Office alarm system: a personal code for every employee

At home, two or three people know the code. An office has employees, a cleaner, whoever comes in first in the morning, whoever leaves last in the evening, and someone who comes in on Saturday to finish a report. If everyone has the same code, you never know who disarmed the alarm. When someone leaves, you have to change the code for everyone. Below are five steps to set up an office alarm system so that everyone has their own code and everything is visible in the log. All prices are without VAT (+ VAT).

1. Why should every employee have their own code?

Because then everything shows up in the log. The GSMvalve app shows every time who armed or disarmed the system and when. If the office is disarmed in the morning, you can see whose code was used. If the office was not armed in the evening, you can see that too and know who to ask.

The alarm can be controlled in three ways: with a code or tag on the keypad, with the 4-button key fob, or from your phone. In an office, the keypad and tag are the most practical. A tag is handy for people who don’t want to remember numbers, and a code is handy for people who don’t carry keys. Both are personal and show up separately in the log.

2. How many keypads does an office need?

One at every entrance employees use. If the main door is in the lobby and the back door is by the loading area, then two. Someone coming in through the back door shouldn’t have to run through the office to disarm the alarm in time. Every door also has a door sensor, so the log shows which door was used.

For the office	Start	Plus	Premium
Devices	6	11	18
Suits	Small office, one door	Office with two entrances	Larger office, several rooms
Buy	310 € + VAT	547 € + VAT	673 € + VAT
Rent	14 €/month + VAT	19 €/month + VAT	25 €/month + VAT
Installation	121 € + VAT	121 € + VAT	161 € + VAT
Monthly fee when buying	7.40 € + VAT	7.40 € + VAT	7.40 € + VAT

An extra keypad costs 42 € + VAT or 1.50 €/month + VAT. When you buy, extra devices don’t raise the monthly fee. When you rent, the devices, app and customer support are included in the monthly fee, and the minimum period is 3 months.

3. What happens to the code of an employee who leaves?

It is deleted straight away. Other employees’ codes stay the same and nobody has to learn a new code. The same goes for tags: if an employee loses their tag or doesn’t return it, just that tag is removed and the rest keep working.

Add one line to your offboarding checklist: alarm system code. Keys, laptop and access rights get checked anyway, but the code tends to be forgotten. With a shared code, every departure would mean a code change for the whole team. With personal codes, it is one deletion.

4. How do you protect the server room?

With a smoke detector. The server room or network cabinet is where a fire can start when nobody is in the office: at night or at the weekend. The smoke detector sounds an alarm itself (85 dB) and at the same time sends a notification to all users’ phones, so someone calls the fire brigade even if nobody is in the building. The smoke detector costs 45 € + VAT.

If you want to monitor temperature as well as smoke in the server room, consider the smoke, carbon monoxide and temperature detector, which is already included in the Plus package. Some offices use a water leak sensor in the kitchen or a utility room with a water connection. A motion sensor in the server room raises the alarm if someone goes in while the office is armed.

5. How does the alarm work at night and at weekends?

The last person to leave arms the alarm with their own code. If they forget, you can see in the app that the office is not armed and arm it from your phone. If someone comes in to work on Saturday, they disarm the alarm with their own code and the log shows the exact time. If someone comes in without disarming the alarm, it goes off.

• The alarm goes to all added users at once: the owner, the manager, the facilities manager
• The hub sends the alarm even during a power cut or internet outage, thanks to its backup battery and SIM card
• The motion sensor with camera (60 € + VAT) sends a series of photos when an alarm goes off, with no continuous recording
• You can add a patrol through a partner, and the price depends on the area

GSMvalve is not a security company and doesn’t send anyone out itself. If your office is somewhere no employee can reach quickly at night, ask for a patrol in your quote. For shops, we also recommend a panic button under the counter (silent alarm to the owner’s phone) and a glass break sensor for the shop window.

How do installation and invoicing work for a company?

Describe the premises in your enquiry: square metres, number of entrances, whether there is a server room and how many employees need a code. We reply within one working day and the enquiry doesn’t commit you to anything. For larger premises, a technician visits before we make the quote. Installation is one visit, usually a couple of hours, and no cables are run, so the office can keep working the same day. The invoice goes to your company and all prices are + VAT. GSMvalve has been in business since 2005.

Frequently asked questions

Read also: alarms for business customers · keypad · what the app shows