Will a Silent Alarm Show Up On Total Connect 2.0?

Yes, a silent alarm will show up on Total Connect 2.0. The TC2 platform will not treat a silent alarm any differently than a regular alarm. This is true even though a silent alarm will not cause the panel to display any alarms or activate any sirens. Other than that, there is no difference.

A silent alarm will behave just like a normal alarm. An alarm signal will still be sent out to the central station and/or the end user if the system is monitored. An alarm message will not be displayed on the panel, but a fault message may be displayed. The big difference is that no sounder or siren will go off with a silent alarm. You can trigger a silent alarm by faulting a zone with a Response Type that will activate a silent alarm.

As far as Total Connect 2.0 is concerned, a silent alarm is no different from a regular audible alarm. The alarm will still show up on Total Connect 2.0 just like normal. And just like an audible alarm, you will still need to clear the silent alarm before you would be able to arm the system. This can be done with a double disarm locally at the panel or by using the Alarm Cancel function on Total Connect 2.0.

A silent alarm should not be confused with a duress signal. A duress signal is a signal sent to the central station in a crisis situation. A duress signal is not really an alarm, and nothing will appear on the panel indicating that a duress signal was sent out. Total Connect 2.0 will not display any indication that a duress has been triggered. This is because a duress is not really an alarm, but a signal sent to the central station.

The reason why you might trigger a duress is because you are in a hostage situation, and you don't want an intruder to know that you secretly activated an alarm. You can trigger a duress by entering a duress code. You might also use a verbal duress code if you are on the phone with a central station operator. But speaking your verbal duress code won't really trigger any sort of signal, as the central station operator will simply request emergency dispatch. Therefore, a verbal duress will never show up in Total Connect 2.0.