A regional monitoring system can establish and store patterns of signals from sensors or patterns of signals coupled to actuators. Incoming patterns can be compared to pre-stored patterns, and in the presence of a disparity therebetween, a message can be sent wirelessly to a displaced individual associated with the region indicative of the disparity. The individual can override a pre-established action associated with one of the pre-stored patterns. Monitoring systems can include security monitoring systems, fire safety monitoring systems or HVAC-type systems.