Horror in the US

[Guest]

For anyone wanting to decode acronyms and abbreviations, try this.

Not everything's in there but it's a start.

[Brian c]

Sorry for being pedantic.

66044[/snapback]

Yeah, right!

[j.paul]

What's DITTO short for then?

66042[/snapback]

DITTO

1. The same as stated above or before.

2. A duplicate; a copy.

3. A pair of small marks ( " ) used to indicated that the word, phrase, or figure given above is to be repeated.

[italian dialectal, past participle of Italian dire, to say, from Latin dcere; see deik- in Indo-European roots.]

Word History: Ditto, which at first glance seems a handy and insignificant sort of word, actually has a Roman past, for it comes from dictus, "having been said," the past participle of the verb dcere, "to say." In Italian dcere became dire and dictus became detto, or in the Tuscan dialect ditto. Italian detto or ditto meant what said does in English, as in the locution "the said story." Thus the word could be used in certain constructions to mean "the same as what has been said"; for example, having given the date December 22, one could use 26 detto or ditto for 26 December. The first recorded use of ditto in English occurs in such a construction in 1625. The sense "copy" is an English development, first recorded in 1818. Ditto has even become a trademark for a duplicating machine.

[Zak]

Lurch, I have noticed that you are editing a lot of your own posts.... are you practising with your new powers?

[Guest]

Yeah, but gently does it though.

[Guest G.J.M]

Hows about an abbreaviations page. As in QFA, IMO, DITTO ect.. I can quess some of them but others WTF.

lads.

66040[/snapback]

i guess QFA = quoted for agreement

IMO= in my opinion

there are some i don't have a clue about.It took me a while to get the LOL and thought people were giving lots of love

[Selsport69]

South Africa is really no different to the USA then. Although they do use tampers. The main DSC panel lids have a position for a keylock to lock the panel lid, but that is never fitted. Wireless is still like the UK in my eyes not too many trust it. Magnetic contacts are useually glued on the doors etc. So was the bloody pirs that was in my house when I moved in. Hence a redecoration took place once I chnaged them. No bellboxes either just a siren and strobe screwed to the outside wall or in the roof space. 95% of the systems over here do signal via either a radio or over the telephone lines. Any new radio signalling systems must have the ariel fitted in a secure location as the big thing over here is they break into your house removing the roof tiles cut the ariel that used to be fitted in the roof and bobs your uncle.

They think nothing of gluing cables to outside walls and not in conduit.

Fire systems are not too bad. They use a fire resistant cable a bit like the feel of cat 5 but 95% of all cable is in fitted in steel conduit, unless its in a server room where plastic conduit is the norm.

[Adi]

Nice one lurch IMO was right but QFA was quick file access didnt think that was right but was cleared up by GJM. Its like a foreign language.

[arfur mo]

i worked with a collegue when on shield alarms who had worked for Wells Fargo (stiffle that Yahoo!). and from what he told me the USA alarm co's relied on silent central station (without bells). the service engineer also acted as a keyholder and was also issued with a shotgun in his truck.

on an activation he would collect the keys from the CS and drive to the site to investigate. often he would arrive before the Police, so would take the shotgun for protection and go investigate.

the problem was if he attended say a school, and while checking out the premmises he heard a movement, he did not know if it was an intruder or if the Police had now shown up.

if its an intruder and he challenged he hoped for surrender and he did'nt get blown away - simple ? but if it was the Police and he challenged he would definately get blown away as they are not given to ask questions prior to shooting the heck out of anything that moves.

naugh! not a job for me over there

[ABC]

i worked with a collegue when on shield alarms who had worked for Wells Fargo (stiffle that Yahoo!). and from what he told me the USA alarm co's relied on silent central station (without bells). the service engineer also acted as a keyholder and was also issued with a shotgun in his truck.

on an activation he would collect the keys from the CS and drive to the site to investigate. often he would arrive before the Police, so would take the shotgun for protection and go investigate.

the problem was if he attended say a school, and while checking out the premmises he heard a movement, he did not know if it was an intruder or if the Police had now shown up.

if its an intruder and he challenged he hoped for surrender and he did'nt get blown away - simple ? but if it was the Police and he challenged he would definately get blown away as they are not given to ask questions prior to shooting the heck out of anything that moves.

naugh! not a job for me over there

Your information about alarms in the US is rubbish.

There are 2 different things, central monitoring and central monitoring with guard responses. There are some variances of each, but what you're referring to is what you blokes would call a "cowboy".

Outdoor audibles, bells and strobes are quite often not allowed due to local noise statues, so it's quite different than in the UK. Central monitoring has it's own set of procedures and practices for verification as well as appropriate responses by the authorities (bobbies) who actually must respond to a monitored system, properly permitted and not in suspension due to falses.

The guard response is quite different, and they work in conjunction and direct communication with the police using the same radio bands, just different dispatching, to avoid circumstances like you stated.

The situation you described is not the norm. I've worked country wide in the US as well as abroad, including Wells Fargo.

No engineers are dispatched for a response like what has been stated like what your friend stated. I've worked for a bundle of companies, including guard response, and never have I experienced what your friend describes. What's the size of his hat and lasso they issued him for the company uniform?

Look up Bel Air patrol for an example of monitored/guard response.