How to check a company's response times are real, not marketing

You've just received a quote from an armed response company with times that sound almost too good. They claim three-minute response in your area during the day. But the neighbourhoods they're protecting are sprawling, and you're sceptical. How do you know those response times are real and not inflated marketing?

The gap between advertised response times and what actually happens on the ground can be wide. Companies with tight targets often highlight them loudly but rarely volunteer their miss rates. Your job is to move past the brochure and ask for evidence.

Request their latest incident data

Ask the company for a summary of their actual response times over the past three months. Not cherry-picked examples—an average across all incidents in your postcode or area. Many professional operators track this data and are happy to share it because they're confident in their performance. If a company hesitates or says "we don't track that," that's a red flag. They should have timestamped records of when they received the alarm, when the vehicle was dispatched, and when it arrived on scene.

Don't accept vague language like "typically three minutes" or "usually within five." Push for the percentage of calls they actually met in the last quarter. Ask whether those times include the moment the alarm was triggered or only when their operator answered the phone. The definitions matter enormously. A company might quote three-minute response from dispatch but not mention the two minutes it took to answer your alarm—that's five minutes before anyone moves.

Check their operational footprint in your area

Response time depends entirely on where their armed response vehicles are stationed and how many are on shift. A company might hit three-minute times in a dense suburb five kilometres from their base but struggle to reach outlying areas in half the time. Ask how many vehicles they have active in your specific zone during peak hours and off-peak. Ask where those vehicles are parked or based. Ask what happens if multiple calls come in at once—which incident gets priority and what's the response time for the second?

You should also understand their coverage hours. Some companies offer faster response during business hours and slower response overnight or on weekends. Confirm what times their advertised response period applies to and what you can expect outside those hours.

Speak to three recent clients in your neighbourhood

This is non-negotiable. Ask the company for the contact details of three customers in your area who've had an actual armed response callout in the past year. Not existing customers you can phone on the spot—a reference list they've vetted. Then call them and ask specifically: when you triggered the alarm, when did they arrive, and was that realistic given the circumstances?

Ask those references about false alarms and response time on those. Ask what happened when multiple incidents occurred the same night. Ask whether the company's response felt sluggish at the end of the month when staff might be thin. Real customers will give you texture you'll never get from marketing material.

Verify they're registered and insured appropriately

Check they're registered with the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA). You can search their registration number on the PSIRA website to confirm they're legitimate and current. Ask for a copy of their professional indemnity insurance certificate and their armed response licence—both should list their area of operation. If their insurance doesn't cover your specific location, response times become irrelevant because their legal liability coverage might not either.

While you're checking credentials, ask how they define and measure response time in their contract. Some contracts cap response time to "best efforts" or "where operationally possible," which is much weaker than a guaranteed figure. Others exclude response times during power outages, extreme weather or national incidents. These caveats are important to understand upfront.

Response time claims are easy to make and hard to verify after you've signed. Dig into the data, speak to neighbours who've actually used them, and check their registration before you commit. Strove lets you compare verified armed response providers side by side and read genuine customer reviews—that's often the fastest way to spot which companies' promises match their real-world performance.