Patent ID: 8825857

Claim:
A method of operating an alarm system at a premises, said alarm system comprising a panel and a plurality of sensors at said premises, said panel comprising a network interface, a processor and memory at said premises, said method comprising: a. from said panel, contacting an allocation server remote from said premises over a data network, at a pre-programmed network address and providing a unique identifier of said panel, said allocation server executing software causing said allocation server to assign a monitoring server based on said unique identifier of said panel, and at least one of a geographic location of said panel, features of said panel, and a version of software executing at said panel; b. at said panel, obtaining from said allocation server, a data network address of a monitoring server remote from said premises, assigned to said panel based on said unique identifier of said panel, and at least one of a geographic location of said panel, features of said panel, and a version of software executing at said panel; c. at said panel storing said data network address of said monitoring server assigned to said panel and obtained by said panel from said allocation server in said memory at said panel, for future provision of alarm messages; d. in response to a sensed alarm condition at said premises, retrieving said data network address of said monitoring server assigned to said panel from said memory at said panel and signalling from said panel, said sensed alarm condition at said premises by dispatching an alarm message to said data network address of said monitoring server assigned to said panel, by way of said network interface.