Autocall 10 Questions to Ask When Choosing a Fire Alarm System

10 Questions to Ask When Choosing Fire Alarm System you are designing and engineering a new facility or an existing building there are many decisions to made and a lot of them have long term consequences every major choice you make you need to weigh factors the safety comfort and sustainability of your the initial capital expense the design and installation required the importance of value added features the total cost of ownership the ease of maintenance expandability the availability of service and support more many cases you and those who manage the facility will to live with the consequences of your decisions for a time of the most critical decisions you will make is your of a fire alarm and life safety system To make the decision you must consider all factors Here 10 vital questions you should ask before making your choice 1 DOES THE VENDOR HAVE THE TO PROVIDE YOUR FACILITY WITH PROTECTION AND VALUE facility is unique Some industries and environments conditions that call for specialized fire protection such as high dust or noise levels or the presence high value assets or flammable substances Others as hospitals and university dormitories are 24 7 that require special care to avoid disruption occupants sure your prospective vendor has proven experience your type of facility and its unique requirements and a full portfolio of products solutions and services to them 2 DOES THE VENDOR OFFER SERVICES OR PROVIDE RESOURCES TO YOU DESIGN AND ENGINEER THE SYSTEM you designing and engineering a fire and life safety you don want to be starting from scratch Look for vendor that can design the system for you or support you all the resources you need to simplify and accelerate the from templates and specification tools to videos and It is also to your advantage to work with a company understands the applicable codes and standards and help you design a system that will meet the requirements by the local AHJ authority having jurisdiction 3 ARE THE SYSTEM COMPONENTS AND AFFORDABLE TO CONFIGURE AND protection products are not created equal particularly it comes to configuration and installation Conventional alarm systems require the use of heavier gauge wiring dedicated wiring runs from each device to the control That means larger conduit sizes and more wiring which make configuration and installation challenging and costly contrast an addressable fire alarm system allows multiple to be linked in a single circuit and often allows less lighter gauge wire and smaller conduit to be used can greatly simplify configuration and the cost and to install 4 IS NOTIFICATION DEVICE EASY AND NON DISRUPTIVE some fire alarm systems each device on the system to be manually tested to ensure its proper function The your network the more resource and time intensive effort and the greater the risk of human error Testing can be disruptive to occupants However many addressable alarm notification devices are self testing requiring fewer and less effort In addition testing of addressable can be conducted at any time without any disruption building occupants In addition each device has its own on the fire alarm system and the intelligence to with the fire alarm panel So when a situation you know the precise location and an alarm or message can be delivered to that specific area to ensure the safety of building occupants 5 IS SYSTEM MANAGEMENT AND INTUITIVE your system is installed and operating there a good you will have non experts in charge of its daily That why your system should be as easy intuitive to operate as possible Make sure the system important life safety information and includes that make it easy to operate such as color graphic displays touchscreen controls and pan and for precise navigation An integrated life safety management workstation can serve this purpose help manage your overall environment of use also means ease of servicing For example fire alarm systems offer remote diagnostics providing visibility into system operations and performance automating the detection and notification of abnormal This can speed up servicing and minimize measure of user friendliness is mobile access live in a mobile world no one should be tethered to a to do their jobs anymore Mobile access can keep in touch with your system via your smartphone or other device which is especially helpful if you managing fire and life safety systems for a campus or widely group of facilities 6 ARE THE INITIATING DEVICES ENOUGH TO MINIMIZE FALSE ALARMS a conventional sensor gets dirty its sensitivity may affected creating the potential for annoying nuisance Look for a fire alarm system with intelligent devices feature compensation These devices can evaluate data and will compensate for contamination maintain detector sensitivity and increase immunity to alarms 7 IS THE SYSTEM EXPANDABLE AND SCALABLE don want a fire alarm system that frozen in time or for obsolescence When new technological advances available you want to take advantage of them the future you may reconfigure or expand your facility want to add new devices to your network It important ensure that your fire and life safety system is both and backward compatible so that it can leverage existing infrastructure and be easily and cost effectively expanded upgraded and scaled to meet evolving 8 IS THE VENDOR ABLE TO INSPECTION MAINTENANCE AND SERVICES your system installed and operating is just the To keep it performing optimally and in compliance all applicable codes and standards such as NFPA 72 will require regular inspection and maintenance and if repair services Does your vendor have the local expertise and round the clock availability to these services 9 IS THE VENDOR ABLE TO COMPONENTS OF THE SYSTEM FOR MANAGEMENT AND BETTER RESPONSE value of an integrated fire and life safety system is than the sum of its parts When all components of system work in concert with each other from fire and mass notification devices to access control video and building automation systems you can tailor solution to meet your specific needs manage it as a system rather than a collection of devices This help ensure a more integrated and effective response fire and life safety system vendor should have integration expertise to make it happen and build a solution 10 DOES THE SYSTEM INCLUDE THAT MAKE IT EASIER TO COMPLY INDUSTRY AND GOVERNMENT and test reports are essential to ensuring with fire and life safety codes and standards applicable regulations such as The Joint Commission for healthcare institutions You could file that manually and create reports from scratch but time consuming and subject to human error Your alarm and life safety system should provide automatic data storage right within the control panel In addition stand to benefit if your vendor can utilize a compliance that keeps all of this important information in one This technology makes life easier for the building and enables collaboration to help ensure the safety compliance of your buildings there are many factors to consider when choosing a alarm system for your facility But with the protection of people property and assets at stake it a decision you to get right Answering these 10 questions will help you in on the best system that will not only meet all of your safety requirements but will deliver on your future as well a Johnson Controls sales representative at 1.800.746.7539 or www autocall com Johnson Controls Inc Box 423 Milwaukee WI 53201 rights reserved worldwide displayed are for visual representation only Actual products may vary in USA US ON SOCIAL Fire Detection Systemsfirealarmresources com