Response
Smart Escalation
Motion detected. Push notification sent. No response in 90 seconds? Halstead calls you. No answer? Calls your emergency contact. Pro Monitoring tier? Dispatches authorities.
What it is
Smart escalation is the automated alert chain that connects an alarm event to the right responder — you, your emergency contact, or professional dispatch — depending on your response time. Instead of relying on a single notification that you might miss, smart escalation tries every channel in sequence until someone responds.
How it works
Step by step.
Verified alarm event occurs
Two-camera verification confirms a real intrusion event. The smart escalation chain begins.
Push notification fires
You receive a high-priority push notification with an alarm sound, even if your phone is on silent or do-not-disturb. The notification includes a snapshot and a button to view the live camera or acknowledge the alert.
If no response in 90 seconds, system calls you
If you don't acknowledge the alert within 90 seconds, Halstead's system places an automated phone call to your registered number. The call announces the alarm and gives you options to acknowledge, escalate to police, or deny.
If no answer, calls emergency contact
If you don't answer the phone call within three rings, the system calls your designated emergency contact (typically a spouse, parent, or trusted neighbor) with the same prompt.
Pro Monitoring tier: dispatches authorities
On the Pro Monitoring tier, if neither you nor your emergency contact responds, the system escalates to Halstead's UL-listed central station partner. A trained operator views the live camera feed, confirms the threat, and dispatches local police directly with floor plan information.
Why it matters
A push notification is great when you're looking at your phone, but useless if you're sleeping, in a meeting, driving, or on a plane. Most home security 'alerts' fail in those exact situations — when a real intrusion is most likely and you're most likely to miss the notification. Smart escalation solves this by trying every channel in sequence until someone responds, with optional handoff to professional dispatch as the final fallback.
Common questions
Can I customize the escalation timing?+
Yes. You can configure the wait time at each step (default 90 seconds for push, 3 rings for phone), the order of contacts, and which contact methods are tried.
What if the alert is a false alarm?+
At any step in the chain, you can acknowledge the alert as a false alarm and the chain stops immediately. No further escalation, no police dispatch.
Does Pro Monitoring dispatch happen automatically?+
Pro Monitoring's central station operator views the live camera feed before dispatching, so dispatch happens only when the operator can confirm a real threat. If the operator sees nothing alarming, they typically call you to confirm before any dispatch decision.
How fast is the typical police response with Pro Monitoring?+
Police response times vary by location and current call volume, but Halstead's verified-by-camera dispatch typically results in faster response than alarm-only systems because police know the threat is real, not a typical false alarm.