The first central office burglar alarm operation appeared in the United States during the mid-19th century. Burglar alarms began to be used in England during the early 1900's, and further development was rapid. Although intruder alarm systems continue to have a valuable role to play in protecting property in Britain, numerous problems regarding their use have arisen. One of the greatest problems affecting police forces is the unacceptably high false alarm rate for intruder alarms. Additional studies are needed on the false alarm rate in order to gather more accurate statistics from which a solution can be found. Police forces are affected by false alarms in terms of their use of resources, their attitudes regarding the reliability of an emergency call, and the reaction of the public to a persistently ringing alarm. There should be a clear understanding of minimal police requirements regarding alarm systems, and alarm companies and the police should work to the British Standard BS4737 as an acceptable minimum level. Police should discontinue responding to alarm systems that create too many false calls, and alarm systems currently in use should be updated. Deficiencies in the 999 autodialler transmission system are identified, and suggestions for its improvement and for police response policies are outlined. No references are cited.