Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC)

When an alarm is raised, it’s routed instantly to a trained Alarm Controller who listens in (on average within 4 seconds). The Controller assesses the situation, speaks to the user when it’s safe to do so, locates them, and follows a pre-agreed escalation plan. That could mean staying on the line, contacting a nominated responder, or requesting an emergency services response. Every activation is logged, whether it’s a genuine incident, a planned activation, or a false alarm.

A call centre answers calls; an ARC is a security-accredited emergency facility built to strict physical, staffing and resilience standards. Our ARC sits inside a steel-reinforced, airlocked complex with its own backup power and air supply, and every operator is vetted and trained specifically in handling life-threatening personal safety incidents. That distinction is the difference between someone taking a message and someone securing a prioritised police response.

Our ARC is certified to BS EN 50518:2019 Category 1 (the European standard for monitoring centres), BS 8484:2022 (the British Standard for lone worker services) and BS 9518:2021 (replacing section 7 of the BS 8484 standard which relates to the processing of ARC alarm signals).

We’re also an ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus accredited supplier. These accreditations are the reason we can guarantee a prioritised police response – a provider that isn’t audited against BS 8484 can’t.

A Unique Reference Number is issued by police forces to accredited ARCs that meet National Police Chiefs’ Council guidelines. It lets us bypass the standard 999 queue and dial directly into the relevant police control room, with the incident already verified and location attached. We hold URNs for every UK police force, which secures the fastest possible response when seconds matter.

No, and that’s deliberate. Controllers verify every alert before escalating, which keeps the URN valid and avoids tying up police resources. Across the accredited lone worker industry, the large majority of alerts are resolved by the ARC without police involvement, with only a small fraction passed on as genuine incidents. Statistics from the BSIA’s Lone Worker section show that 99.7 per cent of alerts are filtered by the ARC, with just 0.3 per cent passed on to the police. Verifying first is what makes the priority response credible.

On average we listen to an alarm within 4 seconds, and we consistently overachieve against the response times set by the BS 8484:2022 standard.

A URN secures a prioritised police response, which is the right route for aggression or threat. For a medical emergency, the fastest route to an ambulance is still 999 and the ARC Controller can place that 999 call on the worker’s behalf, passing location and context, when the worker can’t.

For some emergencies you should call 999. A medical emergency is fastest handled by calling 999 for an ambulance, and if your worker can’t make that call, our Controller can place it for them.

But when someone is being threatened, stopping to dial 999 and explain who and where they are can be impossible or even dangerous. A Peoplesafe alarm is triggered discreetly with one touch, reaches a trained Controller in around 4 seconds with the worker’s location attached, and – because we’re BS 8484:2022 accredited and hold a URN for every UK police force – lets us pass a verified incident straight into the police control room, bypassing the 999 queue for a prioritised response.

If a user feels unsafe but there’s no active emergency, for example, walking across an empty car park alone, they can activate their alarm and ask the Controller to stay on the line until they’re safe. The Controller’s presence is a live reassurance, and they can escalate instantly if the situation changes.

The ARC has its own power and air supply and a backup power system, so it keeps running through a local power failure. In the unlikely event the site is compromised, we have an alternative secure location that can be operational within minutes, ensuring continuity of service.

All data is backed up and stored securely, and the personal data your organisation provides is only made available to our Controllers in the event of an emergency. As an ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus accredited supplier, our data processes align with GDPR and information security best practice.

At our Epsom headquarters, within a steel-reinforced and airlocked complex. We own the entire end-to-end service and the systems that drive the ARC, which gives us full control over security and quality.