Wall-mounted alarm control panel inside a home
24/7 ALARM RESPONSE & SECURITY ATTENDANCE

Alarm Response & Emergency Security Services

24/7 alarm response and key holding services for commercial premises, construction sites and vacant properties, with SIA-licensed security attendance across the UK.
Alarm Response

24/7 Alarm Response and Emergency Security Attendance

AGS Security attends alarm activations at commercial premises, construction sites, warehouses, offices, retail units and vacant property across the UK — day or night, so nobody from your own team has to.

The alternative to a response service is usually a manager driving to a dark site alone at three in the morning, not knowing whether anyone is still inside. That is the risk this service exists to remove.

SIA-licensed officers attend, inspect the premises inside and out, investigate what caused the activation, make the site secure and liaise with the police, fire service or your monitoring provider as needed. You receive a written incident report with photographs afterwards — not a phone call saying it looked fine.

24/7 Attendance Nights, weekends and holidays, which is when activations happen
SIA-Licensed Officers Trained officers attending, not a caretaker with a torch
Photographic Reports Written report with photographs after every single attendance
Agreed Response Targets Attendance targets set per site in your specification
Service Scope

What Happens When AGS Attends an Activation

An attendance is not a drive-by. What the officer checks, how far they go in, and who gets told is agreed for your site before the first callout.

Commercial distribution site of the kind attended by AGS Security alarm response officers
01

24/7 Attendance

Officers deployed to your premises when an activation is raised, at any hour, including weekends and holiday shutdowns.

02

External Inspection

A full circuit of the building and boundary, checking doors, windows, fencing and access points for signs of entry or damage.

03

Internal Inspection

Where keys are lodged with us, officers enter and check internally rather than reporting only what can be seen outside.

04

Incident Investigation

Establishing what actually triggered the alarm — intrusion, a fault, weather, or something left insecure at close.

05

Making the Site Secure

Securing what can be secured, resetting where authorised, and arranging a temporary presence if the building cannot be closed.

06

Liaison With Emergency Services

Dealing with the police, the fire service and your alarm monitoring provider on your behalf while you stay at home.

07

Photographic Incident Reports

A written report after every attendance, with photographs of what was found and a record of the actions taken.

08

Escalation to Your Contact

A defined route for waking the right person when a decision is genuinely needed — and not waking them when it is not.

Why Choose AGS Security

Alarm Response That Keeps Your Own People at Home

Most organisations discover they need alarm response after the third or fourth time a manager has driven out at night. It is not a security problem at that point; it is a duty of care one.

An untrained employee attending an activation alone, in the dark, not knowing whether an intruder is still on site, is a risk no organisation should be carrying. Trained officers who do this for a living remove it.

Your Staff Stay at Home

The single strongest reason to buy this service, and the one most often left out of the calculation.

Evidence, Not Reassurance

Photographic incident reports, so you know what was found rather than being told it looked fine.

With or Without Your Keys

We can hold keys and go inside, or attend and inspect externally where you would rather keep them.

Targets Set Per Site

Attendance targets agreed against the real location and distance, not a headline figure applied everywhere.

One Provider, One Contact

Response, key holding, patrols and CCTV specified together, so nothing falls between two suppliers at 3am.

Clear Quotation Basis

Priced on the sites, distances and cover agreed, rather than an off-the-shelf package.

Buyer Outcomes

What Alarm Response Changes

Nobody From Your Team Attends at 3am

The duty-of-care problem disappears the day the contract starts, and it is the benefit clients mention first.

Activations Actually Investigated

Someone establishes what caused it, rather than the alarm being silenced and the question left until morning.

Evidence for Insurers

Photographs and a written record of what was found and when, which matters when a claim is questioned.

The Site Left Secure

Not just checked and left. Where a building cannot be closed properly, a presence can be arranged until it can.

Repeat Faults Get Noticed

A pattern of activations from the same detector or door is visible in the reports, so the fault gets fixed.

Complacency Broken

Sites where alarms are routinely ignored are the ones where a real intrusion goes unanswered. Every activation gets attended.

Setting It Up

Four Ways Alarm Response Can Be Arranged

How we are called, and whether we can get inside, are separate decisions. Most clients combine one from each pair.

01

Keys Lodged With AGS

Keys held securely by us, so officers can enter, inspect internally, secure the building and lock up again. The fullest version of the service, usually arranged with key holding.

02

Attendance Without Keys

Where you would rather keep your own keys, officers attend, inspect externally, assess the situation and report. Plenty of clients prefer this, and we would rather offer it than pretend keys are compulsory.

03

Called by Your Monitoring Centre

Your alarm receiving centre or monitoring provider contacts us directly when an activation is raised, so nothing waits on somebody noticing a phone at night.

04

Called by You

Your nominated contact rings us when their alarm app or provider alerts them. Simple, and it suits sites without a monitoring contract in place.

Commercial premises at night, when most alarm activations attended by AGS Security occur
Operational Delivery

From Activation to Incident Report

The work that makes a 3am callout go smoothly is all done in daylight, weeks earlier.

STEP 01

Set-Up & Instructions

Site details, access and key arrangements, who calls us, who we call, and the attendance target agreed for the location.

STEP 02

Activation Received

The call comes from your monitoring centre or your nominated contact, and an officer is dispatched to your site.

STEP 03

Attendance & Investigation

Inspection inside and out as agreed, the cause established, the site secured, and the emergency services involved if needed.

STEP 04

Report & Follow-Up

A written report with photographs, escalation to your contact where a decision is needed, and repeat faults flagged.

Accreditations & Memberships

The schemes and bodies AGS Security is accredited by, registered with or a member of. If your procurement process needs certificates or scheme numbers, ask and we will send them across.

  • SSIP Safety Schemes in Procurement
  • Acclaim Accreditation
  • Builder's Profile
  • National Association of Security Dog Users
  • Black Country Chamber of Commerce
  • Social Value
  • Information Commissioner's Office registration
Client Confidence

Choosing an Alarm Response Company You Can Rely On

Alarm response is bought on a promise and tested at the worst possible hour. The questions worth asking are unglamorous: who actually attends, how far away are they, and what will you receive afterwards.

Read feedback from organisations and clients that have worked with AGS Security across commercial, construction and operational environments.

Buyer Questions

Alarm Response FAQs

What happens when you attend an alarm activation?
An SIA-licensed officer attends, inspects the exterior and boundary, enters and checks internally where keys are lodged with us, establishes what triggered the alarm, secures what can be secured, and liaises with the police, fire service or your monitoring provider if needed. You then receive a written report with photographs.
How quickly will you attend?
An attendance target is agreed for each site in the specification, based on where that site actually is. We do not publish a single figure, because a headline response time that ignores distance, traffic and weather is a promise made to win the contract rather than one that can be kept at four in the morning. Tell us where your sites are and we will tell you what is realistic.
Do you need to hold our keys?
No. Keys lodged with us mean officers can go inside, check internally and lock up again, which is the fullest version of the service. But we also attend sites where you keep your own keys, inspecting externally and reporting. Both are legitimate arrangements and we would rather you chose than assumed.
Who calls you when the alarm goes off?
Either your alarm receiving centre or monitoring provider contacts us directly, or your nominated contact rings us when their app or provider alerts them. The first is more reliable at night; the second suits sites without a monitoring contract.
Do you attend 24 hours a day?
Yes, including nights, weekends and holiday shutdowns. Activations frequently occur outside working hours, and a response service that only covers the working day leaves the harder part of the problem uncovered.
What do we receive after an attendance?
A written incident report covering what was found, what caused the activation where it could be established, and what actions were taken — with photographs. It is the document your insurer will ask for, so it matters that it exists and is specific.
Will you deal with the police?
Our officers liaise with the police, the fire service and your monitoring provider as the situation requires. We cannot promise police attendance at an activation — that is their decision and no security company controls it — but you will not be the one making the call at 3am.
What if the building cannot be secured?
If a door or window has been forced and cannot be closed properly, we can arrange for an officer to remain on site until the building is made secure or your contractor arrives, rather than leaving an open building overnight. That is agreed as part of the response arrangement.
What if it turns out to be a false alarm?
It still gets attended and reported. Most activations are faults, weather or something left insecure at close — and that is exactly why sites become complacent and stop responding, which is the state an intruder benefits from. Repeat faults show up across the reports so the underlying cause can be fixed.
Why not just send our own manager?
Because an untrained employee attending a possible break-in alone, at night, is a duty-of-care exposure for the employer as much as a risk to them personally. It is also the reason most clients contact us — usually after it has happened three or four times.
Can you cover several sites?
Yes, and multi-site is common. Each site gets its own instructions, contacts and attendance target, with one point of contact and one reporting format across the portfolio.
What information do you need to quote?
The location of each site, the type of premises, who monitors the alarm, whether keys would be lodged with us, roughly how often activations occur, and who should be contacted when one does.
Speak to AGS Security

Discuss Alarm Response Cover for Your Sites

Tell us where your sites are, who monitors the alarms and whether keys would be lodged with us, and we can set out the response arrangement and a written quotation.

Speak to AGS Security