The Monitoring Association (TMA) is pleased to announce that Holmes Security Systems, with offices in Fayetteville and Wilmington, North Carolina, has renewed the prestigious “TMA Five Diamond Monitoring Center” designation. This designation is granted annually to monitoring centers that satisfy all the requirements of the “five points of excellence”: 

• Commitment to ongoing job-related education and testing by having 100 percent of its monitoring center operators certified using the TMA online training series on industry best practices. 
• Commitment to random inspections and quality criteria standards by a nationally recognized testing laboratory such as FM Approvals, Intertek/ETL, and UL.
• Commitment to raising the industry standards through TMA membership and participation in its activities.
• Commitment to reducing false dispatches.
• Commitment to the highest levels of customer service.

TMA’s Five Diamond designation means that a monitoring company has demonstrated exceptionally high responsibility to their local community and customers by investing time, money, and commitment to quality operator training. Operators serve as the life-saving link between residential or business properties and the police, fire and emergency services in local areas. 

The TMA Monitoring Center Operator course covers virtually all phases of monitoring center communications with customers, police, fire, and emergency services communications centers. To achieve the Five Diamond designation, every operator must not only pass the course and recertify every three years but demonstrate the following:

• Proficiency in the alarm confirmation process, which helps reduce false alarms.
• Proficiency in communications with Public Service Answering Points, such as the Emergency 911 centers.
• Knowledge of electronic communication equipment, including cellular, radio, and internet communication systems.
• An understanding of the codes and standards of such organizations as Underwriters Laboratories, Factory Mutual, the National Fire Protection Association, and others.
• Proficiency in emergency preparedness under a wide scenario of possibilities. 

Holmes Security Systems is proud to have the only UL-listed Five Diamond central monitoring station in Eastern NC that provides 24/7/365 peace of mind and exceptional customer service to Residential and Commercial clients.