Video verified alarm monitoring, Kent WA and the South Sound
An alarm nobody can see
is an alarm nobody is coming to.
Since October 2024, Seattle Police have not dispatched on a sensor activation alone. They want evidence of a crime in progress: audio, video, a panic signal or an eyewitness. Video verification closes that gap. When a detector trips, the clip from the camera covering that zone goes to the monitoring operator, who looks at it and decides.
Video verified alarm monitoring links an intrusion alarm to the cameras watching the same area. When a detector triggers, a CHEKT bridge pulls the clip from the camera mapped to that zone, including several seconds recorded before the trigger, and sends it to the central station operator. The operator sees what set the alarm off and dispatches on what they can actually see. This matters in Washington because Seattle Police have required supporting evidence of an in-progress crime since 1 October 2024 and do not dispatch on a sensor or motion activation alone. As of September 2026 Rivas Technology Group prices it at about $125 to $150 per lens per month, and recommends putting it on restricted-area cameras rather than every camera on site.
- What it does
- Sends the operator the camera clip from the zone that alarmed, so a person decides rather than a sensor
- Why it matters here
- Seattle Police have not dispatched on sensor-only alarms since 1 October 2024
- The hardware
- A CHEKT bridge wired to alarm zones, mapped to cameras or an NVR that speak ONVIF or give a stream on the local network
- Pre-alarm video
- The bridge holds the last seconds of video, so the clip starts before the trigger rather than after it
- Price
- About $125 to $150 per lens per month as of September 2026, quoted per site
- How many lenses
- Only the restricted-area cameras, not every camera on site. Verifying a public entrance buys noise
- What it needs
- Cameras covering the zones that can alarm. A detector with no camera on it cannot be verified
- What it is not
- Not a guard service, and not a guarantee of police priority. The dispatch decision belongs to the agency
- Response
- Call or text back within one business day
The problem verification solves
An intrusion alarm makes a decision with almost no information. A detector saw movement, so the panel sent a signal, so the monitoring centre called somebody. Nobody in that chain knows whether a person is in the building or a balloon drifted past a PIR.
That is why false alarm rates are what they are, and it is why police departments have spent two decades adding conditions to alarm response. The end of that road arrived in Seattle on 1 October 2024. SPD now responds to alarm-company calls only when there is evidence of a crime in progress, and a sensor or motion activation on its own does not qualify1.
Read that again if you own a building in Seattle. Your alarm going off is not, by itself, a reason for anyone to come.
What changes with video verification
The operator stops guessing. When a zone alarms, the clip from the camera covering that zone arrives with the signal, so a person looks at the actual event before deciding what to do with it.
That cuts both ways, and the second way is worth more than people expect. A verified alarm gets reported as a person in the building. An unverified one that turns out to be a tarp in the wind gets cancelled at the desk instead of becoming a false dispatch, a municipal fine, and one more reason for a department to deprioritise your address.
How CHEKT does it
A CHEKT bridge sits between the alarm panel and the cameras. It is wired to the panel's zone outputs, and each zone is mapped to the camera that covers it.
When a zone alarms, the bridge pulls video from that camera and passes it to the monitoring platform. It buffers the last seconds of video continuously, so the clip starts before the trigger rather than after it, which is usually the difference between seeing someone arrive and seeing an empty frame where they used to be.
Cameras and recorders need to speak ONVIF or provide a stream the bridge can reach on the local network2. Most modern IP cameras and NVRs do. The bridge does not replace your alarm panel, it does not replace your recorder, and it does not turn an analogue camera into an IP one.
What the operator sees
The account and the site. The zone that alarmed. The camera mapped to that zone. A clip including the buffered pre-alarm seconds, and live video where the installation supports it.
What they do with it follows the central station's procedure and your local authority's rules. The honest limit is that a clip showing a person forcing a door is strong verification, and a clip showing an empty yard is not. Verification is only as good as whether a camera was pointed at the thing that alarmed.
Where your city stands
Washington does not have one rule, and this is the part most vendors skate over.
Seattle: since 1 October 2024, supporting evidence of an in-progress crime is required for dispatch. Sensor-only alarms do not qualify1.
Pierce County: deputies are dispatched on two separate alarm trips plus two attempted calls to the user or an alternate contact, and successful contact is not required3.
Kent, Tacoma, Auburn, Federal Way, Renton and the rest: we could not confirm current dispatch standards from official sources, so we are not stating them. These rules are set city by city and they change. Ask us and we will check your city with you before you buy anything.
Which cameras actually need it
Not all of them, and we will say so before you ask.
Verification belongs on restricted areas: the yard after hours, the storage compound, the plant room, the roof, the controlled area, the gate nobody should be at on a Sunday. Those places have a simple rule behind them, which is that nobody has a reason to be there. That makes the operator's job fast and the alarm worth acting on.
A camera on a public entrance is the opposite. It sees legitimate people all day, so verifying it produces a stream of events that mean nothing, costs you a lens fee each month, and trains everyone in the chain to stop caring. The rest of your cameras keep recording exactly as they always did; they are just not part of the verification loop.
In practice most sites verify a handful of lenses out of a much larger camera count. That is the design question we settle at the site walk, and it is usually the difference between a monthly bill that makes sense and one that does not.
What it costs
As of September 2026, about $125 to $150 per lens per month, quoted per site. The lens count is what moves it, which is the whole reason the section above matters: verify the restricted areas and the bill stays proportionate to the risk.
For context, the wider market runs from tens of dollars per camera for basic clip delivery up past $100 for services where a human being genuinely reviews the event. This sits in the second group.
What it is not
It is not a guard service. Nobody is watching your cameras continuously; the video is pulled when a detector says something happened.
It is not a guarantee of police priority. Some jurisdictions classify video-confirmed alarms as higher priority, and some will not dispatch without that evidence at all, but the decision belongs to the agency. Any vendor promising you a police response time is promising something they do not control.
And it is not a substitute for cameras pointed at the right things. A detector with no camera covering it cannot be verified, which is a design question we settle at the site walk rather than a licence you buy.
Where we work
From 415 Railroad Ave S, Kent, WA 98032: Kent, Renton, Tukwila, Federal Way, Auburn, Covington, Maple Valley, Tacoma, Puyallup, Sumner, Bonney Lake, Tehaleh, University Place and Gig Harbor. The Olympic Peninsula and sites farther afield are by appointment and quote.
Questions about verified monitoring
Will the police come to an unverified alarm in Washington?
It depends where you are, and the answer changed recently in Seattle. Since 1 October 2024 Seattle Police respond to alarm-company calls only when there is evidence of a crime in progress, such as audio, video, a panic alarm or an eyewitness, and a sensor or motion activation on its own does not qualify1. Pierce County publishes a different standard: deputies are dispatched on two separate alarm trips plus two attempted calls to the user or an alternate contact3.
What about Kent, Tacoma, Auburn, Federal Way and Renton?
We could not confirm their current dispatch standards from official sources, so we are not going to state them. Alarm rules are set city by city and they change. Before you rely on any of this for your own site, check your city's ordinance or ask us and we will check it with you. Anyone quoting you a blanket Washington rule is guessing.
How does CHEKT actually work?
A CHEKT bridge is wired to the alarm panel's zone outputs and mapped to the cameras covering those zones. When a zone alarms, the bridge pulls video from the camera assigned to it, including the seconds it had already buffered before the trigger, and passes it to the monitoring platform. The operator sees the account, the zone, the clip and, depending on the install, live video. Cameras or recorders need to speak ONVIF or provide a stream the bridge can reach on the local network2.
Does it work with our Ajax system?
It depends on the installation, and we will confirm it rather than assume it. CHEKT takes zone inputs from an alarm panel, so a system that can drive a relay or output per zone can in principle trigger the bridge. There is no documented native Ajax integration that we can point you at, so we check the specific hub, the output device and the zones on your site before quoting. We would rather answer that question honestly than sell a bridge that turns out to need rework.
How much does it cost?
As of September 2026, about $125 to $150 per lens per month, quoted per site. The lens count moves it, which is exactly why we do not put it on every camera. It goes on the restricted areas, where nobody has a reason to be after hours, and the rest of your cameras keep recording as they always did. The wider market runs from tens of dollars per camera for basic clip delivery to well over $100 for services with real human review, so this sits with the ones where a person actually looks.
Which cameras should be verified?
The restricted ones. A camera watching a yard after hours, a storage compound, a roof, a plant room or a controlled area has a simple rule behind it: nobody should be there. That makes the operator's decision fast and the alarm meaningful. A camera on a public entrance sees legitimate people all day, so verifying it buys you noise and a bigger bill. Most sites end up verifying a handful of lenses out of a much larger camera count.
Does verification guarantee a faster police response?
No, and we will not tell you it does. Some jurisdictions have created priority classifications for video-confirmed alarms, and some, like Seattle, will not dispatch without that kind of evidence at all. But the dispatch decision belongs to the agency, not to us and not to the monitoring centre. What verification reliably does is put a human being and a picture between your sensor and that phone call.
Ask about verified monitoring.
Tell us what alarm system you have, what cameras are on site and which city you are in. We will tell you what can be verified, what cannot, and what your local dispatch standard actually is. We call or text back within one business day.