The monitoring of fire alarm communications via phone lines, one primary line and one secondary line for backup, has been the industry standard since the mid-1980s. Although telecommunications technologies have improved significantly with the evolution of the Internet, the quality of fire alarm communications has steadily declined in recent years.
- By Nick Martello
- May 26, 2009
Conventional smoke detection and sprinkler systems are important safety tools and help to save lives, but indiscriminately soaking an office building, home, or workplace with water can cause tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage.
Xtralis, a provider of intelligent fire and security solutions, recently announced that its ICAM range of early and very early warning fire detection products joins its VESDA technology in receiving the EC Certificate of Conformity and meeting the demanding requirements of EN 54-20.
Gamewell-FCI is now incorporating video smoke detection—which is designed to effectively detect smoke in large, voluminous areas and challenging environments affected by airflow, stratification and background movement—into its line of products. Computer analyses of images from standard CCTV cameras identify smoke at its source, producing fast, reliable detection results. Developed by D-Tec, the FireVu line of VSD products are easy to install and are available now for use with Gamewell-FCI's complete portfolio of fire alarm systems.
The United States Fire Administration announces this year’s Arson Awareness Week theme -- Arson for Profit. The USFA has partnered with the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the International Association of Arson Investigators.
Whether it's for a new children's cereal or a comprehensive fire and life safety system, Lauren Hoen, a building operations manger for General Mills Inc., understands that the recipe for success calls for only the finest ingredients.
- By Jayson Kneen
- May 01, 2009
Pivot3 won SIA’s Best in Show Award at the 2009 New Product Showcase for its Serverless Computer storage solution at ISC West. Pivot3 provides clustered architecture that delivers large-scale, high-bandwidth storage using off-the-shelf hardware components combined with specialized software.
- By Sherleen Mahoney
- Apr 03, 2009
Of course the economy raised some concerns about attendance at ISC West this year. I’m not sure where attendance figures stand, but there seems to be lots of security people here in Las Vegas, all serious about new products and technology.
- By Ralph C. Jensen
- Apr 03, 2009
With more than 800 companies exhibiting at the 2009 ISC West tradeshow, it’s not surprising that there’s almost too much news to report coming out of the Sands Expo Center this week. And the fascinating, innovative products on display are almost too much to wrap your mind around.
- By Megan Weadock
- Apr 03, 2009
We’re well underway at ISC West, and if you didn’t have the opportunity to join us, there are a few “must know abouts,” and if you’re here, some definite must sees. Best off all, there is a must hear scheduled for tomorrow’s daily ISC West e-newsletter.
- By Ralph C. Jensen
- Apr 01, 2009
Xirrus Inc. recently announced that the county of San Bernardino in California chose the company’s 802.11n Wi-Fi Arrays as part of the county’s Disaster Response Mobile Connectivity Solution.
Gamewell-FCI, a Honeywell company, has expanded its series of free educational seminars, covering the latest codes and government recommendations surrounding mass notification systems.
Bloom Township High School District 206 announced recently that it and seven other districts are the first schools in Illinois to install the Rapid Responder crisis management system to protect students and staff.
Inova Solutions, a provider of emergency message displays, recently released an upgrade to its visual mass notification system, Inova OnAlert. The enhanced system offers e-mail-based message delivery, audible tones to complement visual messages, and a synchronized timekeeping function.
Three hundred ninety-nine thousand home fires were reported in the United States in 2007, according to the National Fire Protection Association’s recently released Home Structure Fires report. The category of homes includes one- and two-family dwellings and apartments.
With increasing use of VoIP as an alternative to conventional circuit switched phone services, security and life safety professionals are looking to the Internet for communicating
information from fire alarm control panels to a central monitoring station.
- By Charles Davis, Tom Mechler
- Feb 18, 2009
AMAG Technology has formed a strategic partnership with REACT Systems Inc., a provider of critical response notification systems that unify critical communications in emergencies and time-sensitive situations. The REACT system can reach thousands of users within seconds, delivering targeted and verifiable audio/video notifications to first responders and the public.
Minutes after a two-story townhouse caught fire on February 5, engines and crews raced to the townhouse to extinguish the fire and search for victims. No one was injured, however, because this was one of many fire experiments performed this winter by researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and other organizations. The tests with real fires and real firefighters are part of a landmark study examining the effect of firefighter crew sizes and equipment arrival times on fire growth rates and an occupant’s ability to survive a building fire.
The National Fire Protection Association has launched the Fire Sprinkler Initiative: Bringing Safety Home. The Fire Sprinkler Initiative will provide materials and resources to people and organizations working to encourage the adoption of requirements for automatic fire sprinklers in new one- and two-family homes.