee to have guard response on your file and for that fee you will receive a maximum of four guard responses in a 12-month period.  Guards will attend to alarm calls from the monitoring station and if a break-in has occurred, they will contact the police.    If it’s not a break-in, they will leave a note that they have attended.  Even though the guard is called, you or your contact should also attend.  The guard will stay on site for a maximum of 20 minutes.

If you have selected to have neither Police nor Guard, then the monitoring station is instructed to try to contact one of the keyholders (contacts) on your list.  Therefore it is essential that you keep us up-to-date of any phone number changes.

Most systems are programmed to send an “abort” signal or a “disarm” signal.  If your alarm rings but is disarmed with a user code, the system will send the alarm plus the “disarm “or “abort code”.  The “abort” or “disarm” lets the station know that the alarm was caused by user error and no further action will be taken (provided that the abort signal shows within 120 seconds of the alarm signal).

This feature helps cut down on false alarm response.

A quick test of your system should be done at least every two months.  Just call the monitoring station from the number on your ID card.  Provide the operator with your 8-digit ID code and ask the operator to put your system on test.  Arm the system and let it ring.  After you disarm the system, call the station back to confirm they received the signals.    If your test signal fails to reach the monitoring station, please give our office a call to report the problem.

There are several reasons for “Trouble” or “System” to be on.  Please consult your user manual as to how to display Trouble or System.     Some “troubles” report codes and some do not.  You can arm the system even though the trouble light (or system light) is on.    

“System” light is an indicator of up to three items,  - Trouble status, Alarm in Memory or Bypass.  Again, you will have to consult your manual to find out how to evaluate the problem.  Check your user manual.

Do not panic!  Press the # button or the “clear” button and then try your 4-digit code again.    Unless you are using an incorrect 4-digit code or there is some malfunction of the keypad, the system will disarm after you re-enter your code.

Please give our office (905-273-3727) a call when you would like to update your call list or obtain an ID for a new alarm user.    You can send the update request by email and we will take care of it for you during our office hours (Monday to Friday, 9 – 5)

Prior to the alarm going dead, you would note that the “Trouble” light is on and beeping.    Check the manual for instructions on recalling “Trouble”  The keypad may indicate A/C failure, if this is the case, you will need to restore Hydro to the alarm system.

The alarm system works on 12V AC hydro.   There is a transformer for the alarm panel either plugged into or wired into an AC receptacle somewhere on your premises.  It may be at your fuse panel / circuit breaker panel.  

If, for some reason, there is no AC going to the circuit for the alarm, the panel will run on a backup battery for several hours.  When that battery is drained, the system will become dead.  You need to check your fuses or circuit breakers to see if a fuse has blown or a circuit has tripped.    You can turn off and on each circuit breaker to see if power returns.   Check to see if there is power coming from the receptacle where the alarm transformer is plugged in.

 If you are able to restore power to a totally depowered alarm system, the siren will sound for a second or two and then stop.  You should see lights on your keypad but the “trouble” light will remain on until the panel battery is recharged.  This may take a few hours.

No.  The panel needs to be connected to a working phone line.  If the line is cut or down, the station cannot receive your signals.  There are communication backup methods available, such as UPLINK or GSM.  If your line is down, the system will automatically send the signals through the backup.   Communication backup involves extra equipment and additional monitoring charges.

If the “ready” light is not on, that means that a zone is open.   The keypad will show you which zone is open.   Either a window or a door or perhaps something is in the way of a motion detector.  First you should make sure all doors and windows are closed.    If you cannot close a zone and get the “ready” light, you may bypass the problem zone.  Please check your user manual to find out how to bypass a zone on your keypad.  Bypassing an open zone will allow you to get the “ready” light and thereby arm the remainder of the zones.

It can happen that the alarm system, due to a malfunction, will hold onto the phone line and cause you to get no dial tone.  On all systems, we have installed a CA38A alarm jack.  This jack is at the main alarm panel, either on top, at the bottom or inside.  It looks just like a normal phone jack.  If you unplug that jack, and you find that your dial tone comes back, leave the jack unplugged and give us a call for service.  If you unplug that jack but your phone is still dead, that indicates that the problem is an actual phone problem and you should call your phone provider for service.