Fire alarm monitoring іs an integral component оf your building’s overall fire safety plan, and requires hiring an outside company tо constantly monitor your alarms and notify first responders should an alarm be activated.
Without this service, fire departments would only become aware оf an incident іf someone remembered tо dial 9-1-1 immediately upon discovery оf one іn your building. By providing this service you could save lives and property with precious seconds being added back іn response time.
Commercial smoke detector monitoring іs a critical component оf a comprehensive fire safety plan for businesses. It provides early detection and rapid response tо fire emergencies, minimizing damage and potential loss.
Monitored Smoke Detectors
Fire alarm monitoring can make all the difference in preventing an uncontrollable fire from quickly spreading out of control. Without monitored fire alarms, firefighters would only respond if someone noticed and raised an alarm themselves or when building residents managed to call 999 before it escalated further.
Monitored smoke detectors are constantly looking out for any sign of potential danger, alerting the fire department when an alarm goes off or notifying users if a manual call point has been activated or the battery life has decreased significantly.
Smoke detection technologies used for fire alarm monitoring typically fall into two categories – ionization and photoelectric. Ionization alarms operate by creating an electrical current between two electrically charged plates; when smoke enters a chamber it disrupts this flow of ions, setting off alarm. Photoelectric-type alarms use light beams with photo sensors attached that measure how much light particles reflect back.
Calling the Fire Department
Many fire alarm systems are “single-station” systems, meaning they sound when smoke or heat trigger a sensor or manual pull station but do not automatically call 911 (or your country’s emergency number) immediately to notify them before the fire spreads too far. You must remember to call them quickly in order to have them respond before spreading beyond control.
Monitored fire alarms take away much of that burden – should an alarm sound without you present, the panel will alert a monitoring company which in turn alerts your local fire department more quickly – helping reduce damage by providing more timely firefighter arrival at your property and can reducing fire damage more efficiently.
Some panels include built-in dialers or communicators that use phone lines, cellular networks or the Internet to stay in communication with fire departments. If one of these signaling paths fail, the panel will display a trouble status on its screen; this type of monitoring is also known as dual path monitoring or redundancy monitoring.
Evacuation Time
Your fire alarm system was designed with one goal in mind – alerting occupants quickly that there is a fire. Without monitored fire alarms, however, the fire department may only become aware of a fire once someone from your building remembers to contact 911; and by then it could already be too late.
Fire alarm monitoring services link fire detection devices directly to a central station known as an Alarm Receiving Center, so if any sensors detect fire or go offline unexpectedly, someone will be immediately informed, even if your building is completely empty.
Before dispatching emergency services, ARC staff will review system diagnostics and history to confirm there really is a fire. They may also bypass sensors to see if there’s something amiss – perhaps an overactive sensor causing false alarms.
False Alarms
False alarms pose both life safety risks and financial burdens to emergency services, diverting funds from real emergencies and essential community efforts. Central fire alarm monitoring with experienced operators is of utmost importance in this regard – being able to quickly assess alarms coming in, determine which are false or true and provide accurate responses for responding personnel is key here.
False alarms may be set off due to human mistakes (burning toast, smoking indoors), system glitches or environmental conditions like dust and steam that trigger sensors accidentally.
Fire alarm monitoring helps reduce false alarms by monitoring for any sign of smoke or heat and immediately sending a signal to a monitoring center upon detection, alerting them of the need to call in the fire department if needed and saving lives and property by reducing unnecessary evacuations and saving lives and property; often these systems are required by local AHJs or fire departments.
