What does a communicator do in an alarm system?

In an alarm system, the communicator plays a crucial role by sending alarm signals to monitoring services. This function is essential as it ensures that when an alarm is triggered—whether due to a breach of security, fire, or other emergencies—the alarm system can effectively communicate this threat to monitoring professionals. These monitoring services are typically staffed 24/7, allowing for quick response times from authorities, such as the police or fire department, depending on the nature of the alarm.

The communicator typically uses various communication technologies such as phone lines, cellular networks, or internet connections to relay these signals. Because the primary purpose of an alarm system is to alert someone of a potential danger and initiate a response, the ability of the communicator to successfully transmit these alerts is fundamental to the system's overall effectiveness. The other options—sounding alerts locally, controlling the alarm panel, or providing user instructions—are functions often associated with different components of the alarm system, such as sirens or the central alarm panel, but they do not encapsulate the primary responsibility of the communicator itself.